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Kroger and Costco help shoppers with a major pain point

admin October 7, 2026

My car takes 2 gallons of gas, and even I have noticed the pain at the pump.

My BMW i3 is an electric vehicle with a supplementary gas tank that powers the electric engine when the charge runs out. Normally, when it’s nearly empty, it’s hard for me to spend $7 filling up, but on Oct. 4, I nearly crossed $9.

The station I stopped at, however, was a little over the national average, according to data from AAA.

“The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped nearly 7 cents from last week to $4.41,” AAA shared on Oct. 1.

It’s a challenging situation where some consumers have pulled back when it comes to filling their tanks.

That’s not what Kroger’s customers are doing.

A quick look at gas prices

Oct. 1 National Average: $4.41
One Week Ago: $4.48
One Month Ago: $4.09
One Year Ago: $3.16

“This follows a record-setting September at the pump. The monthly average was $4.33, 50 cents higher than the previous September record of $3.83 set in 2023,” AAA reported.

There are some signs that prices could come down.

“Crude oil prices have dipped back into the $90 per barrel range, lowering the national average, but overall gas prices remain the highest they’ve ever been for this time of year,” the automobile club reported.

Kroger shares surprising gas news

Kroger CFO David John Kennerley shared how Kroger customers have been buying gas at its company-owned stations during its second-quarter earnings call.

“Fuel remains an important contributor to our financial model. While industry fuel demand remained under pressure, our gallons increased in the quarter, outperforming the broader market by approximately 520 basis points,” he said.

A basis point is a unit of measure equal to one-hundredth of a percentage point, or 0.01% (0.0001 in decimal form). 520 basis points equals 5.2%.

He shared the reason for that.

“Gallon performance continues to be driven by our fuel rewards, which we supported with additional promotions in the quarter,” he added.

Costco and Kroger both have seen customers buying gas in record numbers.

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How do Kroger points work?

Kroger members earn points shopping at the retailer. The company shared its core points system on its website.

Groceries: Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on most groceries.
Prescriptions: Earn 25 points for non-federally funded prescriptions and 1 point per $1 of out-of-pocket costs for federally funded prescriptions. Earn 75 points for each 90-day script.
Gift Cards: Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on most gift cards.

1,000 points equals $1 off per gallon of gas up to 35 gallons per fill-ups.

Kennerley shared how gas sales impacted the company’s bottom line.

“Fuel redemptions increased nearly 6% versus last year. Our gallon performance, combined with higher margins per gallon in a more volatile energy market, drove modestly higher fuel profitability in the quarter,” he shared.

Costco had record gas sales

Former Costco CFO Richard Galanti shared some specifics on the warehouse club’s gas business during its second quarter 2022 earnings call. That included how it eases the pain for members when gas prices are rising.

Costco, he shared, does not take the same margin on gas when prices are rising as it does when they fall.

“As prices went up or went — even went down a little bit, they didn’t go down as fast as perhaps they could have been, which gives us, in our view, an ability to make a little more and still be the most competitive,” Galanti added.

Basically, the warehouse club doesn’t raise or lower prices as fast as it could trying to give its members lower prices when gas costs the most.

More Kroger:

In its fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call, current CFO Gary Millerchip shared how the chain’s gas business has been performing.

“Our gas business has had a record year, driven by members seeking value in Costco’s top-tier gasoline in the face of rising prices. In fiscal year ’26, we saw the penetration of U.S. member households that purchased gas reach an all-time high,” he said.

The CFO also shared how much money the warehouse club saved members on gas.

“During the fiscal year, we estimate we saved our members over $3.2 billion versus the average price at the pump in markets where we operate. We also expanded 26 existing U.S. gas stations during this year at our highest volume locations to increase throughput and improve the overall member experience,” he added.