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| George Bartlett demonstrated the pump-side QSR application from Gilbarco Veeder-Root. |
Jim Phelps, chief executive of CompuShop Services, recounted the history of self-service at c-stores in a session called "Automated Retail Applications: Convenience Retailing for the Future."
Phelps cited self-service's evolution, from ATMs, pay at-the-pump and car washes to automated-retail kiosks. As operators meet greater demand for self-service, he said, they can simultaneously realize benefits from lower labor costs and increased sales.
That's not to say there are not challenges along the way. Jeff Kline, president and CEO of Island Vending Magic, said operators must learn what technologies customers will use, and then be able to overcome the software barriers that prevent disparate technologies from playing nicely together.
But the industry promises the traffic to make overcoming those obstacles worthwhile.
NACS president and CEO Hank Armour said that in the 12 years since the first NACStech, industry sales have quadrupled, from $150 billion in 1995 to more than a half-trillion in 2006 — much of the expansion juiced in through the cords and wires of technology.
"I think a lot of us would agree that the biggest change since that first NACStech is in technology," he said. "We as an industry have gone from technology laggards to leaders, whether with consumer-facing technology or back-office applications."
This year, the NACStech expo covered more than 19,500 net square feet and featured more than 114 exhibiting companies.
At the show
