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Industry Evolution and Opportunity
83% of all c-stores sell fuel, and they must upgrade their fuel pumps to be able to process EMV (aka chip-card) payments by October 2020, or they will become liable for any card fraud that occurs at their locations.
This represents significant risk, but upgrading the fueling forecourt to be able to handle EMV is a very expensive proposition – anywhere from $25,000 to more than $100,000 per store, plus whatever lost sales occur when the site is down to install these upgrades, with little ROI beyond avoidance of card fraud liability.
Many retailers’ in-store POS systems will also need to be upgraded to be able to work with the new EMV-enabled fueling systems. This has created demand for Rapid’s solution, and it will for the next several years – industry estimates are that EMV-at-the-pump upgrades will have a two- to three-year tail before the majority of retailers are EMV-compliant at the fueling forecourt.
Beyond EMV, c-stores, especially the smaller, independent and unbranded-fuel operators, face greater challenges from larger c-store chains, which are consolidating the industry at a record pace, as well as from other retail channels.
To compete more effectively,
these smaller c-stores need to operate more efficiently and appeal to consumers in much the same way the larger and more sophisticated chains do – loyalty and rewards programs, efficient inventory management and replenishment, mobile payment at the pump and inside the store and more comprehensive food service offerings are but a few examples of what these retailers must bring to the table in order to survive, let alone win in their markets.
Rapid’s turnkey technology delivers such capabilities.
01
Market Transition
EMV deadline for fuel forecourt driving upgrade of pumps and in-store systems.
02
Lack of Next-Gen POS
Retailers seek more cost efficient and capable cloud POS solutions to complement their fuel system upgrades, but none exist.
03
Data Availability
Cloud and enabled POS eliminates the technical costs of accessing transaction data that is associated with legacy systems and increase opportunity to integrate with other systems
04
Distribution Opportunity
With barrier of legacy POS system infrastructure requirements, eliminated, selling installing and servicing cloud POS Platforms is simpler and easier.
