As I sit in my workplace wanting via the calendar, I notice simply how briskly the months are passing by and time does not present any indicators of slowing down. One factor that strikes me is that the 2023 NACS Present is barely two months away. How did that occur? October additionally brings the annual Comfort Retailer Information Expertise Management Roundtable & Dinner, which is able to happen Oct. 3 in Atlanta.
I had the pleasure of attending our inaugural expertise occasion, then known as the C-store Expertise Management Dinner, in 2016 — which additionally happened in Atlanta — even earlier than I took over the expertise beat. Whereas I used to be acquainted with the hot-button problems with the time, I discovered it fascinating to see the place the channel’s leaders thought retail expertise was heading.
For instance, whereas cell funds have been taking maintain in lots of shops, one Mississippi operator defined that its rural areas rung up 80 % of transactions in money. I’d be curious to see the place that quantity stands immediately.
However the subject that stands out most from that night practically seven years in the past is how large of a menace — if a menace in any respect — would Amazon’s rising Simply Stroll Out expertise pose to the comfort channel. All agreed that customer support would nonetheless reign supreme in comfort and that’s nonetheless true however as you recognize, c-store retailers have more and more discovered a method to ship on customer support and the checkout choices prospects need.
What is going to this yr’s expertise occasion carry? How far has the tech house come from 2016? In case you are fascinated with attending this intimate gathering of c-store expertise leaders, drop me a line at [email protected].
