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As the owner-operators of over 20 convenience stores across Pennsylvania, Petrosoft has the unique understanding of what it takes to run a c-store and how it’s different from any other kind of retail business. After 20+ years in the industry we know that as a c-store operator, there’s a lot to manage: From an influx of data, to managing your price book, to implementing loss prevention strategies. That’s why we created our suite of software and hardware solutions for c-store owners, by c-store owners. So, what common problems of convenience store operations can Petrosoft solve?
Managing Your Back Office
To begin, as a fellow convenience and fuel retailer, Petrosoft understands that business operations in this industry generates a lot of data. From sales, to inventory, to SIR reports, to profit margins and expenses, c-store owners have a lot of numbers of which to keep track. This data comes with a lot of paperwork, as 45% of small business owners say they spend a full day each week doing paperwork.
CStoreOffice, Petrosoft’s flagship back-office software, is designed to help retailers make the most of their data. CStoreOffice offers reports that give insight into sales, inventory, workflows, and more. With this data, you’re able to optimize your pricing, purchasing, and labor decisions to make your business more profitable. Plus, save hours a day by eliminating manual processes.
Automating Invoice Processing
In addition to the time saved with back-office software, automated invoice processing can save c-store owners hours of time each week. Convenience stores sell thousands of different products, from a variety of vendors. Each of these vendors has a different way of invoicing. This can mean spending hours manually entering invoices into a back-office system. In addition to labor hours, this also takes managers away from the sales floor (where the money is made).
Like many c-store owners, we needed a solution. Enter: Data Processing Services (DPS). Simply scan your vendor invoice into CStoreOffice, or upload a photo to the CStoreOffice mobile app. Then, in 24-36 hours, your digital invoice appears in your CStoreOffice account, ready for your approval and processing. Plus, with DPS, you can quickly and easily accept invoices from vendors using Electronic Data Exchange (EDI.)
Price Book Management
Another time-consuming task for c-store owners is their price book management. In an industry where store inventories contain thousands of items whose prices can change daily, c-store owners may find themselves spending hours per day updating their price books. And for those with larger stores or chains, the task is even more time consuming. Plus, if your price book management isn’t centralized with a back-office software (like CStoreOffice), even more time is required to properly maintain price book across your locations. The Retail360 app is free to use and allows you to manage your price book and inventory from the palm of your hand. With Retail360’s Smart Price Book feature, you can add and edit items in your price book simply by scanning item barcodes. Then, Retail360 automatically pulls the item information from the world’s largest item Universal Product Code (UPC) database. It’s easy for c-store owners to reduce the amount of time they spend managing their price book. Retail360 can also be used to conduct inventory counts from your mobile device or a hand-held scanner. This makes for faster and easier inventory scanning for all items in your price book.
Self-Order Food Service
For convenience stores and gas stations that also offer ready-made food, having the right food ordering system is key. Oftentimes, the same employee is taking orders, making food, and checking customers out. These time-consuming practices can lead to errors or oversights, particularly when it comes to food inventory. And without a way to track food service sales, c-store owners may experience shortages or waste lots of food because they do not have necessary insight into their inventory.
QwickServe is Petrosoft’s end-to-end food service solution for made-to-order food service. The customer terminals feature fully customizable menus with images and the option for customer add-ons helps boost food revenue. Plus, the QwickServe system helps streamline food service by automating orders, payments, and inventory tracking to reduce costly food waste by accurately predicting and measuring inventory.
Loss Prevention
Shrink, or losses due to theft, is a big concern for retailers, and with good reason. The average retailer loses 1.62% of their potential revenue to shrink. While that number may sound low, the average convenience store sales in 2021 was around $1.75 million, so the average owner loses over $28,000 per store per year to shrink. These losses can be caused by customers, employees, and vendors. A loss prevention system can help minimize these loses.
Petrosoft’s Loss Prevention Analytics (LPA), is a loss prevention system designed specifically for convenience retailers. Our software automatically flags high-risk transactions, like no-sales, voids, and returns. It then catalogs and tags video footage during these transactions for you to review. This allows you to identify and prevent sources of theft, ultimately reducing your shrink and boosting your profit.
In addition, LPA footage can be used to ensure restricted sales compliance. It automatically captures during age- and time- restricted sales, such as alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. The software provides verifiable proof of both theft and compliance.
Point of Sale Systems
Keeping POS technology up-to-date is a top concern for many retailers. Older point-of-sale (POS) systems can make it difficult to train new employees. Plus, aging technology may not be compliant with new technology required by laws. For example, the latest EMV compliance laws, which passes the liability for credit card fraud to retailers if your card system is not up-to-date with chip technology.
SmartPOS, is a modern and cost effective POS system, ideal for convenience retailers. It features a user-friendly, touch-screen interface, quick-start self-install, and is easy to train employees on. The cashier-facing touch screen makes this POS easy to use, Plus, a15-inch customer facing screen for your promotions. SmartPOS is also compatible with over 50 payment processors, keeping you compliant with EMV laws and protecting you from fraud liability.
In addition, Smart POS integrates with the entire Petrosoft cloud ecosystem. So you can connect your POS to sales and inventory data with CStoreOffice, simply food-service with QwickServe, and update your price book or manage your inventory from anywhere using Retail360.
Interested in learning more? Get in touch with us!
