Technology
The integration of technology into convenience stores continues at a fast pace. Over the past decade, the convenience store industry has gone from being a technology laggard to a technology leader in using new technologies to deliver convenience.
The convenience store industry’s investment in technology has resulted in key developments, such as technology standards that promote effective communication between multiple technology systems. Loyalty and rewards programs, effective use of scanning, point-of-sale and back-office accounting systems, new safes and cash control systems and renewed focus on integrated security systems that reduces fraud and ensures employee safety. But the industry’s technology focus hardly ends here. The industry has led the charge to reduce credit and debit card processing fees and has embraced PCI compliance as a safety measure to protect credit card sales data.
Will EMV be DOA?
Visa is encouraging retailers to move toward the EMV technology seen in Europe, but some argue by the time it’s implemented in the U.S., the technology will be outdated. By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. Visa this fall announced plans to speed up the migration to contact chip and contactless EMV chip credit card technology in [...]
Tesco Deploys Retalix 10 Store Suite
Retalix to present at NRF Show, outlining the future of Tesco’s retail IT strategies. Tesco Plc. is set to deploy the Retalix next generation store platform following a successful initial pilot of the Retalix 10 Store Suite software. Tesco, the third largest grocery retailer in the world, has been a Retalix business partner since 1995, [...]
Sustaining Security
Now that retailers have reached PCI DSS 2.0 compliance, it’s important to continue monitoring people, processes and technology to protect against breaches. By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. If your chain is among those who diligently worked to achieve PCI DSS 2.0 compliance by the Jan. 1, 2012 deadline, you probably think your stores are safe [...]
Retail Trends for 2012
As technology continues to change the way we do business, retailers must weigh the benefits of being ahead of the curve versus the risks, and the disadvantages of falling behind. By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. In a scene from the futuristic movie “Minority Report,” Tom Cruise’s character walks through a shopping mall while 3-D screens [...]
Preparing for Future Payment Systems
First it was PCI, now retailers have to prepare for the widespread launch of Near Field Communications, which is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the U.S. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. The convenience store industry is increasingly turnings its gaze outdoors to the forecourt, not only for [...]
ATMs and ADA: Are You Compliant?
While the new compliance standards have been on the ATM industry’s radar for many years. Fully understanding the intricacies of the new rules could be an overwhelming task for many storeowners. By Pat Pape, Contributing Editor. The ATM industry is currently facing the most complicated, but critical challenge it has ever encountered—managing the technical, new [...]
Stacking the Cards In Your Favor
General purpose prepaid debit cards are rapidly gaining favor with consumers as an alternative to closed-loop gift cards. By John Lofstock, Editor. Sales of open-loop prepaid cards, issued by banks and credit card companies and able to be used at multiple establishments, are only going to go up as more consumers come to appreciate their [...]
epay Partners With Sprint
“When Sprint decided it needed a single solution for its prepaid independent distribution strategy, we committed the resources to building the tools and processes that would ensure Sprint’s success,” says epay spokesperson. epay, a division of Euronet Worldwide Inc.—a global electronic payments provider and distributor, has signed an exclusive agreement to process prepaid mobile airtime [...]
Thorntons Introduces Phone App
New app enables customers to have Thorntons with them 24/7. Louisville Ky.-based Thorntons has announced the launch of its brand-new proprietary, free mobile phone app available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry users. The mobile phone app, powered by OpenStore by GasBuddy, is free for all Thorntons customers at http://thorntons1.com/MobileApps.aspx. “Thorntons consumers are extremely tech-savvy and [...]
Is Groupon Right for Your Business?
A growing debate continues as to whether Groupon, and other daily deal sites like Living Socialare good for businesses or are they a quick-fix marketing solution in a sluggish economy yielding short-lived, expensive, false hope. While the jury is still out, there is no debating that the daily deal phenomenon continues to grow in popularity. [...]
PCI Compliance: Benefiting the Industry in Multiple Ways
Convenience store operators must stop treating the need for compliance as a nuisance. It is a complex part of the business that must be faced head on. By Pat Pape, Contributing Editor. Just one month ago, Chase, the second-largest U.S. bank, plus a host of other well-known businesses, notified customers that their e-mail addresses had [...]
Enhancing Prepaid Profitability
The convenience and budgeting control features that stored valued products offer holds appeal for a wide range of Americans. By Joe Bush Contributing Editor. Prepaid’s profit potential is fueled by shifts in the marketplace, wider social acceptance and the nation’s growing population of “unbanked” lower-income consumers. And while store-level merchandising and marketing need to be [...]
Breaking the Cycle of Plastic
Retailers may have different strategies when it comes to ATMs, but with interchange fees at a record high, operators should be developing programs to get cash in customers’ hands to reduce card transactions. By Joe Bush, Contributing Editor. ATMs are ubiquitous in convenience stores, providing cash in a bright, secure, warm and mostly private environment, [...]
Kwik Trip Inc. Rolls Out SPIN
SPIN back office conversion technology by Solutran lowers depository fees, speeds funds availability for Kwik Trip. Kwik Trip Inc., which operates 415 locations in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, has completed its rollout of SPIN, Solutran Inc.’s POS and Imaging Network solution for electronic check conversion. Following SPIN implementation, Kwik Trip has reported lower depository fees, [...]
Predicting Prepaid Growth
The prepaid card market continues to grow, and consumers are purchasing cards more often at “prepaid malls” inside convenience stores. “Rather than going to the actual store for a (Gap, for example) gift card, they go to a 7-Eleven and get the card for that store there. For c-stores that can be significant since many [...]
