C-Store Technology

Every industry trade journal touts the importance Business Intelligence (BI). Above and beyond other industries, c-stores advantage for business intelligence is natural. The industry sells standard products and knows measuring results is the only way to know success. While BI has become the buzz for new industries, retailers have always measure results and studied margins …

All businesses know the value of automation and online systems. Obviously, they make businesses run better, more cheaply and more efficiently.  It is easy to forget that technology is worth little without human involvement.  Most technology is merely tools built to make humans function better.  One great way to combine people and automation is with …

Anyone with Gilbarco’s, Passport® has the ability to quickly start using analytic reports to improve store performance and grow their businesses. It takes a little help to use it fully. Of course, Passport transaction data has a lot of detail. In fact, everything regarding the POS transactions is recorded. Obviously, sorting through the details to …

Business intelligence (BI) for small c-store operators is complicated but necessary. Some argue that you have to have hundreds of stores to afford the staff and expertise needed to benefit. Processing, organizing, analyzing and sharing the data insights takes time, money and resources that are just too costly for small operators. C-store staff are busy. …

C-Store owners challenge data geeks to do something useful for their sales results. For example, using tools to make your c-store data sell more snickers. They often argue that data cannot sell anything or help with the real work of providing convenience. Obviously, they are right in many ways. It is the c-store staff that …

If you read articles in the c-store industry journals or magazines it is hard to find an issue without some sort of mention on the value of analyzing your data and using it to drive your business.  A lot C-store operators feel like they have so much data it feels like a Big Data mountain to …

Problem identification is the first step to solve any problem.  C-store managers use reports, experience, business intelligence (BI) and consultants.  Nonetheless, there are 3 Steps to solve c-store performance problems that are often overlooked. Once a problem is defined, the question then becomes, how do we resolve it.  This will vary on the type of …

These days, few businesses  run without some sort of software. Software configuration gives you 2 secret weapons in changing times. It can range from just a free internet email account to a full fledged Operation Support System that does everything.  Selecting software can be stressful, for it is most likely something you will live with for years …

There are 4 ways trending will help your c-store.Dictionary.com defines trending as the general course or prevailing tendency. This perspective is a necessary component or perspective to have when evaluating Convenience Store performance.   So if this is so great, why aren’t all companies doing it? The reason usually points to the time it takes to …

All convenience stores share and print spreadsheets with the latest and greatest performance statistics to let managers know where to focus and what is going well in their company.  However, a single snapshot in time may not really relay what is going on as much as you think it might.  Yes, current spreadsheets will tell …

How c-stores use back office data varies greatly. Customizing your reports is not a new concept. Most Business Intelligence and even some Back-Office tools come with standard reports, but this usually entails data that you can currently get from your Back-Office system already. There are core areas of activity that impact the totals these systems give you that need …

If you break the word insight down to in-sight, the power it gives you is easier to comprehend.  It is easier to correct problems, or avoid troubles when they are known and seen.  While spreadsheet reporting will give you insight into the most critical issues, it can be the little issues that impact the bottom lines of those …