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~Mark Wilson, Director of Store Support, Sheetz

 

·       Estimated $141,000 annual maintenance savings

·       Increased customer face-time by up to 50 hours per store manager per year

·       Reduced onsite service calls by 49% with ability to remotely reset price

 

·       Reduce costs with fewer onsite service calls

·       Reduce store level pricing errors and pricing execution delays

·       Increase customer face-time for store managers to support a key corporate initiative, the Speed of Service program

 

·       Manage electronic price signs from headquarters or in-store rather than at the sign

·       Ability to remotely reset electronic price signs from a central location

·       Ingenuity, creativity and dedication to the ultimate goal: profitable stores with happy, loyal customers

 

 

 ~ Mark Wilson, Director of Store Support, Sheetz

 

 

Sheetz® is a convenience store with personality. That personality has now increased its ability to deliver on its trademark characteristic -- friendly, fast, quality customer care -- by about 50 additional hours annually per store. This fits nicely into family-owned Sheetz’ Speed To Service and Total Customer Focus programs, allowing the store managers to do what they do best – generate customer loyalty with innovative technology and old fashioned service.

 

Getting these results requires smart teams and smart systems. Enter Mark Wilson, Director of Store Support. Wilson and his team are responsible for every device in all 360 Sheetz stores across Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina. That includes refrigeration equipment, point-of-sale devices, coffee machines, climate control, security, fuel price signs, and more.    Being inventive and driven, Wilson continually searches for ways to increase efficiency, maximize resources, and reduce maintenance costs. 

 

“Managing our costs helps keep costs low for our customers,” says Wilson. “We have to keep getting better at what we do. As the number of stores increase, I continue to investigate how we can get smarter in managing our devices. What can we streamline? What can we control remotely from headquarters? How can we make the store managers’ lives easier so they can spend more time with our customers?” 

 

Then Wilson saw an opportunity for innovation that would drive down costs and increase selling time. In ten stores, Wilson implemented patent pending PriceAdvantage™ software from Skyline Products™, and tested two simple changes: 1) the ability to manage and reset electronic price signs remotely from headquarters or from within the store, and 2) the ability to remotely manage prices on the electronic price signs.

 

These two improvements translated into forecasted annual savings of $141,000 in service maintenance, and will increase available store manager face time with customers by up to 50 hours annually per store, across 360 stores. “The software gave us all of that in a usable, understandable, teachable and trainable package,” Wilson says.  “The smarter the systems are that we place in the stores, the better information we have at headquarters. That’s what we look for in technology today. “ 

 

In addition, this work has fueled:

 

·       a 49% reduction in onsite service calls through conducting remote reset of price signs;

·       the ability to instantly react to competitive market changes, thereby maximizing revenue opportunities;

·       the ability to proactively head off potential problems with remote monitoring and dynamic notification of pricing errors;

·       lower total service costs;

·       a reduction in system downtime, inaccurate price changes, and amount of time to make a price change;

·       the elimination of the need to consider updating or replacing existing equipment, which could cost in the ten’s of thousands annually;

·       and happier, more productive store managers who had more time to do what they do best -- manage their stores.

 

“Our overriding team goal is to ensure that store managers can maximize their time with our customers,” Wilson says. “This is a key corporate initiative and competitive advantage for Sheetz. To achieve that, I look for the smartest, most efficient technology in our devices that will allow for low maintenance and high productivity. PriceAdvantage gives us that for our electronic price signs, directly impacting our top line revenue.”

 

The ten stores that participated in the pilot program are very happy.   What started as a test has become a foundational shift in the way these stores do business. 

 

What’s next on Wilson’s list? To integrate the technologies, allowing headquarters to remotely update fuel pricing in the field at the Radiant Systems POS, the pump, and the Skyline Electronic Price Display—all from their desktop computer, laptop, or handheld device.   Partnering with Radiant Systems, Skyline’s PriceAdvantage is expected to free up another $460,000 annually to re-allocate in additional systems and resources. Now that’s convenience.

 

Skyline Products is headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO. For more information on PriceAdvantage, visit www.skylineproducts.com . 

 

For more information on Radiant Systems, visit www.radiantsystems.com .

 

For more information on Sheetz, visit www.sheetz.com.