The One True Data Source

C-Express takes the best parts of today’s industry and mixes them into a nice retail blend. Likewise, the different kinds of the data passing through the store are brought together by SSCS Technology.

As we explained last week in Part 1, locally-owned SSCS customer, C-Express incorporates the best parts of the petroleum retailing industry to satisfy the micro-markets it serves across Aberdeen, South Dakota.

This steady growth, over decades, reflects their success, and though adding sites and diversifying merchandise are achievements, they also add complexity to running an enterprise.

Managing the increased flow of information is a critical aspect of growth. Data comes into the store from different sources, in many formats. More stores mean more data streams, more variables. Not to mention new players (and sources of data) like third-party delivery services. A decision-maker has to arrange all this data together in a single format, easily grasped representation of performance. Somehow.

C-Express ownership had come to realize that their current computer system wasn’t keeping up. As they looked around for something robust enough to manage their increasing torrents of data, a local c-store distributor tipped them off to SSCS.

The store’s first impressions were positive, and things moved forward from there. C-Express’s path to upgrading to the CDBWin back office was assisted by the fact that decision-makers already had experience with c-store tech in general. This included Laura Siefkes of the operation’s management team.

“This was an opportunity, a clean slate to implement technology that didn’t have the limits we were facing,” she says. ”Most important to me, SSCS puts sales and other data from different sources—such as fuel pump readings, POS day files, and scanned invoices—in one place where we can see how everything relates to each other and in what direction sales and profits are moving. It’s a time-saver—you’re not looking in bunch of different places for the information and trying to match it up with each other. The consistency across reporting and, therefore, labelling, is another plus.”

The heart of CDBWin’s viability for C-Express lies in its by-item approach to inventory, providing tracking that is granular enough to ensure clear and timely reporting of what’s selling, what it’s selling for, and what isn’t moving at all.

“After we installed the system, we began to catch pricing inconsistencies and other errors we might not have spotted before,” adds Siefkes. “It gave us new insight into our relationships with vendors, including how they were performing for us. Buydowns and rebates performed better for us. And it was easier to spot problems with discounts and promotions. I’m spending less time searching for correct prices.”

In addition the back office, C-Express also uses the Transaction Analysis (TA) POS reporting tool to see micro movements of information as items are scanned at check out. Among other things, the business uses TA to see what is selling together and what value promotions are bringing to their customers. Analysis is available all the way down to the receipt level.

“That’s another thing I liked about moving to SSCS,” Siefkes states. “The reporting options and the detail in them were beyond what we had before, including the ability to zoom in on specific areas of interest. It’s just one of the tasks that SSCS software has made easier to do.”

SSCS congratulates C-Express for their example of how an independently-owned regional brand can become a juggernaut in the right market with the right know-how and the right technology. We look forward continuing to provide the tools that to help support their success.