Tackling Hot Topics in Technology

As I sit in my office looking through the calendar, I realize just how fast the months are passing by and time doesn't show any signs of slowing down. One thing that strikes me is that the 2023 NACS Show is only two months away. How did that happen? October also brings the annual Convenience Store News Technology Leadership Roundtable & Dinner, which will take place Oct. 3 in Atlanta.

I had the pleasure of attending our inaugural technology event, then called the C-store Technology Leadership Dinner, in 2016 — which also took place in Atlanta — even before I took over the technology beat. While I was familiar with the hot-button issues of the time, I found it fascinating to see where the channel's leaders thought retail technology was heading.

For example, while mobile payments were taking hold in many stores, one Mississippi operator explained that its rural locations rung up 80 percent of transactions in cash. I would be curious to see where that number stands today.

But the topic that stands out most from that evening nearly seven years ago is how big of a threat — if a threat at all — would Amazon's emerging Just Walk Out technology pose to the convenience channel. All agreed that customer service would still reign supreme in convenience and that is still true but as you know, c-store retailers have increasingly found a way to deliver on customer service and the checkout options customers want.

What will this year's technology event bring? How far has the tech space come from 2016? If you are interested in attending this intimate gathering of c-store technology leaders, drop me a line at [email protected].