NEW ORLEANS - Three retailers discussed how a cross-functional POS system can enhance product marketing, facilitate business intelligence, build add-on sales, and reduce shrink during the NACStech workshop, "Checking Out POS Capabilities."

Donna Perkins, POS/Pricebook manager for E-Z Stop Food Marts, proved that even a small retailer can install and manage its own Wide Area Network (WAN) and create a system that reduces theft and allows the chain to be competitive on fuel without a loyalty discount program. One key was integrating video surveillance with the POS system.

"The use of text inserters on our Passports linked to our DVRs allows managers, supervisors and home office to search video based on key words, like beer, cigarettes, refunds, etc.," said Perkins. With Passport, E-Z Stop can also be competitive with other companies that have full loyalty programs that provide discounts on fuel. "We are able to discount our branded Exxon cards and Speedpass 3 cents per gallon and we can discount any car wash purchase at the pump by 10 cents per gallon," she noted.

Rutter??s Farm Stores uses its Radiant POS system with touch screen ordering to not only speed throughput at its stores?? deli prep area but to also build larger tickets with automated upselling. Bob Sleeper, software application support manager for CHR Corp./Rutter??s, vividly described how the ordering kiosks up-sells customers as they create their own sandwiches. "A human may forget to do an upsell; the computer never forgets," said Sleeper. Up-sells include extra bacon, extra cheese, fries, dessert or "make it a combo."

The keys to the success for the program, according to Sleeper, are:

• Keeping the product offering consistent from store to store; and,
• Forcing all orders through the kiosks, even if the customer has to be assisted by an employee.

"We had an overnight 30 percent increase in sales after installing kiosks," said Sleeper.

Dale Williams, director-quality assurance, for Flash Foods, explained the benefits of Flash Foods?? Rewards in a Flash program. "We wanted to build customer loyalty and brand awareness," said Williams. The solution was to implement Pinnacle??s Loyalink solution. "Now, we have 45,000 hits per day on our loyalty server," she said. Among other benefits:

• The program distinguished Flash Foods from its competitors;
• Sales increased in all product categories;
• Loyalty card customers spend $1 to $1.50 more than non-loyalty customers in the store.

In an effort to obtain real time store level POS data, Flash Foods implemented Pinnacle??s Enterprise Management solution. In addition to providing the tools to do market basket analysis, it also helped reduce theft at the store level. She showed a sample dashboard that illustrated the ease in which a store manager could identify employees with shrinkage issues.

Like E-Z Stop, Flash also integrated digital surveillance with its POS to reduce employee theft.

Look for more coverage of NACStech in the upcoming special issue of Convenience Store News, specifically focusing on NACStech.

NACStech wraps up today at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. For more information, visit nacstech.com.