Dive Brief:
- The Strategic Alliance for Affiliated Store Owners of America plans to deploy InStore.ai’s technology at more than 5,200 member convenience stores this year, the alliance announced on Tuesday.
- The technology’s AI-powered voice insights aim to improve operational efficiency and increase cashier engagement. The rollout is beginning this month and will continue through the year, according to the announcement.
- Along with access to the tools, SAASOA members will also receive implementation support, best-practice playbooks and access to insights built for leaders at various levels of their organization.
Dive Insight:
Independent c-stores often lack the scale needed to implement new technology, but groups like the SAASOA — which allows smaller retailers to band together for better deals from vendors — can help small operators access tools like InStore.ai.
The technology captures interactions between cashiers and customers and feeds that data into dashboards where team members can monitor how employees greet customers and how often workers mention loyalty programs or attempt to upsell.
“By capturing and analyzing the everyday conversations at the counter, InStore.ai gives our retail members clear transparency into what’s working and what isn’t, so they can coach their teams, tighten operations, and consistently execute loyalty and promotional programs,” said Jigar Patel, vice president of SAASOA USA and CEO of the Fastime c-store chain.
AI integration is gaining momentum across the c-store industry. In addition to the SAASOA’s latest initiative, Alimentation Couche-Tard recently expanded its partnership with store operations tech provider Quorso to more than 7,800 stores in the U.S. and Canada while Spinx partnered with Tote AI to update the technology in multiple areas of its stores.
