A convenience store’s curb appeal is more important now than ever.
This insight comes from Jim Rastetter (pictured right), dispensed beverage category manager at Richmond, Virginia-based GPM Investments, speaking on a retail panel at CSP’s recent Dispensed Beverages Forum in Lombard, Illinois.
“That’s where our strategy is heading: We really need to invest more in curb appeal in our stores,” Rastetter said. “Especially with declining transactions, if you’re looking to gain market share, that’s one of the first things that people are looking for. When you have three different convenience stores on each different corner, it matters, especially in the last few years.
“If transactions continue to be in decline, it’s going to get harder and harder to win over that customer for your location,” Rastetter continued. “I applaud those of us out there who have really strong remodel strategies. There’s a lot of evidence showing that that has been very successful for those chains that have gone down that route, and that is something we have taken a much stronger look at this past year and are starting build strategies around that as we head into the future—and that’s the way we’re going to win back some of those transactions.”
Rastetter said the c-store industry must do a better job of making sure customers are comfortable as they walk into stores.
“If you’re losing the battle on that first glance, that’s not great,” Rastetter said. “That’s going to hurt a lot. For us, over the next 12 to 18 months, it’s really all about appeal for us.”
Talking Tech
In a discussion on innovations in dispensing technology, the other panelist, Glenn Granger (pictured left), foodservice operations manager at Speedy Stop Food Stores, Victoria, Texas, said they’ve been able to use their IDC Pro interactive beverage dispenser, which includes a 32-inch promotional display, in digital messaging.
“When you see a drink being poured and hitting the ice and the bubbly, the crispy soda, it’s appealing to the eyes,” he said. “I think a lot of it people see with their eyes.”
When customers see different messages, “That kind of draws them to that part of the store,” he said, adding, “Not only do we have digital messages there, but we have videos above the fountain area showing different promotions in the store.”
Granger said that Speedy Stop Food Stores are big, “and we go all out, and our numbers prove it. We have big numbers and do a lot of investing in equipment, but the digital messaging is where it’s at. People are drawn to those areas of the store where they see a fresh tortilla puffing up on the grill. It just makes sense to do that.”
Be Prepared
Rastetter said he wasn’t particularly excited about anything in technology today but rather wanted to point out the importance of having a preventative maintenance program for one’s equipment.
“If you don’t have one set up, it’s going to lead to a lot of additional costs in the future,” he said.
“When I’ve got equipment that is continuously breaking down or it’s impacting category performance, I’m looking for solutions with my vendors who are kind of like a one-stop-shop solution to some of those problems. I may look at a vendor, and if they’re able to provide an equipment solution along with a product solution for where we are, that could create a lot of value.”
Rastetter said he asks, “‘How can the vendors really help me on this one?’ And that’s the direction that we’ve been heading.”
To quicken getting broken-down machines repaired fast, Speedy Stop hired a company that put QR codes on each piece of equipment, “so we know every little piece about that equipment.”
If there’s a problem with a machine, a manager scans the QR code using his or her phone, “doing the maintenance request right then and there,” Granger said “It sends the maintenance department the serial number, the model number and the history on that equipment. It has made a huge difference in getting our service providers out quickly and getting it fixed.”
Want to learn more about foodservice? Register for CSP’s Foodservice Forum in June here.
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