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Convenience Store Management: Adapting to Recent Changes in the Industry

Convenience Store Management: Adapting to Recent Changes in the Industry

The convenience store industry continues to evolve with the growing consumer demand, changing purchasing behaviors, and advancement in retail technology. Nowadays, c-store owners and retailers are continually on the lookout for effective ways for better convenience store management to cope with the changing landscape and increasing expectations of consumers.

If you want to survive today’s cut-throat competition, here are a few noteworthy shifts in the retail industry you must adapt in order to stay ahead of the curve and come out a winner. 

1# The Convergence of Food Retail Concepts

Gas and cigarettes were deemed as the big sellers of c-stores in the past. But due to declining margins and eroding demand of these products, c-store owners have no choice but to adapt to the new preferences of consumers to make up for the receding bottom line. Consumers expect gas stations and convenience stores to have some sort of restaurant-like section where they can grab something to eat on the go. Needless to say, food retail concepts are rapidly converging, and it is high-time c-store owners adapt to this new trend.

C-stores with flexible infrastructures will definitely have an advantage. With the help of an integrated facility technology, it can become easy to control refrigeration, HVAC, foodservice equipment, and lighting. Moreover, cutting-edge convenience store management software will gather useful data from these systems and provide with meaningful insights to c-store owners in order to help them improve efficiency and reduce overall costs.  

#2 Consumers Today have Thorough Product Knowledge 

The internet has made it quite easy for customers to conduct research on products they want to buy before they can even enter a convenience store. According to a survey, most of the consumers research about products online before deciding to purchase them. In the past, this was limited to expensive products like electronics and gadgets. But nowadays, this practice has extended to all types of products, even household supplies and groceries.  

Make sure that your staff has detailed knowhow of your c-store products so that they can keep up and better cater to extremely knowledgeable customers’ needs. You may have to focus on employee training and have them enrolled in specialized courses to help them stay up-to-date with the products that are sold commonly in c-stores.

 

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#3 Personalization is the New Black for Consumer Engagement

Consumers are overexposed to ads, images, and commercials of all sorts. As a result, this form of communication is increasingly becoming ineffective. According to a study, a business has about eight seconds or less to capture the attention of an average consumer.  

With so many unique and captivating brands and stores, how you make yourself stand out from the crowd? How you can make sure they are getting the right message?

Through personalization.

Convenience store-owners need to focus on optimizing each of their touchpoints and gather customer data to get insights into their behaviors and determine what makes them tick. They can use this information to provide each consumer with promotions and advertisements they might be interested in. In short, you need to send a special, targeted message to grab their attention.

 

The convenience store industry is moving fast. You will need an innovative convenience store management system to collect data and organize it in an easy-to-understand manner to keep up with its pace. Learn how CStorePro can help you adapt to recent changes. Schedule a Free Demo today.

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