Convenience Stores

By Oren Betzaleli, EVP, head of product and marketing, Retalix

As smartphones and tablets continue to infiltrate the market, they are increasingly changing the way people interact with each other, receive information, and expect to be served by retailers and service providers. As a result, more and more retailers are starting to offer self-service mobile applications as a popular means to manage customer interaction and relationships.

Retailer-Owned vs. Consumer-Owned Self-Service

Chicago -- Englewood Construction announced Wednesday that its retail group has begun work on four new projects, including three in the Chicago market and one in Columbus, Ohio.
 

Dallas -- 7-Eleven announced Tuesday that the company achieved record store growth in 2012 and expects the number of 7-Eleven stores worldwide to pass the 50,000-store mark by the end of the first quarter.

The c-store chain added nearly 5,000 stores globally in 2012; 1,000 were in the U.S. and Canada. At year’s end, 7-Eleven operated 49,500 stores in 16 countries.

Kapolei, Hawaii -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Wednesday that, together with SunEdison, it has completed new solar power installations at three Walmart stores in Kahului, Kailua-Kona and Kapolei, Hawaii, doubling the total number of stores in Hawaii powered by renewable solar energy.

The installations contribute to Wal-Mart’s objective of being supplied 100% by renewable energy. Similar installations are already in operation atop the Honolulu Sam's Club and Mililani Walmart on Oahu, and the Lihue Walmart on Kauai.

Waban, Mass. -- Survey results released Wednesday by Temkin Group revealed that Publix and Trader Joe’s ranked the highest among 246 companies in terms of customer experience.

The 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings, which polled 10,000 U.S. consumers, were dominated by grocery chains and food purveyors. After Public and Trader Joe’s was Aldi, and rounding out the top 12 were Chick-fil-A, Amazon.com, Sam's Club, H.E.B., Dunkin' Donuts, Save-a-Lot, Sonic Drive-In, Little Caeser's and Ace Hardware.

Franklin, Tenn. -- The overall penetration of POS devices continued to expand 3.9% in North America and 4.6% around the globe in 2012, according to The POS Vendor Shipments Database, released Wednesday by IHL Group. Growth is expected to continue at 3.6% worldwide for 2013.  

FORT WORTH, Texas — Comps were down 7% at RadioShack for the fourth quarter, driven by a decline in the mobility and consumer electronics platforms. Total sales and and operating revenue were $1.3 billion, compared with $1.4 billion last year.  

The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $63 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $12 million last year. 

A 1.8% decline in second quarter same store sales at AutoZone was attributed to a two week tax return processing delay by the Internal Revenue Service.

The delay kept tax refunds out of the hand of AutoZone customers inclined to perform maintenance on their vehicles during the retailer’s second quarter ended February 9. Last week, Walmart also cited the tax processing delay as a source of sale weakness when it reported a 1% comp increase that was at the low end of its forecast range for a 1% to 3% increase.