As a high-turnover industry, c-stores are constantly looking for ways to combat tight labor markets and support their employees, and investing in technology is one way to reach these goals.
“As technology advances, it will be critical that the convenience industry stays on top of its systems and services,” said Terry Hoffman, people operations leader, Whatley Convenience Stores LLC, which operates 11 Zelmo’s Zip In locations in Georgia and Alabama.
Adi Dhandhania, CEO, Neon Marketplace, which has nine locations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, advocates for newer technology and looks for ways to improve customer service and help his team be more efficient.
“However,” he noted, “as with anything in business, it is a balancing act where I think it is important to ensure that we have understood the problem that we are trying to solve and how a piece of technology could reliably help us get there. It is important to understand the cost (both financial and non-financial) of this change versus the disruption or benefit to the organization and the customer.”
Overall, Neon has found the evolution of technology to be helpful to both the Neon team and to customers.
Behind the Scenes
One of the greatest benefits of emerging technology is its ability to assist employees in their tasks and help them train more efficiently.
Zelmo’s recently rolled out a new training system for its employees to use.
“The new system is a much more user-friendly, mobile-based app. It also opens new training avenues for us as we can design our own specific training for roles, locations and individual users as needed,” said Hoffman.
In addition to the new online training, Zelmo’s implemented a task management program, food and cooler temperature monitoring, data tracking with artificial intelligence analysis, and a full human resources information system (HRIS).
“Using this has helped us track and predict labor loads and scheduling needs as well as maintain some real-time information versus waiting a week or so for the data to be manually calculated or put in an Excel spreadsheet,” said Hoffman. “(It is) much easier to see trends and process improvement areas versus the ‘old school’ Excel process.”
With the task and maintenance management system, Zelmo’s teams can quickly identify maintenance issues and better manage each store’s day-to-day responsibilities.
“It also serves as an avenue for training requests and employee recognition,” Hoffman continued.
Zelmo’s HRIS simplifies the hiring and onboarding process and provides employees with the necessary updated training requirements, performance assessments and pay information.
The chain also manages and tracks its fuel sales and delivery, as well as margins across the fuel spectrum, with newly added technology, noted Hoffman.
“This has helped eliminate some workload off our store leadership, and we hope to do more work to refine that process in the near future, right down to real-time pricing and on-time fuel deliveries based on using the tech at the central office,” Hoffman continued.
Neon, too, has invested in newer back-office technology.
The simpler back-office system has helped to streamline workflow for Neon’s employees, making it easier to do daily tasks.
Additionally, Neon is in the process of launching a new learning management system equipped with training videos for its employees, which will be accessible on their phones.
Neon also split its food and convenience technology stacks.
“We had one technology stack that managed the food operations and c-store, which wasn’t as flexible to use. Hence, we introduced a modern foodservice management tech stack and got a cloud-based back-office system to manage the c-store and fuel,” Dhandhania said.
Both food and c-store integrate to one accounting system.
“As a small chain, we do not have the luxury of having our own development team or get a lot of custom development done,” he added. “Hence, taking advantage of modern technology stacks that support fast-casual restaurants and implementing them in our stores has helped us provide a better customer experience and most importantly provided us tools necessary for marketing and loyalty programs.”
Keeping Track of Customer Service
Whichever technology a convenience retailer implements, it should never detract from the customer experience. Both Neon and Zelmo’s recognize that customer service should only continue to improve, including for programs designed specifically to assist c-store employees.
“We have approached technology changes through a customer-first mindset, where we have introduced modern self-service technology hardware and platforms that ease a customer’s journey. In addition to this, we have also focused on reducing the paperwork time and back-office complexity for our store management team members,” said Dhandhania.
Zelmo’s, while it decided against self-service technology presently, is investigating online ordering and delivery technology as well as possible curbside pickup and ensures it connects each new application with the enhancement of customer service.
“Whether that is better trained and prepared employees, more user-identified items, loyalty programs, etc., it is all with our customers in mind, both internal and external,” Hoffman said.
Technology advancement isn’t going away. Dhandhania believes automation and newer technologies will come to the market over the next few years and that the future will see better predictability make way for more efficient labor management.
“It is imperative to utilize as much knowledge and information as you can gain to offer the most competitive advantage to the business and our customers, but also for the engagement and morale of our employees,” Hoffman added.