Between lighting, refrigeration and heating and air conditioning, retailersuse an average of 62 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, accordingto the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coupled with the skyrocketingprice of natural gas and historically high summer demands, electric costs takean even larger bite of c-store owners’ operational costs. Most chains have already implemented the [...]
Loyalty programs are cultivating a new breed of price-conscious consumers. As long as gasoline prices remain high, consumers will be attracted to fuel discounts. That’s the common sense that led retailers to create customer loyalty programs in which fuel discounts are the prize, instead of the more customary prizes like airline travel or cash back. [...]
Remember “Blast from the Past,” the 1999 film starring Brendan Fraser? After a nuclear war scare in the 1960s, young Brendan lives in the family bomb shelter with his mom and dad for 30 years. When he finally ventures out into Los Angeles for food and a ” nonmutant” wife, it becomes a hilarious “fish [...]
Card Revenues Soar Looking for a way to drive fuel sales and up your overall profits? Recent research reveals that making transactions more convenient by offering and accepting a variety of prepaid cards is the way to go. Prepaid cards, also known as stored-value cards, clearly increase business, especially if the cards are reloadable. A [...]
Jupiter Research claims that 75% of consumers are card-carrying members of one loyalty program or another. It seems like you can’t buy anything now without bumping into anoffer to join some type of consumer loyalty club. Retailers havelong adopted loyalty programs as a method of getting more salesout of their customers. Whether they “live” offline [...]
Understanding health and wellness developments can increase sales. The health and wellness landscape has been undergoing some major changes over the past several years, spurred by various factors, including scientific discoveries, nutrient breakthroughs, changing lifestyles and demographics, rising obesity, desire for wellness personalization and demand for corporate social responsibility. All of these transformations can make [...]
A new breed of supercookers promise to cook food faster than you ever imagined. Here’s what you need to know to buy a unit. When you hear the term “fast food,” most don’t think of fresh, elaborate food that’s prepared quickly. But that’s changing. Manufacturers have recently developed and continue to refine equipment for highspeed [...]
Advances in technology enable efficiency while providing an attractive return on investment. Self-service ordering kiosks have been in use for more than four years. The reasons for their staying power are many, but the bottom-line is that kiosks please both c-stores and their customers. Can you imagine being able to take multiple orders, simultaneously? That’s [...]
Wilbur Curtis blends technology with simplicity in its G3 Concept Series Primo Cappuccino machine. With fuel prices soaring and instore margins shrinking, hot beverages have emerged as one of the most profitable sections in the convenience store. With a price point usually not much more than a regular cup of coffee, cappuccino sales are helping [...]
Marketers tend to give a lot of counter space to novelty lighters, but BIC warns that long-term profitability comes from repeat sales of traditional products. That novelty lighter that emits a powerful flame might make for an interesting conversation starter, but it’s not the best way to grow long-term profitability in the lighter category, warns [...]
With its focus on meeting the demand for quick, quality foodservice solutions, the Pennsylvania retailer enlisted the help of Merrychef’s accelerated cooking ovens. Being one of the top foodservice providers in the convenience store industry requires more than a commitment from foodservice managers and store personnel. It demands vision, innovation and, perhaps most importantly, the [...]
Initiative would streamline access to rewards data for convenience store and petroleum marketers. The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards(PCATS) is developing a domestic standard for loyalty cardprograms to allow them to be integrated into the multiple point-ofsale and back-office systems now servicing in the industry.Working through PCATS Retail Financial TransactionsCommittee, the initiative aims to [...]
Regarded as an innovator in employee safety, Tesoro spares no expense when it comes to protecting the perimeter. Tesoro Corp. has undergonea transformation through theyears from a small local refinerto a multi-state marketer thats willingto take risks to grow the business. Over the past eight years the San Antonio-based refiner has become a full-service marketer [...]
Technological advances in Asia could have far-reaching implications on the U.S. convenience industry, from cell phone payment to RFID to the networked store. Its one thing when your grandmother, who still favors the rotary telephone, is impressed by technology. Its another when its Scott Hartman. President of Rutters Farm Stores, a 50-unit chain based in [...]
How you present information determines how well training works. What Employers Are Doing More careful employee selection 57% Better compensation & benefits 50% Tuition reimbursement 47% Improved training programs 45% Better orientation programs 39% Casual dress code 38% Flexible hours & schedules 33% Providing health insurance 29% Conducting exit interviews 28% Profit-sharing 17% What Employees [...]