C-Stores Tap-N-Pay Cashierless Check-out Hits a Cord with Consumers

 

Consumers are dynamic not static and every sector of foodservice retail must adapt with consumer or risk capitulating incremental market share according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® who stated “retailers must keep up with consumer unmet need-sets and frictionless checkout / tap-N-pay is safer, faster, and fresher in the minds-eye of the consumer today.”

The large C-store chains are following the lead of national restaurant chains adopting cashierless options of payment companies the ilk of Alimentation Couche-Tard, Tesco, Wawa, 7-Eleven, with the help of companies the ilk of and MasterCard, Visa, and American Express are all working to enable fast, safe, integrated tap-N-pay (POS) system solutions.

Here is the question: are POS systems even needed any longer?  Amazon Go has proven that they are not. So, since the average age of most POS platforms across the c-store industry is 10 years or more, perhaps the oldest installed POS base of any retail segment.  We ask, are they needed? Could an app based/cloud system cashierless, POS-less system work in urban locations?

First, moving sales from inside the store to the outside of the store speeds things up.  You can do this via a branded app.  Customer relevance rest in branded apps more than ever during this COVID-19 environment, customers don’t want to touch anything or enter an enclosed space. App-check-in enables c-stores to deploy new brand messaging and new points of distribution including order-ahead, curbside/pump-side pickup, drive-thru’s and delivery.  

Battle for Share of Stomach

 

Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) with advanced check-in and order-ahead in their apps see average order value grow by 50%. Fueling apps from the major petroleum brands not integrated with c-stores miss this upsell opportunity if not tightly integrated into the total c-store experience, not just fueling. 

Check-in can provide a new level of interactivity, customization, and personalization for all consumer touchpoints.  Check-in is the branded invitation that Gen Z and Millennials expect according to Johnson. Branded apps provide a menu board, take orders with embedded payment, even act as a walkie-talkie to summon items — all activated through the autonomous check-in by the fueling app empowering consumer choice.

Consider this before COVID-19, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) reported that c-stores drove 80% of all gas sales in the U.S., with 48% of fueling customers going into c-stores and 53% buying a beverage. 

Back in the day the C-store sector was a “game of inches’, typically 180 to 540 inches from the pump to c-store door swing.  COVID-19 has pushed forward the need for technology that is handheld, digital, and branded with messaging that has additive customer relevance and edifies a consumer value touchpoint.

Don’t worry about, who owns this data, worry about getting the right message to the right person at first.  There is enough data to be shared.  Getting the right branded messaging to the consumer should be your very first concern.  

Branded relevant marketing messaging must drive you to offer cashierless transactions both inside and outside of your stores. An innovative branded cashierless strategy expands the customer touchpoints and makes your location advantage more valuable. Are you being as dynamic as you can be?

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.