Stewart’s Shops, the Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based chain with over 300 convenience shops in New York and Vermont, has partnered with PaySpot Inc., to offer prepaid products through Stewart’s existing point-of-sale (POS) system.
Stewart’s Shops, known for its proprietary and dairy products, signed a multi-year agreement, which is significant because it’s the first of its kind, as no other chain has been integrated with prepaid on the Pinnacle Palm POS.
PaySpot quickly discovered two key opportunities with Stewart’s convenience stores. The first was to do what PaySpot does best, which is to expand Stewart’s prepaid category and increase sales. Before PaySpot, the only prepaid product offered by Stewart’s was a long distance carrier’s calling cards. PaySpot was able to continue to supply the national long distance provider as well as add several other specialty cards from other LD carriers. Additionally, Stewart’s accepted PaySpot’s prepaid wireless suite into its stores. The rollout of prepaid wireless and LD into Stewart’s 326 retail locations is currently in process, and the addition of other prepaid products, including prepaid debit, prepaid gift, money transfer and bill payment, will be considered after the first phase of prepaid is implemented.
The second opportunity with Stewart’s was the requirement to integrate with Stewart’s existing POS system, Pinnacle’s Palm POS provided by The Pinnacle Corp. Integration is ideal for numerous reasons, such as it enables the clerk to sell, recharge, refund and disable prepaid products directly from the POS and it eliminates the need for additional hardware opening valuable counter space in the retail location.
To help engage Stewart’s Stores in the new prepaid category, vendor promotions will be planned for 2008.