According to a report from Capstone Partners, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the convenience store sector increased by 53% in 2021 over 2020 numbers. Fueled by increased consolidation, brand name convenience stores are seeking opportunities to reach more consumers with convenience, safety and dependability as they live, work and travel in their own neighborhoods and beyond.
Acquisition can be a great way to pick up prime convenience store locations, qualified staff and existing customers without constructing new stores from the ground up. However, once a merger or acquisition is complete, suddenly a c-store brand may find itself with dozens of new stores across broad geographic locations. Changing the welcome sign is just one of many transitions that must take place to ensure that every location bearing that name delivers the same trusted experience to customers. Technology is increasingly essential to delivering the customer experience as well as profitable operations. Yet ensuring standardization across disparate locations can be challenging. Here’s a list of five technology considerations to help you ensure consistency when you acquire new c-store locations.
1. Point of sale
The point of sale (POS) is increasingly strategic to delivering the optimal customer experience. Disparate POS systems across different stores can deliver an inconsistent customer experience and also limit access to consolidated data that is vital to inventory planning and customer insight. The use of legacy POS systems can also frustrate customers with long queues and require a larger staff. Acquisitions represent a great opportunity to pilot autonomous checkout options that speed transaction time and capture valuable customer insights.
2. Centralized purchasing
In some cases, technology devices are purchased individually by the stores or by regional procurement teams. This can make it difficult to secure optimal pricing. It can also make it difficult to understand which assets the company has, where they are, and in what condition. Centralized purchasing ensures that all technologies across stores meet corporate standards. It’s also possible to outsource asset management to a third party to store, stage, preconfigure, kit and ship items as needed to individual stores, ensuring an available stock of devices when needed.
3. Standardized implementation
Increasingly, having a standard technology plan across all locations is important. It also ensures delivery of a consistent and acceptable brand experience. By using standard, updated retail technologies, it’s possible to capture and consolidate data that feeds emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, which inform inventory management, ordering, operations and asset protection.
4. Infrastructure assessment
Infrastructure in different locations can vary widely. It’s important to evaluate infrastructure to ensure it is capable of supporting the necessary technology. Consider scalability of your Wi-Fi network to support a growing number of wireless devices and evaluate bandwidth for additional data generated by sensors and smart devices. Failure to evaluate and upgrade infrastructure can stall your technology plans.
5. Critical repair, maintenance and support
In today’s digital world, downtime can completely halt business. Before experiencing a crisis of failed equipment, consider investing in proactive maintenance and/or 4-hour repair for the most critical devices. Advanced technologies allow for proactive maintenance, which can detect potential problems prior to system failure. Accessing a dependable partner to provide 4-hour response time in case of a system failure or a spare-in-the-air replacement program can help ensure that technology crises are resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.
When it comes to standardization and complex technology deployments, Telaid is a capable, dependable resource that dozens of Fortune 500 retailers have relied on over the last 40-plus years. Explore our resources for c-stores or start a conversation with us about how we can support technology readiness in new and acquired stores.
