This article is brought to you by Tote.ai.

Technological innovation is driven by a need to encourage growth and make operations easier. At this moment in time, AI is the main way of achieving those goals.

“Competition is intensifying dramatically. QSR innovations are accelerating, creating new customer expectations for speed, convenience and personalized experiences. As these innovations set new standards for foodservice, c-stores risk falling behind if they can’t match the level of seamless, technology-enabled experiences that customers now expect,” said Shyam Rao, founder and CEO of Tote.ai.

He noted that as competition grows and AI technology becomes more readily available on the market, “It’s the early adopters that choose the right AI solutions that will establish competitive advantages that will become increasingly difficult to overcome.”

According to Rao, some of the first benefits retailers can see once they implement AI are operational. “AI reduces operational costs primarily through labor optimization and support automation. Well-designed AI assistants can handle the majority of basic support requests that would otherwise require management intervention or vendor calls,” he said. He cited Tote.ai’s ability to handle tasks such as password resets, policy questions and equipment troubleshooting.

For example, if a receipt printer is jamming, AI can walk associates through the resolution steps with images and videos, Rao said. And if the solution doesn’t work, it can automatically create a detailed support ticket with full context, including error codes and troubleshooting steps attempted.

When AI handles the routine Level 1 and Level 2 support issues, it allows support staff to focus on more complex technical issues, Rao explained. Level 1 issues include password resets, common troubleshooting and “how to” questions. Level 2 covers device diagnostics, logs review, configuration checks and minor bug identification. “Together, these represent 80-90% of typical support tickets,” he said.

Implementing an AI assistant “improves resolution times for serious problems while reducing overall support costs. As staff can focus on these higher level issues, it creates a productivity advantage that compounds over time.”

Another operational benefit is that AI can help employees better serve their customers. “Associates can ask Tote.ai questions hands-free while serving customers: ‘What’s the current promotion on energy drinks?’ or ‘How do I process a return without a receipt?’ They get immediate answers without stopping their workflow,” Rao said. “This can be especially helpful for training. Now associates don’t need to memorize everything upfront—they can learn procedures as the situations arise.”

While these operational benefits may come whenever a retailer decides to implement AI, Rao said that early adopters will have multiple advantages. “AI is moving at such an unprecedented pace that it’s important to work with vendors who have built AI into the systems from the beginning. These ‘AI-native’ solutions will be able to move faster and react quicker to market needs without being weighed down by legacy tech debt. By the time AI becomes standard across the industry, first movers will already be leveraging advanced capabilities that took years to develop and refine,” he said.

This is part two of a two-part series brought to you by Tote.ai. Read part one here.