TECHNOLOGY
Transformative Technologies Rethinking IT needs and embracing emerging trends can bring c-store retailers to the next level By Melissa Kress CONVENIENCE STORE RETAILERS need to know two things to be successful: what they sell and whom they sell it to. Sounds simple, right? But not so fast; it may be a case of “easier said than done.”
Technology that taps into this information can transform the way a retailer does business. “I think identifying previously anonymous customers, with permission, leveraging a check-in strategy — as frictionless as feasible — that gives customers an understandably fair exchange of value is super exciting,” said Jeremie Myhren, chief information officer for Road Ranger LLC, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based chain of travel centers, truck stops and convenience stores primarily in the Midwest. “Rewards programs are great and have a very important place in our quiver, but in 2021, they aren't the only way for customer identification any longer. Traditional rewards leave a large slice of our patrons nameless to us,” he continued. “Leveraging sensors and other such technologies, we can segment and provide additional value and a more relevant experience to that important part of our audience.” For Mike Wilson, chief operating officer at Omaha, Neb.-based Cubby's — which operates 36 convenience stores in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — software that allows c-store operators to see real-time movement of SKUs and how categories are trending is some of the
most exciting. The most successful chains have “terrific insight into what they sell,” he noted. “Gone are the days of guessing what might sell. You can pull up a category today and see how specific flavors are doing; even see how locations affect those tastes,” Wilson explained.
Moving Forward With AI With numerous SKUs, plus the countless number of consumers moving through a convenience store on any given day, retailers run the risk of missing sales opportunities and overlooking small inefficiencies — which can really add up, according to Matthew McAlister, vice president of marketing and business development at CB4. The New York-based machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) company has its roots in the AI Lab at Tel Aviv University. When it first made the jump from research project to business, CB4 started in the convenience channel. One of the major influences in that decision was the fact that CB4 technology does not require any in-store hardware. It uses simple point-ofsale data that every retailer already has on hand. But it's more than that, McAlister pointed out. “An in-demand item left in the stockroom or an inventory discrepancy that lasts even a few days has a surprisingly large impact on a store's bottom revenue and on the customer experience,” he said. “We started in the demanding
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