A New Breed of Customer Steps Up at NACS 2022

If activity at the SSCS booth was any indication, today’s c-store operator is more data-savvy than ever and wants to get better at it.

You’ll have to pardon us if we start this NACS 2022 recap by talking about ourselves.

We debuted a new booth on the trade show floor this year. It was pretty cool. It looks like this:

As it turns out, the new booth was the perfect place to get a sense of the state of the industry, perfect for a short recap like this. It provided a comfortable place for attendees to get off their feet and mingle a little for some industry-related conversation. There were usually SSCS customers in the mix, as well, which is always a good thing.

“Our customers are enthusiastic about our software and support and the benefits they bring to their store,” notes SSCS VP of Sales, Shawn Herrick. “They’re not shy to share their positive experiences with other people in the booth, either. There’s no better selling technique than an owner speaking fondly of our company, detailing our software’s advantages to their specific business, and sharing personal stories about how our Support Department helped them out.”

The show was busy. Our sales team noticed a greater percentage of c-store operators who understood how important data was to their store, even if they were unsure how to go about it. This made conversations about solutions richer, because there was no need to educate a prospect on the basics.

“When you get into higher level conversations like this, it allows our team to really display their skill as consultants,” adds Herrick. “It’s a concrete way to demonstrate how SSCS stands out, particularly if they’ve had experience with other c-store solutions in the past.”

Also noticed—a larger amount of multi-store operators. Enterprises with 10-20 sites seemed to be on the rise, consolidation perhaps driven by the economic transformation that occurred during COVID. Many of these stores are looking for solutions that can address their rapid expansions, and we were more than happy to explain how technology can work for them.

This year’s NACS was the most well-attended in several years, and if our team’s experience was any indication, the c-store industry looks healthy and poised to grow even more robustly in the near future. All in all, it made for a very enjoyable experience, and we look forward to seeing everyone at NACS 2023.