The Hub of a Morning Ritual

A convenience store can benefit greatly from being part of a consumer’s morning routine.

A ritual is a set of actions or behaviors performed in the same order, over and over again; a routine.[1]

It sounds like a benign, neutral term, but these days it gets kind of a bad rap, maybe because of all the scary movies and stories out there. Someone hears the word, “ritual,” and they picture a remote forest under an big orange moon with some mumbling, half-seen figures engaged in . . . well, a ritual.

That’s narrow thinking, though. Rituals can apply to anything, from religious celebrations to stateroom procedures to what we do every day. There was even one industry titan way back in the day, that thought a certain amount of ritual could bring a productive “rhythm” to his businesses.

With so many examples, it shouldn’t be surprising that c-store consumers have their own rituals, too. Perhaps it starts with getting coffee and a pastry on the way to work. Maybe a few words with a familiar clerk adds to the experience. And maybe the section of the drive to the store at sunrise, before traffic gets bad, plays a role, too.

Some c-stores have made the effort to capitalize more fully on the beneficial effects of being the hub of a morning ritual. For example, they might expand their menu of delicious fresh breakfast items, and provide a comfortable space where customers can take a little time for themselves, eat, and converse with other regulars, before their day kicks into gear.

Becoming a daily destination doesn’t come without challenges for the operator, though; they may find themselves managing a few more moving parts than previously. Tracking the cost and profitability of the fresh ingredients combined within your Foodservice and deli offerings requires a new kind of precision. So does tracking the spoilage and waste produced by this merchandise. Come to think of it, even a cup of coffee has a lot of components—cups, lids, sugar, creamer—all of which potentially impact profitability if they aren’t being tracked in a timely, accurate fashion.

SSCS’s Computerized Daily Book (CDB) is technology designed for operators desiring to manage a host of inventory components profitably, when spare time is at a minimum—like in the middle of a morning rush! It lightens the management load by simplifying the work, allowing you and your team more time to give your customers the kind of quality attention that ensures you stay part of their morning ritual. Give us a call at (80) 972-7277, and we’ll help you get in the routine of increasing profitability.

[1] Unless you do the wrong thing over and over again. They call that “insanity.”