By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. With any size retailer, getting customer trial at your store is the easy part. If the store owner throws out a compelling offer – perhaps a free deal – customers will come to your store to “check you out.” This is fairly straight forward,…
Gulfcoast Software Solutions
Gulfcoast Software Solutions introduces the new Store Keeper Plus module. Manage up to 1000 stores in real time between store and corporate level. 10x per second provides an accurate picture of your store in real time in an easy to use reporting format with intuitive graphic capabilities. Graphical interface allows you to view all of…
Catering To Smartphone Shoppers
Study finds some shoppers are looking at products in-store, then using their phone to find it cheaper elsewhere. A recent blog post by Retrevo examined the results of a Retrevo Pulse Study that polled shoppers about how they use their cell phones when they shop. Findings showed retailers aren’t doing enough to give smartphone equipped…
Cultivating Loyal C-Store Customers
An effective rewards program can drive new business and increase the average ticket ring with existing customers. By Howard Riell, Contributing Editor. There was a time when loyalty programs were tools used by large chains to reward customers for their daily business. But the times have changed. Convenience store operators of all sizes are now…
Stacking the Cards In Your Favor
General purpose prepaid debit cards are rapidly gaining favor with consumers as an alternative to closed-loop gift cards. By John Lofstock, Editor. Sales of open-loop prepaid cards, issued by banks and credit card companies and able to be used at multiple establishments, are only going to go up as more consumers come to appreciate their…
Tracking the Trends in Convenience Retailing
Despite the global recession, convenience stores have thrived thanks to their ability to provide fast service, quality products and great value in strategic locations. As service and location remain the industry’s primary competitive advantage over supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers, many of whom are moving into the fuel and fresh food business, convenience stores…
ExxonMobil Introduces Station Locator App
ExxonMobil has introduced the “Exxon Mobil Fuel Finder” iPhone and iPod touch application, which provides drivers with real-time maps, driving directions and station information for more than 10,000 Exxon and Mobil retail locations across the continental U.S. “We are very excited to bring our customers the first mobile app from ExxonMobil, using technology to allow…
Shrink Decreases 6.8% in U.S
Global retail theft totaled $107.3 billion in 2010, representing a 5.6% decrease from the prior year (6.8% in the U.S.), according to the fourth annual edition of the Global Retail Theft Barometer. Click here to view the entire study. The study, sponsored by an independent grant from Checkpoint Systems, monitored the costs of shrink (loss…
Healthful Food Choices A National Issue
In his FY 2011 budget proposal, President Barack Obama addressed the need for bringing healthy food options to underserved communities by calling for more than $400 million in investments in new and expanded supermarkets, farmers markets and other food stores. The public-private grant and loan program would dramatically reduce the roughly 23 million Americans who…
Register Now for IRI’s 2010 Retail Summit
Innovation will differentiate the winners from the losers in this crowded retail marketplace. IRI’s Summit 2010 will enable retailers to identify innovative ways to use valuable insights to drive profitability and growth in the current economy, how to understand and predict shopper behavior across channels and geographies and learn best practices for profitable pricing and…