ATLANTA — Tyler Grubbs, executive director of store systems and technology at RaceTrac Inc., was named one of the 10 Top Movers and Shakers in Retail by Convenience Store News' sister publication, Retail Info Systems (RIS).
[Read more: RaceTrac Slates Indiana Debut]
Grubbs began his career as an intern with RaceTrac while still a student at Georgia Institute of Technology. After working in various roles in finance, project management, analytics and foodservice merchandising over the past decade, Grubbs currently works to elevate the customer experience and reduce customer friction during the checkout process.
"I know how frustrating it can be for customers when they approach the checkout, only to find that the kiosk won't load their loyalty points or accept their preferred payment method. These issues not only disrupt their day but also have a negative impact on their loyalty to our brand," Grubbs told RIS.
RIS also reported on the work Grubbs did to address some of these common guest frustrations, including rolling out an enhanced technology architecture, which decreased major outages and critical hardware failures by 90 percent and reduced the average time to resolve issues by 75 percent.
"This work represents a significant leap forward in creating a smoother shopping environment that aligns with evolving customer expectations for a seamless checkout and, ultimately, points toward the future of frictionless retail technology," Grubbs added.
The honorees on RIS' seventh annual Influentials: Top Movers and Shakers in Retail list are retail executives and solution providers who were chosen for their work in developing and deploying cutting-edge technology to reshape retail, as well as for their contribution to the retail industry and to their respective companies.
Grubbs was previously named to Convenience Store News' 2023 Future Leaders in Convenience list, which honored 36 rising stars in the industry. Winners aged 35 and under were chosen based on the significant positive contributions they are already making to their companies and the industry at large.
[Read more: RaceTrac Flips the Switch on the Chain's First EV Chargers]
Atlanta-based RaceTrac is a family-owned company that operates more than 570 convenience store locations in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee.
RaceTrac is ranked No. 13 on the Convenience Store News Top 100 ranking.