Conexxus In the News

Frodi Hammer: “AI will become the go-to technology”

Tuesday June 27, 2023

“Conexxus do a lot of work creating standards for the industry. What were your big takeaways from the event?” There was a major focus on innovation – how should a company organise itself and think in order to be innovative? Retailers were talking about trying to be innovative. And it's hard because it’s so resource intensive. You must structure your business around becoming innovative. That's were Conexxus plays a role with standards. If everyone followed them, it would be far easier to plug and play components. It would allow you to pilot and test much faster than today. Innovation doesn't necessarily come from retailers; it will always come from the market. If you want to be disruptive, you have to spend time and resources listening to your customers. The customer is still the king. 

Wednesday June 14, 2023

Global standards benefit retailers no matter where they do business. “Even retailers doing business in one country benefit from global standards,” said Ian Brown, API strategy manager, IFSF. “Suppliers can implement one standard no matter the country of use which mean resources are freed from doing multiple developments for the same functionality.”

Wednesday May 3, 2023

Beginning on day two and through the remainder of the conference, these committees and working groups will meet to finalize or continue to work in current projects and prioritize future projects.

In the education session “Self-Checkout: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” panelists from four leading convenience retailers—Coen Markets, Friendly Express, Parkland USA and Couche-Tard/Circle K—shared their experiences in implementing self-checkout technology in their stores, discussed the types of solutions they are using in these locations and provided insight into how this innovation changed the culture within their companies.

What’s the Buzz at Conexxus?

Tuesday May 2, 2023

Conexxus kicked off its 2023 Annual Conference yesterday in Coronado, California. Through a mix of keynote speakers, education sessions and panel discussions, convenience retailers, suppliers and manufacturers heard from experts and their peers on the challenges facing the convenience industry and how innovation, adaptability and new technologies must be part of a company’s game plan.

Attendees on day one heard from two dynamic keynote speakers emphasizing how and why innovation and technology are critical to any business.

Wednesday March 8, 2023

Over the past few years, convenience store retailers have ramped up their ability to have digital conversations with their customers. Now that the basics are in place for many industry players, it's time to think about the next steps.

A recent Conexxus webinar looked at ways of moving the customer experience forward.

Tuesday January 31, 2023

"Most of the organizations in our industry, at least at some point in their growth, struggle with how to strategically innovate. The past few years have been a testament to this constant race, with the acceleration of technological changes amplifying across all aspects of our industry," Conexxus said.

Thursday November 10, 2022

Innovation came to life for the Conexxus Innovation Research Committee (IRC) during a recent field trip that members made to multiple sites in Austin, Texas. One of the hallmarks of the IRC is to experience what’s new for the industry firsthand.

A visit to a new TXB Store location in Georgetown, Texas, was on the list not only to taste its breakfast taco but also to see how an artificial intelligence pilot utilizing existing security camera system has progressed. Utilizing SparkCognition’s Visual AI Advisor solution, the insights from the location visit were intriguing and revealing.

Tuesday August 2, 2022

About 60 percent of the convenience stores operating in the U.S. are single-store operators. With CDE's implementation of TruAge, these retailers will be able to benefit from the protection and effectiveness of the solution, by having the flexibility to implement the age-verification platform in a full range of POS environments.

Tuesday June 28, 2022

"Now more than ever, c-store operators need to position their locations as a destination", Frieden stated during a Conexxus365 webinar State of Mobile Commerce in Convenience and Fuel. "Consumer confidence also continues to fall. We are almost approaching the lowest levels in 25 years." At the same time, convenience retailers are competing for volume through enhancements in store environment, design, inside offerings (such as foodservice, private label, CBD and gaming), and mobile platforms.

Friday May 20, 2022

One of the more thought-provoking questions posed during Conexxus 2022 was: “What keeps you up at night?” Attendees at the annual convenience and fuel retailing conference, held in May in Tucson, Arizona, were united in their concern for the customer experience. Petroleum retailers are seeking solutions that deliver a strong customer experience for everyone, not just at the pump but in the store. The question of how best to do that keeps many of them tossing and turning at night.

Here are four of my takeaways from the Conexxus event for consideration (and perhaps to help get some more sleep at night)...