This article originally appeared in the CStore Decisions. CStore Decisions’ online content can be found here. “Epic Convenience” was the title for my planned remarks for the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA) annual expo, which I didn’t get to share because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But...
POS Opportunities Expand
This article originally appeared in the online edition of CStore Decisions. CStore Decisions' online content can be found here. In 2020, new point-of-sale (POS) solutions, including frictionless solutions, are giving c-store retailers much to consider. “Retailers continue to be confronted by POS solution providers’ attention to delivering software to support...
Installment Payments: Should Merchants Offer Their Customers A New Way to Pay?
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...
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...
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.”...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
Touchpoints: The New Point of Sale
The following has been reposted from Convenience Store Decisions. The original post can be found here. New touchpoints are challenging traditional point-of-sale (POS) systems used in the convenience/petro retail industry, as customer-experience-driven technologies, global solution providers and industry leaders look to move their companies forward. For example, as more convenience...
Generational Consumer Preferences: What Does It Mean for Your Business?
We hear it all the time – “Millennials are killing ___”, with any number of products or services filling in the blank. Millennials are currently the largest generation of spenders, and will continue to be for at least the next 10 years [1]. For merchants, this means that the...
