There are 150,174 convenience stores operating in the United States, with one convenience store for every 2,225 people, according to NACS data.

“Convenience is one of the fastest growing categories of retail,” said Linnea Geiss, COO, PDI Technologies, a technology solutions company focused on the convenience industry. “Every day, there are 160 million transactions in convenience stores, so it’s critical that retailers have the right information when and where they need it.”

Geiss noted that a convenience store operates as an ecosystem, which can make it challenging to find an effective technology solution that delivers the data and insights retailers need to keep up with changing consumer behaviors. This ecosystem includes the customer, retail operation, wholesalers and the entire supply chain that feeds the stores.

“Our mission at PDI is to bring the technology into the ecosystem that connects the different stakeholders and simplifies commerce throughout the ecosystem,” said Geiss.

Oftentimes, retailers are impeded by their current technology solutions, she explained. Consumers are constantly changing, and as they change, so do their needs. C-store operations must be able to not only adapt to this changing behavior but need to adapt faster than ever before.

“When we looked at point-of-sale technology specifically, there was still a lot of room for innovation—especially compared to other technologies in the convenience space,” Geiss said. “We felt the opportunity was there for PDI to develop a product with a modern technology stack to overcome some of the legacy issues and limitations that currently exist in the market.”

PDI recently announced new and expanded technology solutions and programs to connect convenience operations and address critical industry challenges. Among the solutions is the PDI Point of Sale (POS). The PDI POS is intended to be an all-in-one POS software solution, offering everything retailers need to onboard service providers, manage payments, send payouts and perform a wide range of other tasks.

“We want to provide retailers with a seamless, holistic experience across all these different interconnected applications throughout the retail environment,” Geiss said.

Learn more about the PDI POS solution in the Thursday, November 2, edition of NACS Daily.

This is the first installment of a two-part NACS Daily series on point-of-sale technology. Learn more about PDI Technologies.