This month has held several updates to the technology category in the convenience-store industry, including c-store and tech vendor partnerships, new capabilities and leadership changes.
Read on to find out more about moves from EG America, Gas Express (a Circle K franchisee), PAR Retail, Lula Commerce, Relex Solutions and Shep Digital Solutions.
EG America Partners With PAR Retail
EG America, Westborough, Massachusetts, has partnered with PAR Retail, Philadelphia, to power the relaunch of SmartRewards. Built on PAR Retail’s loyalty platform, the program will enhance personalized customer engagement, the company said.
The revamped program goes beyond transactional rewards, offering a data-driven approach to engagement that adapts to customer preferences in real-time. Beyond discounts, members can expect a membership tier program, exclusive sweepstakes, first-to-market product launches and more. EG expects to increase customer engagement by 275% this year with SmartRewards.
“This relaunch represents a huge step forward for EG America and our guests,” said John Carey, president and CEO at EG America. “SmartRewards is more than a program—it’s our way of saying, ‘We see you. We value you.’ Thanks to our partnership with PAR, we’re excited to create deeper connections and unforgettable experiences for every guest.”
The company is leveraging PAR Retail’s capabilities to build a program that scales with its growth and evolves with changing customer expectations.
“As EG America embarks on our digital transformation journey, our first milestone is the relaunch of the SmartRewards loyalty program.” said Whitney Johnson, senior vice president of marketing at EG America. “To deliver personalized value to millions of members, the new program must exceed customer’s expectations. We’ve listened to our members and built a custom program tailored to their needs.”
Gas Express Partners With Lula Commerce
Gas Express, a Circle K franchisee with more than 180 locations, has partnered with Lula Commerce, a digital solutions provider for c-stores. The partnership gives Gas Express access to eCommerce channels like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub. Today, Gas Express is live with approximately 100 locations.
“Over the past several months, the implementation of [Lula] has significantly enhanced our operations, sales and customer experience,” said Stacy Winne, vice president of operations of Gas Express. “From the initial stages of planning to the final execution, the support and expertise provided by the Lula team have been exceptional. Lula’s platform seamlessly integrated with our existing systems. This not only smoothed out our processes but also made the rollout and setup incredibly quick and easy, much to the delight of our team.”
Gas Express is based in Atlanta and has locations across Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Lula Commerce, Philadelphia, encompasses a range of services, including menu digitization, inventory management, customer engagement tools and business intelligence, all designed to drive growth and operational efficiency.
Relex Solutions Unveils New Category Management Capabilities
Relex Solutions, Atlanta, introduced an optimization tool for category management to help retailers optimize merchandising plans and deliver the right products at the right time and place, meeting consumer demand, while maximizing sales and profitability.
Relex Space for Category Management optimizes shelf space allocation and provides insights into category adjacencies, ensuring that popular categories have enough space to meet customer demand, the company said.
Automating and optimizing planogram updates using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) reduces time-consuming manual processes and enables retailers to reflect current sales trends, customer preferences and seasonal variations.
The tech also fosters cross-functional collaboration, allowing supply chain and merchandising teams to plan and develop the category management strategy. By connecting and leveraging space, labor, inventory and forecast data, planners can assess the true cost to serve and how to grow revenue, Relex said.
Its capabilities include:
- A cloud-native solution to deploy new features and updates without lengthy downtime or complex migration processes
- A user interface that simplifies planogram and floor plan management for space planners
- An improved workflow selection and management process to support user adoption
- A sandbox environment so planners can conduct multiple category or location reviews simultaneously
- A more automated process for reviewing and publishing planograms
Shep Digital Solutions Welcomes New Chief Technology Officer
Shep Digital Solutions, Knoxville, Tennessee, a provider of omnichannel on-premise marketing technology for the fuel and convenience retail industry, appointed Didier Leonard-Jean Charles, Ph.D., as its new chief technology officer.
As CTO at Shep, Leonard-Jean Charles will lead the company’s software development and technical innovation efforts, such as automating on-premise digital media distribution and integrating Shep’s in-store technology into retailers’ overall retail media strategy.
Leonard-Jean Charles has a Ph.D. in Data Science and was previously principal architect at Advantage Solutions.
“I am excited to join Shep Digital Solutions,” said Leonard-Jean Charles. “My goal is to harness the latest technologies available, like machine learning and AI, to expand our capabilities for retailers. This will enable us to deliver even more impactful and personalized experiences for our partners and their customers.”
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