C-Store operations best practices evolve with experience, technology and creativity. Retail competition is high. Therefore, smart owners and managers seek new ways to serve customers. Naturally, they want to provide new items that are desired. Obviously, they desire higher margins for higher convenience and value.

New products, faster service, cleaner shopping, home delivery, choices, and sometimes just simpler options are all included. Successful C-Store operations best practices make use of hot products as well as long term service excellence. Monitoring results, listening to customers and measuring ROI are all part of choosing the items of value.

In addition to great merchandise and service, operations have a direct impact on results. Operators that achieve high growth, stable margins and increasing loyalty operate well. Technology, management and training drive operations success. Best practices apply to technology selection. Of course, management is critical. Top performers have the same items as the bottom performers. Different cashiers in the same store have different outcomes. Stores are the same. Management and execution make a difference.

C-stores that thrive study best practices. They measure their results with POS scan data analytics and compare themselves internally and externally. The use of data is an objective way to find areas of strength. Of course, objective data will show weakness as well. The key is to know the actual status and focus energy on the priority work that drives sales and provides control.

Grandma's Secret Sauce for C-Store Accountability

Grandma’s Secret Sauce for C-Store Accountability

March 19, 2018 — 

The C-Store accountability secret is not a secret to any grandparent. Kids, parents, employees – really just all people – want to know what is expected. They want to succeed. They want to be treated fairly and most of all they want to be appreciated. Well, if we know what we expect and can tell

C-Store Performance - Accountability - Trust or Bust

C-Store Performance Accountability – Trust or Bust

February 22, 2018 — 

To achieve top C-Store performance accountability trust must be strong. In order to operate remote stores well, there must be a level of trust. This trust must be bi-directional. Employees must believe they will have the resources they need for success and HQ staff need remote operations to perform as required. That is why many

C-Store Operations - Keep It Simple - The Hard Work

C-Store Operations – Keep It Simple – The Hard Work

February 8, 2018 — 

C-Store Operations – Keep It Simple – The Hard Work never ends. While simple is desirable,  it’s not easy – it’s just better. Simple means clarity. Clarity is worth the work required to find and follow the simple path. With simplicity comes focus that brings action. C-Store Operations – Keep It Simple – The Hard Work in Motion

C-Store Accountability – Do You Have to be So Mean?

C-Store Control – Do You Have to be So Mean?

January 9, 2018 — 

C-store control- Do you have to be so mean? C-Store managers often discuss accountability when stores are not performing well. Perhaps even more often when money or inventory goes missing. It is easy to become frustrated when employees do not perform as desired. When supervisors get frustrated or angry they may even think the employees

Clean Bathrooms - Do They Really Impact C-Store Performance?

Clean Bathrooms – Do They Really Impact C-Store Performance?

December 20, 2017 — 

Clean Bathrooms – Do They Really Impact C-Store Performance? I get asked this question a lot these days. I was interviewed recently. The reporter asked the question whether having a cleaning bathroom really made a difference to store sales or overall customer satisfaction. She admitted that it mattered to her and she believes that most

Tips from the front lines, now collected in one book

C-Store Tips – If You Have Time to Lean

December 19, 2017 — 

Tom Bandy has written a book about C-Store Tips – If You Have Time to Lean. These tips are collected in one book. Winning C-Store customers and keeping them is the result of smart work by everyone who works in a convenience store, from the team who keep the coolers humming to the owner. We’ve

Plan C-Store Manager Meetings for High Performance

Plan C-Store Manager Meetings for High Performance

December 6, 2017 — 

Meeting plans are valuable. Store manager meetings are expensive. In order to have the desired impact it is useful to plan c-store manager meetings for high performance. Setting the meeting goals and creating an impactful meeting makes sense. Store manager meetings are a critical part of operations. It is hard to have a perfect meeting,

12 Signs You Need to Step-up Your C-Store Performance Management

12 Signs You Need to Step-up Your C-Store Performance Management

November 29, 2017 — 

C-store managers are constantly faced with urgent items that come up and interrupt what they’re doing, often right in the middle of a busy shift. If ignored, a small but real problem may fester and get worse. Without good information, the manager is more likely to misdiagnose the problem and come up with the wrong

C-Store High Performance - How Important is Appreciation?

C-Store High Performance – How Important is Appreciation?

August 18, 2017 — 

When managing C-Store High Performance – How Important is Appreciation? Firstly, High performance teams display their success on a regular basis. When you are part of such a team you become part of its environment. That is, you are recognized and engaged. As a result, you feel the sense of teamwork. Secondly, you are noticed

8 Steps Consultants Use to Increase C-Store Sales

Knowledge Drives C-Store Sales

August 8, 2017 — 

Operators often ask if C-Store Analytics can really make any difference. They ask if knowledge drives c-store sales.  Assuming that solving problems can positively improve sales and profits, the question can be refined as follows: How Does  Knowledge Impact Decisions? Surprisingly, the answer seems to vary widely.  Talking to different operators yields lots of answers.

The Inertia of C-Store Performance - Time for Change

The Inertia of C-Store Performance – Time for Change

August 2, 2017 — 

The Inertia of C-Store Performance calls for a time for change. When putting new processes and technologies into place to save time or increase profits, there are lots of things that can impact success. Even if you are making changes specifically to address waste that harms the team, the beneficiaries of the change will still

image of owner at a fork in the road of C-store data analytics

Take the Fork of C-Store Data Analytics

May 11, 2017 — 

Yogi Berra was often lampooned for his seemingly non-sensible statements. But the easy to remember and thoughtful concepts help to clarify issues and allow simple choices.  His ‘take the fork’ statement made sense when you understand that he lived mid-way on a circular road. When driving to his house you came to a fork. Either