Cruizers Stores Begin Offering Frictionless Checkout
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Cruizers is joining the growing list of convenience retailers who are bringing the frictionless checkout experience to their stores.
This week, the Chapel Hill-based retailer rolled out a soft launch of the technology through a partnership with Skip. The Salt Lake City-based tech startup is aiming to bring its frictionless checkout technology to 3,000 locations this year.
With the implementation, Holmes Oil Co.'s Cruizers network becomes the first convenience store chain in the Southeastern United States to go live.
"Customers today are looking for the fastest way to get in, grab what they need, and get out. This technology helps us give that option to our customers now," said Mike Wilson, director of operations at Holmes Oil.
"Customers are used to picking up their smartphone and ordering something that in many cases can be delivered to their doorstep in several hours," he added. "In order to compete, we must adapt and utilize new technology."
In addition to the 27 Cruizers c-stores in North Carolina, Skip is bringing 23 grocery stores online by Feb. 6. This is on top of the 60 grocery outlets that have gone live with the company's technology.
The company is scheduled to be in a total of 275 locations between both grocery and convenience by the end of the first quarter — reaching 9 percent of its targeted goal.
Skip is no stranger to the convenience channel. In August, Ricker's convenience stores announced it was implementing frictionless checkout technology at 58 convenience stores throughout Indiana through its own partnership with Skip, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
In October, Cherokee, Okla.-based Jiffy Mart unveiled its pact to bring Skip's platform across its 28 c-stores in central and northwestern Oklahoma.
Savannah, Ga.-based Enmarket followed these moves in November when it revealed it would go live with Skip's frictionless technology in early 2019. Clinton, Okla.-based Domino Food and Fuel Inc. also tapped Skip for the rollout of frictionless checkout across its 17 Domino convenience stores. The stores are slated to come online this month.
With the rollout to three c-store retailers — Cruizers, Domino and Enmarket — Skip will enter 157 locations this month alone.
According to Skip, the startup's growth in grocery is driven primarily by its partnership with Associated Food Store (AFS) locations, prompting the wholesaler to roll out its services in all AFS stores, including Fresh Market, Dick's, Lin's and Dan's.
"There is no debate that 2019 will be a huge year for mobile checkout across all aspects of retail. We are experiencing solid growth and our pipeline continues to fill up. We are encouraging retailers to contact us now to avoid a backlog for onboarding the service," said Chase Thomason, Skip founder and CEO.
