It seems as if c-stores are always on the lookout for the next big thing to draw customers in. And while easier movie rental kiosks may get them outside the store, it may not be enough to entice them to come inside. But before you wind up spending your entire budget on the next big fad offering, it may be easier and more affordable to bring customers in.
Thankfully, there are many ways to utilize customer engagement technology to build loyalty, and increase sales.
One of the ways that businesses are building rapport with customers, is through the establishment of loyalty programs. Loyalty programs offer a great way to incentivize your existing customers to either come more frequently, or perhaps even spend more. It can also be a way to establish new business with new customers.
While Wawa and other stores may have mastered selling their own offerings that build loyalty, any retail store can easily create a customer loyalty program. Loyalty cards have been used for years, but big name companies such as Starbucks are still seeing great success in terms of loyalty and customer engagement.
Running a loyalty program is a snap when you couple it with back office technology like CStorePro. Through easy integration with your existing C-store POS system, you will be able to better track customers and receive more intelligent purchasing metrics.
C-store loyalty programs take on many forms. A few popular loyalty programs for C-stores and gas stations include:
Odds are your new C-store POS system has a lot more to offer than you think. Collecting e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information from your customer is a simple matter of prompting them at checkout, or during their loyalty program signup.
Use these lists to market new and upcoming services to your existing customer base. Inform them of promotions, discounts, or events you’ll be holding. Remember, there’s no point in running a promotion if no one knows about it!
With price book management, you’ll be able to easily run a variety of promotions such as special discounts, combination items (such as coffee and donuts), and more. Price book allows you to control and bulk update your inventory, making planning, scheduling, and running promotions a breeze.
Once you have an email sign up list, loyalty card, and even coupons or promotions, how are all of these separate items supposed to play nice together? After all, having dedicated systems in place to measure each one independently isn’t just expensive, but has the potential for programs not being compatible together.
You’ll want to streamline your processes into one system that integrates with your POS system and can handle the workload on the back end. By using an all-in-one system for c-store management, such as with CStorePro, you can ensure that all your promotional systems can be run from one convenient location: the cloud.
Do you have an all-in-one back office for your C-store? 
today to discover how CStorePro is the best solution for you.
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