DES MOINES, Iowa — After a six-month deployment across half of Kum & Go's 400 locations, the convenience-store retailer is rolling out CB4's artificial intelligence (AI) for store teams across the chain. The partnership focuses on improving presentation issues, difficult-to-find products, out-of-stock products and unclear pricing and promotional signs.
- Kum & Go is No. 18 in CSP’s 2021 Top 40 update to the Top 202 ranking of c-stores by store count.
"Kum & Go is preparing to move to an all-store rollout of CB4 based on the successes we have found over the first six months," said Marty Roush, vice president of operations for Kum & Go. "We're seeing measurable sales lift at the item level by identifying operational execution opportunities uniquely tailored to each store."
The CB4 app alerts Kum & Go store teams when they could be missing out on opportunities to maximize sales and suggests quick fixes. These quick fixes often come down to replenishing products left in the stock room, escalating out of stocks and correcting ticketing errors. Kum & Go found that just under a quarter of the issues they found with CB4 were related to presentation.
"Store associates enjoy using the mobile app to problem solve while investigating the item recommendations," said Marty Roush. "We give stores four days to capture opportunities by responding to recommendations each week, but most stores get into them right away. This tells us they see how valuable CB4 is in helping them drive their business."
Research shows that shoppers who can't find what they're looking for at their regular store are much more willing to switch to a competitor than they were before the pandemic. Convenience-store operators can keep customers loyal and win market share by offering an easier and more productive shopping experience.
"It's impressive to see the Kum & Go operations team execute so fast," said Yoni Benshaul, CEO of CB4. "In just six months, they deployed weekly sales opportunities to more than 200 stores, measured ROI, and laid out plans to reach over 400 stores within weeks."
The New York-based technology firm CB4 helps retailers generate new sales by making meaningful corrections to shelf visibility and inventory. Customers like Wakefern, Kum & Go and Circle K have also expanded the service in recent months. CB4 is a partner of Sequoia Capital.
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