The NRF Big Show and events all around it were abuzz with today’s technology leading topics — artificial intelligence (AI), retail media networks and all things digital. That was no surprise for attendees at this year’s RetailROI Super Saturday event, including convenience leaders from Love’s, Kwik Trip and Vision Group Network. They heard that AI…
RetailROI’s Super Saturday, NRF Big Show Highlight People-Driven Retail
Two retail technology events — Retail Orphan Initiative’s (RetailROI) Super Saturday and The National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show— kicked off on the same weekend, Jan. 13-14, and both were all about “the people.” The kickoff to RetailROI’s Super Saturday at Microsoft’s Times Square office set the stage for the NRF 2023 Retail’s Big Show.…
Nonstop, Look & Listen
“Epic Convenience” was the title for my planned remarks for the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA) annual expo, which I didn’t get to share because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But I was prepared to share the monumental changes we’ve seen with technologies in the Convenience/Petro industry. These times are truly epic…
Video: Epic Convenience
The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA) invited me to speak at their 2020 annual Expo on the latest technologies in the Convenience/Petro industry. I titled my remarks “Epic Convenience.” Like most events these days, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. I thought I’d share the opening video I prepared,…
Touchpoints: The New Point of Sale
New touchpoints are challenging traditional point-of-sale (POS) systems used in the convenience/petro retail industry, as customer-experience-driven technologies, global solution providers and industry leaders look to move their companies forward. For example, as more convenience store retailers wade into foodservice, they’re being challenged to improve the speed of service, an important part of customer expectations. In-store…
The Evolving Data Revolution
Not so long ago, scan data meant monitoring how many of which items sold. It gave category managers a new response to vendors using purchase data to allocate shelf space. It relieved store employees from taking a best guess at what to order and gave financial analysts added return on investment data points. Scan data has…
There’s Still Time for Summer Reading
Being just a little more than halfway through the year I looked back at what prognosticators had said the 2019 trends would include and discovered topics such as continued digital and payments disruption, more EMV developments and machine learning. My summer reading included a review to see how things evolved — I didn’t need to…
Friction in the Frictionless Journey
There is still so much that needs to be changed in the quest to eliminate friction in the customer experience and lessons to be learned that the c-store/petro industry should consider as it ventures into making the forecourt stop or in-store visit more convenient. Although I easily walked in and walked out with a couple…
Conexxus: Solve Forward Takeaways
It’s not that you had to be there, but you should have been there. The 2019 Conexxus Annual Conference, held April 28 to May 2 in Nashville, Tenn., was compelling, action-oriented, and a step forward for the convenience store industry. Gray Taylor, executive director of Conexxus, opened the conference with topics and themes that would…
POS Systems Advance
Don’t blink. It’s only been two months since NRF’s Big Show, where I thought I had learned everything happening with point-of-sale (POS) systems that could possibly impact the convenience and petroleum industry. Well, as time moves on, I’ve learned even more since retail’s Big Show, and it’s clear more is on the horizon. Going Cashierless …