7-Eleven's New Media Network Focuses on Offsite, In-Store Solutions

As a convenience store chain, 7-Eleven is leaning into key differences that distinguish its new Gulp Media Network from the media networks of retailers in other channels, beginning with a unique customer base that is oftentimes elusive and unloyal. 7-Eleven shoppers tend to skew younger and are not loyal to any one retailer, freely switching between retailers depending on what they need at any given moment. Geotargeting data shows that the average 7-Eleven customer shops six other stores in the convenience store space throughout the year, said Ben Tienor, director of brand and customer insights at 7-Eleven, at a P2PI LIVE session last week during which he announced the network's launch. "It's soul crushing to say they're not loyal," joked Tienor, "but what they're mostly loyal to is, 'I'm thirsty now.' They are loyal to fulfilling their need and that’s the experience they're optimizing versus 'I'm thirsty now. Where can I go to the brand of store I like best?'" Operating within the immediate-consumption space, 7-Eleven also understands its shoppers aren't necessarily frequenting or shopping its chain websites the way consumers do in other retailer channels. Considering this, the Gulp Media Network will instead focus on third-party platforms and properties. “I think it's fair to say that most other retail media networks are focused on first-party platforms as the media channel – the delivery mechanism,” Tienor told Path to Purchase Institute after the session. “In the convenience or immediate-consumption space, there's not a lot of first-party traffic. If we lifted and shifted, whatever anybody else does, there's just not much volume there. But what we do have is data that the big digital platforms don't have to be able to target the Dr Pepper drinker versus the Coke drinker. It's a confluence of what isn't much of an opportunity versus an asset that is helpful and valuable elsewhere in the world.” The Gulp Media Network taps data from 80 million members of the retailer’s loyalty programs (7Rewards and Speedy Rewards), leveraging IRI to mine the data to capture insights such as basket size and shopping frequency. As far as product solutions, the network will offer display advertising on the open web and ads via social platforms such as TikTok and Meta. There is also work in progress to offer media advertising via in-store audio and screens, Tienor said.

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