LAS VEGAS --Every year seems to bring more sophisticated technologies ever closer to the earthbound likes of convenience store retailers. And this year is no exception.
In this first of a two-part roundup of trade-show floor exhibits at the 2014 NACS Show in Las Vegas, the theme of mobile applications offering retailers remote management via their cellphones as well as loyalty messaging to customers was a strong current.
A second theme was a data-flow model that routed data from store devices--tank gages, coolers and more--through the fuel controller box, bypassing the point-of-sale (POS) register where cashiers process sensitive credit-card information.
- DataMax: With its backoffice history, the Round Rock, Texas-based company is focusing on integrating its solutions to social media, tying marketing, corporate and backoffice systems to reach customers with relevant messages. Lee Pennington, president and CEO, said its core solution had been entirely reworked over the past three years to handle the sophisticated technologies now more accessible today, allowing for greater connectivity within a retailers' own departments as well as with outside parties and vendors. He said part of the company's global reach and work with oil companies has provided it with a rich perspective, directly affecting their solution's capabilities.
- Gilbarco: The dispenser manufacturer has made strides in offering new display options at the pump, particularly menu ordering and lottery, according to Andrew Syzek of the Greensboro, N.C.-based company. On the show floor, he and his colleagues were demonstrating pump-video displays that could walk customers through the purchase of a sub sandwich, with another chain of screens going through a lottery purchase. Another option they demonstrated was running customer surveys via the pump. While customer satisfaction was one survey possibility, so was marketing, where Syzek showed a survey that asked a customer what his or her favorite ice cream flavor was. When the customer answered "strawberry," the pump printed a coupon for strawberry ice cream that he or she could redeem in the store.
- Kalibrate: As a company best known for retail fuel-pricing analytics and retail-site location services, the Florham, N.J.-based firm is expanding its offer to a cloud-based, comprehensive business intelligence platform, encompassing demographics and merchandising analysis to help retailers both large and small use information to improve their businesses, according to Douglas Henderson, senior vice president of marketing.
- NCR: Promoting its new cloud-based platform supporting operational and customer-centric solutions, the Alpharetta, Ga.-based NCR used large display screens in the shape of mobile phones to demonstrate a number of capabilities. One use is a drill-down, remote management tool that allowed for store assessments and alerts based on certain parameters, according to product managers Jason Groff and Matt Miller. Using a mobile-phone touch-screen format, a district manager can spot troubled stores and get information on specific concerns. The system can also handle mobile payment, allowing customers to pay for goods and receive relevant discounts and electronic receipts.
- PDI: The Temple, Texas-based software solutions provider was showcasing a number of new developments including a labor-scheduling module and inventory management using secured Wi-Fi at the store level, said Greg Gilkerson, president. "I'm impressed with the level of interest at the show in technology," he said. "People are continuing to want sophisticated solutions to better run their businesses."
- Veeder-Root: With its recent acquisition of Houston-based FuelQuest, Veeder-Root, Simsbury, Conn., has expanded its fuel inventory and management capabilities to offer control capabilities from the bulk rack to the fuel nozzle, said Andrea Mulhall. The new Insight 360 product now also has predictive-buying capabilities, which help retailers save money by managing fuel-price volatility.
- Wayne Fueling Systems: Taking an "Internet of Things" approach, the pump and fuel-systems manufacturer was talking about a new cloud platform based on its onsite fuel controller. Tom Chittenden of the Austin, Texas-based company said the issue is data aggregation, with more store data flowing up into a third-party cloud environment for processing and delivery. The process can even handle mobile payment, with the help of data security and encryption partner, Intel Corp., San Francisco, most of the interfacing and communication is done with a customer directly on the phone, with pumps of the future not needing the kinds of interactive display screens necessary today.
- WEX: The Antioch, Tenn.-based fleet-fueling card firm is expanding further into Canada, creating a closed-loop system that will be the first national card of its kind, according to William Cooper. The company is also launching a mixed-fleet card and separately, a mobile app that can help drivers locate fueling points and reach delivery goals.
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