It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the convenience and fuel retail industry’s annual NACS Show, especially when it takes place in Las Vegas! That’s why it’s important to take a step back and reflect on the experience. We were certainly thrilled to exhibit for the first time this year, and met many new and familiar faces.
One of the familiar faces was Angel Abcede, Senior Editor/Content Development Coordinator for CSP. You may recall his 2014 article on Mapco’s network-wide implementation of Zenput. The great thing about NACS is that it allows you to put on a bit of a mini-show for passersby at the booth. Our mini-show focused on, of all things, a chicken sandwich!
As Angel explains in this NACS tech overview, Zenput showed how a hand-held gauge can read the temperature of food and how data can flow into our app and onto the cloud. He’s referring to Zenput’s recent integration with Bluetherm probe thermometers. By working together, these technologies eliminate the need for foodservice workers or managers to manually log temperatures and guarantee exact readings every time.
Taking Our Own ‘Tech Temperature’
The great thing about a trade show is that you get to take your own temperature as a company and compare it to some of the other trends on the show floor. Angel’s article highlights some of those trends, and Zenput is on point:
Big Data – Data is being used to assess customer shopping habits, manage inventory, and measure performance.
Branding – This is especially hot right now in the foodservice arena, and it really comes down to execution of in-store signage programs. How well do your stores execute on any given day? That’s where mobile reporting at the store level is especially handy.
Connectivity – That’s how you share information about in-store signage and inventory control. It’s all about staying connected while staying secure. This is where having GPS and timestamp and a secure cloud-based technology is useful.
Customer-relationship management – While the signage and in-store promotions are a component, it’s much more than that. It’s about responding quickly to problems that can arise in a store on any given day, from inventory control to maintenance. How well does your store respond to a shortage of the new CPG or a broken latte dispenser? Do they even have that capability? That’s where real-time exception reports and notifications can make a difference in a retailer’s bottom line.
To learn more about Zenput’s application in the convenience channel, click here.
And be sure to read about our recent partnership with Alon Brands, the largest 7-Eleven franchisee in the U.S.
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