Convenience-store retailers are at different levels of integrating AI. Some are utilizing the technology while others are still exploring the market.
Artificial intelligence can provide convenience-store retailers the opportunity to have real-time conversations with their data, asking AI for instant insights rather than sifting through spreadsheets, said Kyle Drenon, co-owner and CEO of Supper Co., a Springfield, Missouri-based ad agency, during a session at CSP’s Convenience Retailing University.
“Right now, AI as a language tool is amazing,” Donnie Fairbanks, senior loyalty strategist at Paytronix, a loyalty provider based in Newton, Massachusetts, told CSP in February. “It does huge data sets and makes them accessible to even me, as a consumer. But from a technology side, the challenge is you still have to guide it to look at the data in a certain way to find the relevant or those compelling insights.”
If businesses are not leveraging AI, then they're going to be left behind, Rob Falciani, director of marketing at ExtraMile, told CSP in February. “This is definitely going to be an enhancement to our business, our people and obviously our franchisees,” he said.
When asked what technology Marc Miles, operations program manager at TravelCenters of America, a bp brand, what technology he hasn’t implemented yet but is curious about, he said AI machine learning. “I believe we are at the genesis of a major technological revolution that will dramatically change the nature of the travel industry and create many new opportunities,” Miles said.
Take a look at some retailers and technology companies in the convenience-retail industry that are leveraging AI.
Qsic
In-store audio platform provider Qsic powers in-store audio and retail media networks (RMN) for retailers such as 7-Eleven and quick-service restaurants (QSRs) such as McDonald’s to boost in-store sales. The company reaches more than 100 million shoppers at the point of purchase monthly, it said, with more than 70,000 speakers set to deploy across North America over the next year.
In January, Qsic closed on a $25 million round of Series B funding led by investment firm Hedosophia to help expand its AI-powered technology into new retail locations, accelerate product development and scale its sales team.
To support scale and customization, Qsic has developed a proprietary generative AI model, called Lucy, for the creation of custom audio ad content. It leverages retailer data for on-demand voiceovers, ad content, local pricing, inventory and weather conditions to increase engagement with shoppers.
GPO Plus
TXB Stores, Spicewood, Texas, implemented an AI-driven distribution model for direct-store delivery (DSD) in partnership with GPO Plus, Inc. (GPOX).
GPOX, Las Vegas, provides weekly service to TXB covering all 52 stores in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and border area stores in Texas, as well as Oklahoma locations. The DSD distribution also includes a TXB-branded Feel Good Shop+, a store-within-a-store concept.
Casey’s AI Coffee Roaster
Casey’s General Stores Inc. has introduced “Darn-ell,” the convenience-store chain’s AI-powered “roast bot” to promote its Darn Good Coffee.
Using generative AI capabilities, Darn-ell, a “coffee connoisseur and darn good roaster,” offers personalized, witty comments or “roasts” along with coffee recommendations to help customers learn about Casey’s Darn Good Coffee lineup, available hot, iced and in varied caffeine levels.
“We are thrilled to introduce ‘Darn-ell’ to our fans and guests, our innovative AI-powered coffee connoisseur, who’s here to help you roast with the best—Casey’s Darn Good coffee,” said Tom Brennan, Casey’s chief merchandising officer. “By combining this technology with our passion for exceptional coffee, we’re continuing to redefine what it means to enjoy a cup at Casey’s—one delightful roast at a time.”
Relex Solutions
Relex Solutions, Atlanta, introduced an optimization to help retailers optimize merchandising plans. Relex Space for Category Management automates and optimizes planogram updates using AI and machine learning (ML).
Wesco Inc., a family-owned and operated chain of convenience stores in Michigan, is partnered with Relex Solutions to unify its space, operations and supply chain planning.
The tech aims to ensure that popular categories have enough space to meet customer demand at the right time, the company said. It also reduces time-consuming manual processes and enables retailers to reflect current sales trends, customer preferences and seasonal variations.
Mashgin
Wesco also leverages of Mashgin’s AI-powered checkout technology in more than 20 locations.
The kiosks use computer vision to instantly ring up items, without the need to scan barcodes. Customers can place their items down and pay. The kiosk can identify multiple items simultaneously in seconds with nearly 100% accuracy, the company said.
Mashgin’s technology is integrated with Verifone’s Commander system, which connects the AI checkout kiosks to key store systems for payment, loyalty, fuel and more.
SoundHound AI
SoundHound AI, Santa Clara, California, is an artificial intelligence company that offers voice-enablement for drive-thrus, phone ordering, kiosks, mobile apps and tableside ordering.
SoundHound’s AI drive thru system aims to reduce wait times and support multiple drive-in stalls or drive-thru lanes while lessening the workload for employees with a voice-enabled menu board.
Soundhound recently announced the release of its new next-generation voice AI platform, which allows for cross-platform connectivity. Soundhound has built omnichannel access across drive-thru, call-to-order, text-to-order, scan-to-order and in-vehicle ordering.
The voice AI tech company has also evolved from human in the loop, to no-human-needed technology.
Kea Voice AI
While it hasn’t yet reached the c-store industry, Kea Voice AI’s self-service voice AI tool aims to democratize access to fully automated voice technology by appealing to smaller chains in the food industry with fewer tech resources at their fingertips.
“Previously, only enterprise brands could use voice AI, and it would take about three to six months just to set it up,” Adam Ahmad, founder of Kea, said. “We’ve automated a lot of those processes. You can connect your Toast account, and the voice agent would be built in the background … We’ve also been able to dramatically reduce the cost such that any restaurant can afford it, even with one to five locations.”
Operators can manually input customized instructions for the AI, like special pronunciations for menu items, holiday hours, or edits to the AI greeting during a special time like the Super Bowl, when the voice AI agent can answer questions about whether or not the restaurant is showing the game on TV right now. Ahmad said you can even name the voice AI agent.
“The status quo for many voice AI companies is that you need an engineer to update this stuff, and now we're putting that power back into the operator’s hands,” Ahmad said.
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