Changing Up the Meaning of Grab & Go

I am writing this as I prepare for my trip to Atlanta for the annual NACS Show. Aside from packing my laptop, notebooks and pens, I am also checking my phone. Why? To make sure I have everything I need in the palm of my hand.

Money loaded onto my Uber app? Check. Mobile bordering pass on my United Airlines app? Check. NACS Show mobile app with education sessions and show floor appointments planned out? Check.

What would I do without easy access to these apps? I would be printing out countless pages of schedules, flight information and hotel confirmations to shove into one enormous folder. Instead, I can literally grab my phone and go.

Similarly, consumers should have access to everything they need to engage with convenience retailers and their stores through their mobile device of choice.

As Blake Weber, retail technology project manager at Clarkston Consulting in Atlanta, told Convenience Store News, a consumer's mobile phone is a powerful tool in the hands of the shopper and provides retailers with a connection point through all aspects of the shopping journey. A journey that — like mine to Atlanta — begins before that potential shopper even leaves the house. 

When it comes to a mobile app, c-store retailers should ask themselves how their mobile experience will deliver a more convenient shopping experience. If there is no "clear and concise answer to that question," then the plan and design need to be revisited, according to Kevin D. Struthers, associate director of digital at W. Capra Consulting Group, based in Chicago. 

Does your mobile app deliver?