A growing debate continues as to whether Groupon, and other daily deal sites like Living Socialare good for businesses or are they a quick-fix marketing solution in a sluggish economy yielding short-lived, expensive, false hope. While the jury is still out, there is no debating that the daily deal phenomenon continues to grow in popularity.…
Getting The Most From Teams
Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to have a cross functional work team established to tackle business challenges or drive operational improvement in current processes. Other times it is better to assign the task to an individual or to a group with a clearly defined leader. Cross functional teams provide the added benefit of brining…
What’s your turnover rate?
Turnover can be very costly, yet it is often overlooked or poorly measured by many convenience store retailers. Studies peg the cost of replacing one c-store employee can be $1,500 or more and that ignores the opportunity cost from increased sales resulting from a well trained, stable, customer focused work force. Many chains are…
Facebook Marketing for Convenience Stores
Convenience store chains, like most retailers, pay close attention to transaction counts and sales per customer. Until recently, getting to know your customers as individuals might have seemed costly and out of reach for all but the largest of companies. Having the opportunity to communicate with your customers and getting to know their friends and…
The Business of Branding
With companies across all retail channels vying for convenience customers, the pressure is on c-store operators to protect their market share. By Greg Ehrlich, Contributing Editor. As the convenience store industry continues to evolve, one area that is demanding greater attention is brand image. Once a concern primarily for larger chains, brand image is a…
It’s All About the Brand
Top retailers in any category understand the importance of their brand, their brand promise and how they deliver on that promise. They understand that given a choice, consumers would rather spend their money with retail brands they know, like and trust. So how recognizable is your c-store brand and what is it that you promise…
Health Insurance – The Cost of Complacency
The cost of health insurance continues to rise. The government knows it’s broken and is trying to fix it, but how likely are they to create an affordable solution? The conventional approach of bidding out your plan directly or through brokers to multiple carriers is no longer the sole solution to this dilemma. More and…
Connecting With Your Customers
Loyalty and Facebook are changing the way convenience store retailers are communicating with today’s consumers. By Greg Ehrlich, Contributing Editor. Smaller convenience store chains with limited resources often sit on the sidelines waiting to see how their larger counterparts embrace new technologies. They wait to see whether the new initiatives make it past a pilot…
Customer Loyalty Done Right
Customer loyalty is a game changer. Take a look at successful loyalty programs like Marriott Rewards, Delta Sky Miles, My Starbucks Rewards, Speedy Rewards, Rewards in a Flash and Certified Savings. These are all established programs that acknowledge their best customers, reward them for their existing behavior and provide greater rewards to improve their shopping…
The Customer is King
“The customer is always right.” “Our customers come first.” “We value our customers.” Blah, blah, blah… Sure we have all read retailer mission statements about how they value their customers, but how many truly take these words to heart? For most companies, their mission statement and promise of “the best customer experience” is just words…