By Steven O’Toole, NCR
Convenience
stores are suddenly becoming much more convenient and Amazon’s announcement of its
plans to open as many as 3,000 self-serve, cashierless stores is sure to
accelerate the trend.
Competition
from e-Commerce, technological innovations and new consumer expectations have
triggered a revolution in retail that is redefining the shopping experience. Retailers
know that consumers have more options, more expectations and less patience than
ever before, and they will abandon stores that fail to meet their demands.
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From
high-end luxury boutiques to big-box discount outlets, retailers are looking
for new ways to attract and retain customers. Convenience stores are also
responding. Their entire value proposition depends on their ability to deliver
on the promise of their name, especially in an era when customers can shop from
the comfort of their couch.
If
there is one thing consumers hate above all else, it’s standing in line. Consumer
research shows that nearly three-quarters of shoppers consider checkout the biggest pain point in stores. More than half say they
will leave a store if the lines are too long.
By
definition, shoppers in convenience stores are particularly impatient. Whether
they are buying gas, grabbing a snack or picking up a loaf of bread, technology
can get them on their way quickly.
Consider
this scenario: A customer rushing to complete errands stops at a convenience
store for gas at a pump equipped with a cloud-connected optical screen. She
swipes her loyalty card for an automatic discount, then uses the screen to
order a specialty coffee while pumping gas.
Inside
the store, a digital sign provides the status of her order, as well as a
special pizza promotion. She uses a kiosk to select her toppings while sipping
her coffee, grabs a few more items, completes her transaction at a self-checkout
and gets back on the road.
This
scenario is part of an unstoppable movement toward frictionless shopping that
blurs the line between digital and offline commerce.
Click-and-collect
innovations that let customers shop online and retrieve their items at the
store are driving sales at both ends of the transaction. Omnichannel solutions
give in-store customers access to all their shopping tools. If they can’t find
the item they want on the shelf, they can buy it on their mobile phones or at online
order stations within the store.
Frictionless
shopping eliminates the large and small inconveniences that detract from the
shopping experience. It also gives retailers invaluable information to help forge
closer relationships with their customers, improve inventory control, optimize
staffing levels and increase profits.
There
are many other opportunities that convenience retailers can explore to help reduce
friction at the checkout, including self-checkout, customer self-scanning from
their mobile phone and mobile tablet POS for fast checkout anywhere in the
store. Each of these innovations can help reduce or eliminate queues at
checkout, enhance the interaction between customers and associates. They may
provide other operational advantages, such as faster parking lot turns to
increase sales, and the ability to reallocate labor from operating a POS to higher-value
activities within the store.
The
technology that drives frictionless shopping is advancing quickly. As with any
emerging technology, frictionless innovations have to be applied wisely — and
they do not replace the need for people. Retailers have to carefully consider
their brand value and the preferences of their customers in deciding how
technology can enhance the shopping experience.
Without
a doubt, technology is changing the shopping experience, but one thing hasn’t
changed. Successful retailers never lose sight of the fact that the customer
always come first.
Steven O’Toole is General
Manager of Convenience and Fuel Retail Solutions at NCR. He joined NCR in 2017, leading overall strategy and priorities
to drive a best-of-breed solution portfolio that helps convenience and fuel
retailers achieve their unique business objectives. O’Toole brings more than 25
years of experience with many top convenience and fuel brands, such as Puma
Energy, Conoco Philips and BP.
