The Convenience Technology Vision Group (CTVG) recently had its September quarterly meeting and has since released its third report. The primary focus of this meeting was to address the complex landscape of point-of-sale (POS) systems in an era of emerging digital experiences and broader data strategies. Participants highlighted the challenges hindering their ability to meet changing expectations and identified opportunities to improve the customer experience. The group also provided updates of their electric vehicle (EV) strategies as a follow-up to the previous meeting.

Key takeaways identified in the report include:

• Decoupling and Decluttering: Participants emphasized the need to decouple POS systems, separating different functions and components to provide flexibility in technology choices. This approach could allow retailers to select the best solutions for payments, loyalty, lottery or mobile apps and potentially create a plug-and-play ecosystem.

“Decoupling the payment systems from the POS and really creating that compartmentalized architecture is dead on the money,” said Nick Peters, vice president of IT for Campbell Oil Co. “The trouble is, the forecourt is inherently legacy and inherently unique in every aspect of the word.”

• EMV Upgrade: “EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) changed things for the point-of-sale vendors,” said Patrick Raycroft, partner, W. Capra Consulting. The transition to EMV-compliant hardware was discussed as a costly yet necessary undertaking for retailers. It was noted that this transition unfortunately diverted supplier resources from enhancing POS systems, leading to a decline in both vendor customer service and the advancement of newly architected POS solutions.
• Major Oil Companies and Forecourt Control: Major oil companies were recognized for shaping technology adoption in the industry. However, their certification and approval processes were criticized for causing delays in software updates and innovation. The need for more flexibility in using brand assets was highlighted.

Major oil integration is “one of our biggest pain points in delays for releasing software. We know that the fixes are there, it’s in a patch or a quick fix or whatever it is, but because the major won’t sign off on it, we can’t get it, and we, as the end user, are the ones that have to pay that price,” said Skip Potter, director of information technology for R.L. Vallee Inc.

Additionally, members praised the work of Conexxus in developing and maintaining standards and application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate seamless integration between diverse software and hardware solutions. Members collectively agreed that the industry must transition to flexible, modular and adaptable POS systems that meet evolving customer demands and embrace emerging technologies.

This Sept. 8 CTVG meeting also briefly addressed the challenges and opportunities related to the EV charging infrastructure in the convenience retail sector, which was a follow-up from the June 2023 CTVG meeting on the same topic. With an influx of federal funding, changing technology and third-party involvement, retailers are cautiously exploring their roles in the evolving EV market. Several members of the group indicated they are waiting for the technologies to advance a bit more before investing too far, such as Donnie Rhoads with The Convenience Group in Washington and Rance Wells of Toot’n Totem, noting developments in quicker charging units and solid-state batteries.

The full report includes a summary of the discussion (“CTVG Views”), the full transcript of the meeting (“In The Room”) and supplemental articles. To download this and other Vision Group Network reports, please click here.

Convenience Technology Vision Group brings together invited retailer and supplier tech leaders for quarterly virtual meetings to discuss technology issues impacting the convenience channel. The group is committed to sharing its views and perspectives in order to advance the convenience retailing and energy industry. CTVG is part of the Vision Group Network, which gathers the collective knowledge and ideas of its members to create a legacy of sharing within the retail community.