LAS VEGAS -- Mobile convenience stores, touchscreen order points at the fuel island and other nifty inventions captivated the imagination during the Ideas 2 Go general session, one of NACS Show 2006s most anticipated events.
New concepts and ways to serve the customer came from retailers of all sizes: a single-store operator in New York; a small chain of organic food shops in the United Kingdom; and some of the worlds largest companies, Tesco and The Home Depot.
This years Ideas 2 Go focused on several key areas:
Kiosks and the Internet. Young adults and consumers in their 20s have grown incredibly comfortable with and reliant on technology. In fact, they often trust technology over humans, according to Scott Hartman, president of Rutters Farm Stores Inc., York, Pa., who introduced the video segment. Retail technologies such as touchscreen order points will help retailers turn these consumers into lifelong customers, he said.
While foodservice pioneers Sheetz and Wawa introduced touchscreens for their foodservice operations years ago, the technology has filtered down to many of their retailer peers. Mapco Express, Franklin, Tenn., for example, has added kiosks that enable drivers to order food items while fueling up at the pump, thereby solving the dilemma of how to entice the fuel customer into the store.
Out-of-the-box thinking. Albert Smith runs a highly successful convenience store called Shortstop Deli, Ithaca, N.Y., specializing in subs and sandwiches. His store did $2 million in sales last year, half of which came from prepared foods. The store bakes its own fresh bread 20 hours a day.
In addition to his c-store/deli, Smith operates a Hot Truck on a nearby college campus that sells subs and other food items to university students. Last year, Smith did $130,000 in Hot Truck sales. He further diversified with Travel Meals, which are essentially box lunches; he recently provided 3,200 Travel Meals for a nearby universitys commencement ceremony. He expects the service to grow to 10% of his companys sales this year.
Inland Oil Co., Bainbridge, Ga., created a mobile c-store that travels to festivals and other events in the area. While the traveling store garners decent sales, revenue was not the main driver behind its creation, according to vice president Aaron Goodman. We might make a little money, he said, but its really about name recognition.
Presentation and store design. Martin & Bayley, dba Hucks Food & Fuel, Carmi, Ill., has added drive-thrus to some stores to compete with the likes of Starbucks, which has also expanded aggressively into the drive-thru business. Coffee and fountain are among the most popular items sold through the Hucks drive-thru window. Some stores do as much as 30% of their volume by way of the drive-thru, according to Hucks vice president Mark McKinney.
Produce and freshness. New York convenience retailers such as Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes and Manleys Mighty Marts have added fresh produce to their stores, with surprising success. Nice N Easy even hired a produce manager away from a local supermarket retailer. Inlands Sun Valley Market is a hybrid concept that combines the aspects of a c-store and a full-service supermarket, as well as other retail channels. As much as 60% of the stores sales come from produce and fresh meat.
In addition, the Ideas 2 Go session highlighted concepts from England mega-retailer Tesco as well as Home Depot. The home-improvement retailers Home Depot Fuel concept has begun to spring up on the same pads as its heritage stores.
Wrapping up the segment, Hartman summed up the spirit of Ideas 2 Go with the words, Change is inevitable. Clearly, thats something those featured in this years video segment have not only accepted but embraced. ideas2goMembers help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.