C-store chains across the globe have begun deploying versions of frictionless checkout solutions, from scan-and-pay apps to Just Walk Out technology, but the concept is still underutilized in convenience stores today.

While many c-store retailers report having their eye on frictionless checkout trends and technology, some aren’t sure where to start or why they should consider it.

Richard Crone, CEO of Crone Consulting LLC, noted that an effective frictionless checkout experience starts with retailers being able to connect with their consumers. Today, that means having a professional, easily navigated mobile app, he said.

“That’s your pre-authenticated identifier for knowing who the customer is and interacting with them,” Crone said. “The one who enrolls the customer for that app is the one who controls the upside from personalization and connecting with that customer, for not only frictionless checkout, but for a frictionless experience, for a personalized experience.”

Crone also noted that frictionless checkout systems come in many different varieties, and it is not always necessarily as complicated as it may seem to integrate them.

“The convenience store operator doesn’t have to reequip their store with cameras and sensors in order to enter this market. The easiest way for them to enter this market is with order ahead,” Crone said.

For many chains, especially smaller retailers, integrating a frictionless checkout system can seem both intimidating and expensive, and in some cases it can be. However, almost always the first step is figuring out a way to deploy technology that will allow c-store operators to get to know their customers’ tendencies, especially their spending habits. A mobile app is the retailer’s best opportunity to begin to understand those habits.

Once the mobile app is refined and easily accessible for users, then new tactics can be deployed to get the customer’s foot in the door and put frictionless checkout systems into practice.

“What most people don’t know about the convenience store or the grocery store industry is that the store operators actually make more money from the trade promotions than they do in profit,” said Crone. “So, if they can extend that placement inside their app, then they can provide an audit trail and prove the attribution for a net new sale, and that is more valuable than the spray-and-pray advertising most convenience stores use today.”

Crone noted that the focus shouldn’t be on checkout, but on the check-in process. When customers check in through an app, it allows retailers to know their customer, what their preferences are and what promotions might appeal to them. For customers to be able to check in, there needs to be a communications platform that extends to before, during and after the convenience store visit.

Aside from frictionless checkout that comes via a mobile app, many operators have found success with other systems.

Cashierless Stores

Raymond Huff, who operates 21 c-stores in Colorado, California, Hawaii and Michigan under the brands Russell’s Convenience and Russell’s Xpress, noted that frictionless checkout is essential for the operation of his locations.

“We would have had to close stores if we were not able to implement unmanned stores,” said Huff.

Russell’s Xpress locations operate out of high-rise buildings and are completely unmanned, which is made possible using specialty software provided by Tenderfoot Software.

For entry into each unmanned store, customers are required to simply enter their phone number or the number for the office they are visiting inside the building. From there, they can select from a wide variety of snacks, beverages and more, and pay using credit or debit, Google Pay, Samsung Pay or Apple Pay.

Through this system, Huff was able to learn more about the customers that he was serving and provide a proprietary loyalty system that allowed him to reward his most loyal customers.

Huff also noted that frictionless checkout systems are not always used to cut costs or eliminate staff, but they are used to benefit the consumer.

“Many customers did initially think we were doing it to eliminate staff, (but) we weren’t,” he said. “We implement (frictionless checkout) for ease of access in our unmanned locations and checkout speed in our manned locations.”

Whether frictionless checkout comes in the form of a mobile app or artificial intelligence and computer vision technology, it’s a tool that can help improve convenience for customers, speed up the checkout experience and free up employees to handle other tasks including offering better customer service.