FRAMINGTON, Mass. – Convenience stores are turning to payment apps to help keep the “convenience” in their name up to speed, Pymnts.com reports. For example, Cumberland Farms has a SmartPay mobile app that gives customers an easy way to get in and out of one of its 600 stores. 

As Cumberland Farms has transformed itself from a lunch counter with gas pumps into a place that offers gourmet sandwiches, artisanal water, high-quality coffee and delicious pizza, more millennial and Generation X customers have walked in the doors. “These kids don’t mind paying $4 for a bottle of water, even if it’s the last $4 they have,” said Charles Jarrett, vice president and CIO. “They are going to call us something different. … We are not going to be convenience stores anymore.” 

But it takes more than a trendy menu to keep customers coming back, so Cumberland Farms redesigned its SmartPay Check-Link mobile app earlier this year. The app goes beyond gasoline purchases to encompass food rewards, coffee benefits and pump discounts. 

The retailer has also had a 1,000% bump in pizza slice buys through SmartPay since the beginning of the year. The chain is piloting mobile checkout for coffee purchases. “We are evolving it into a holistic app,” Jarrett said.