Integrating new technology into existing operations has proven to be an incredibly useful tool for c-store retailers looking to bring in new customers and retain existing ones. The ins and outs of integrating certain technology, however, can be daunting.
To learn more, CStore Decisions recently caught up with three industry experts in an exclusive webinar.
Moderated by Editor-in-Chief Erin Del Conte, panelists included Yaqub Baiani, vice president of digital product management, 7-Eleven; Adi Dhandhania, CEO of Neon Marketplace; and Mike Templeton, vice president of digital strategy, NexChapter — a growth advisory firm to the c-store industry.
To kick off the webinar, panelists discussed the idea of digitalization, as more retailers are turning to technology to supplement traditional operational practices.
Baiani noted that the COVID-19 pandemic really accelerated the digitalization movement, however he still stressed the importance of brick and mortar stores. Therefore, he noted, each brand needs to strike a balance between their digital and physical presence.
“I think each player, large or small, goes through that iteration in order to really figure out what makes sense for their customer base,” he said.
Neon Marketplace’s Dhandhania, on the other hand, shared the perspective of a young company that was started during the pandemic.
“We started about three years ago, and we wanted to build a company that was trying to adopt these technologies (by) learning from many of the retailers that had been doing this for a very long time,” he mentioned. “Our customers demanded that the customer experience be very simple. So, our focus has always been on delivering a very good customer experience.”
While retailers continue to adapt to the tech-focused landscape, NexChapter’s Templeton said that there is still room for improvement when it comes to implementation, but the company is excited with the way things are going.
“A lot of retailers have taken those initial steps to begin digitizing their business, looking at things like marketing software to automate outreach to customers and implementing loyalty programs to begin generating in-depth customer data on the people that they’re interacting with each and every day,” he noted. “But still, we see that there’s room to grow in terms of connecting those capabilities people have started to experiment with back to true business growth for the retailer, and that’s really the upside that everyone is looking towards now.”
At 7-Eleven, Baiani said that delivery has been a main point of focus in the company’s digitalization process, largely due to customer demand.
“(Customers) expect fast convenience, they expect food, they expect so many different elements — and when you have the store footprint and now the technology capability to merge those two things together, that’s where the magic happens.”
On top of delivery, Baiani noted that the 7-Eleven and Speedway mobile apps are at the heart of the company’s digital connection with its customers.
“We’ve seen time and time again, through every single case study that you read externally, any data you look at internally — when app members are more engaged, they spend more and they make more trips into your stores,” he continued. “So because of that, we’ve made strategic investments in 7Rewards within our deals and rewards experiences.”
All three panelists agreed that when it comes to digitalization, retailers would be wise to adopt new technology, largely due to consumer expectation and an increasingly digital generation of consumers hitting the market.
Other topics covered in the webinar include point-of-sale practices, omni-channel digital approaches, loyalty and more.
The full webinar recording can be found here.
