What are installment payments? Installment payments refer to a transaction that is split into a series of payments that a consumer pays overtime rather than paying one lump sum at the time of purchase. Many financial technology companies (Afterpay, Klarna, etc.) are partnering with merchants to provide them with installment payment plan options, allowing that…
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The Epic & Evolving Convenience of C-Stores
W. Capra’s Ed Collupy* had been invited by the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA) to speak at their 2020 annual Expo on the latest technologies in the Convenience / Petro industry. The event was unfortunately cancelled due to current circumstances. Ed’s remarks were to be titled “Epic Convenience.” He’d prepared an…
The Paradox of Data Collection
The latest trends in the consumer engagement sphere are tracking toward a commercial environment in which brands maintain unique relationships with individual consumers. The loyalty wires of late have been buzzing with words like personalization, one-to-one and clienteling, all of which point to the notion of a brand providing valued consumers with a custom-tailored experience.…
W. Capra Adopts NIST Privacy Framework Approach to Data Privacy
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released version 1.0 of the NIST Privacy Framework: A Tool for Improving Privacy through Enterprise Risk Management on January 16, 2020. This framework was developed starting in September 2018 using a “robust, transparent, consensus-based collaboration with private and public sector stakeholders.” W. Capra was among those…
Analysis of the Texas AFD Anti-Skimming Regulation
Introduction to the Regulation On September 1st, 2019 Texas Legislature created Chapter 607 of the Texas Business and Commerce code related to card skimmers on automated fuel dispensers (AFDs). This chapter requires petroleum merchants to implement procedures to prevent, detect, and report the installation of skimmers on their unattended AFDs. The Office of the Attorney…
Strategic Foresight Series: App-Free Mobile Commerce
W. Capra’s new Strategic Foresight Series focuses on how merchants can transform the digital commerce experiences they deliver to customers through emerging technologies. In each series segment, W. Capra experts dive into an emerging area, outlining the signals of change in the market, potential strategic responses to those signals, and the value that these new…
Utilizing an AWS framework to measure KPIs
When collecting KPIs, there are certain foundational questions that organizations must ensure they can answer: How can you be certain all of your system processes ran without error? What are the KPIs you are tracking? How long would it take to find out what data your KPIs are measuring? Would you know if those KPIs…
C-store Operators Move Technology Investments to the Must-Have Column
This article originally appeared in a print edition of Convenience Store News, written by contributor Melissa Kress. Convenience Store News’ online content can be found here. Not that long ago, technology initiatives were a nice-to-have in the convenience channel, a bonus to stand out in the competitive set. But today, convenience store operators are moving technology from…
Before You Check Out of 2019...
The winter holiday season is around the corner, but that doesn’t mean time stands still and projects need to grind to a halt. While most who work in service industries and operational roles cannot automatically schedule week-long or more vacations around the holidays, many do have the luxury to “check out” for a bit beginning…
Averting the Digital Dilemma
This article originally appeared in a print edition of Convenience Store News, written by contributor Thomas Malloy. Convenience Store News’ online content can be found here. Most c-store operators are by now already familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT). Small sensors and tiny tech machines talk to each other and to us via our…
EMV Co. and W3C, United for a World Without Friction
One of the hardest parts of the payments universe is increasing transaction speed and reducing friction for the consumer. Let’s be realistic, we have gone from paying with cash to using a mobile phone in a very short time, but the last five years have brought significant change. In the United States, we approached the…
Defend Against Dollar Stores: C-stores can protect their turf against value retailers by focusing on strengths and differentiation
This article originally appeared in a print edition of Convenience Store News, written by contributor Tammy Mastroberte. Convenience Store News’ online content can be found here. Convenience Store Operators face competition from within the industry, as well as outside of it. This includes quick-service restaurants, drugstores and the expanding dollar store market. While dollar stores…