Insights From Conexxus: How 3 Retailers Are Implementing New Tech

Retailers at Conexxus discussed processes and initiatives for evaluating and adopting new technologies.   

January 31, 2025

By Lauren Shanesy

Launching new tech at your store can be time consuming and costly if done ineffectively.

At the 2025 Conexxus Annual Conference this week in Tucson, Arizona, retailers took the stage during the session “Think Tank Panel: Realities from Top C-Store Leaders” to discuss how they’re evaluating and implementing new technologies.

CHS Payment Solutions

When Gary Hoover, manager of the point of sales product team at CHS Payment Solutions (Cenex), looks at bringing in a new technology to the business, he considers factors like cost, benefits and implementation challenges.

“Where we sit, there's never a shortage of requests that come in, whether it be for point-of-sale systems, self-checkout, loyalty programs, etc.,” said Hoover. The first thing his team asks is who is requesting the new technology and whether it’s a single-store operator or multi-location operator, which will determine what type of system they need.

“One of the questions we always ask is what is the benefit of this change. … Are we looking at financial impacts? Are we going to drive additional sales? Are we going to cut costs?” said Hoover.

He also considers factors like costs, integration with their payment processor, impact on quality assurance, testing timelines and resource allocation when evaluating a new POS.

The company currently operates eight POS systems, and Hoover said it’s always good to have options. “You want to have at least two,” he advised the audience.

Clifford Fuel

Jeff Carpenter, director of education and training at Clifford Fuel, which operates 22 Cliff’s Local Market stores in the central New York region, said that Cliff’s is investing in new technologies to drive efficiencies and enhance customer experience for its foodservice program.

“We're looking at how technology can help continue the seamless freshness experience for customers,” he said, noting that the retailer has been offering foodservice for almost 30 years. With a robust made-to-order foodservice menu that lets customers customize their meal, the brand is looking at tech such as touchscreen ordering kiosks, online ordering and delivery systems and self-checkout equipment that also lets customers modify their order.

“We struggled with this at first because with our made-to-order program, self-checkout kiosks and delivery apps didn’t have all the permutations for the customer to modify or customize their order,” he said.

As for Clifford Fuel’s process, “We are a small retailer, so usually when we bring something new to the table, all parties are involved. It’s important for your team to be fluid in implementing new technologies and to make sure you’re capturing customer feedback and making adjustments as necessary,” said Carpenter.

Maverik

Chad Kobayashi, senior director of retail technology at Maverik, said that a current main goal for Maverik is to implement new technologies that enhance the employee experience.

The sheer amount of devices and technologies needed for the company’s 850 stores in over 20 states is vast, said Kobayashi, and it’s a challenge to manage all the different devices, which include POS, SCO, kitchen production terminals, ordering kiosks, iPads and other hardware.

Going forward, Maverik wants to move to a model where employees can have mobile devices with them, which will reduce the need for stationary computers.

“We want to have devices for each employee as they're doing their tasks for their day, instead of having central devices to go back to like a computer or a terminal. They need to have something with them as they’re working because that's how people do things today,” he said.

The ongoing transition to mobile devices has been positively received, noted Kobayashi, especially among those who relied on desktop computers.

The Conexxus Annual Conference took place this week in Tucson, Arizona. For more information, visit conexxus.org.