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Torex, the leading global provider of expert, integrated technology solutions to the extended retail marketplace, has provided The Co-operative Group with an innovative, three tiered solution for their forecourt business. 

> The Fuel Wrapper solution which features EFT Link, SMS Reporting and an IP-Connected Forecourt controller has been awarded the Retail Systems Award for best EPOS Innovation of the Year 2011.

You can download the full 'Case study' pdf here - see at the bottom of the page.

The Co-operative added 142 forecourt sites to its estate when it acquired the Somerfield business in 2009. There was the desire to integrate “Fuel” functionality into the Co-operative’s InControl EPOS system and Torex was chosen to collaborate in this endeavour.

Firstly, Torex Fuel Wrapper, a new pump control software, wraps around the Co-operative’s InControl POS system to offer an accurate, auditable weights and measures pump control system. It ensures petroleum and convenience goods can be combined in one transaction, rather than having to process the two transactions separately, which was previously the case. 

Torex Fuel Wrapper was designed specifically to meet the challenges of a changing landscape as fuel and convenience retailing come together rapidly, creating the need to combine complex fuel POS with all its compliance requirements and with normal convenience POS. With the Torex Fuel Wrapper the Co-operative can now deliver the benefits of its own InControl POS solution for C-stores to its forecourts. A fuel customer’s experience will be a quicker service and an improved offer which will translate into improved customer satisfaction and loyalty. The system also gives store managers overarching control of all petrol pumps to prevent petrol theft and misuse of the pumps and Torex developed a specific solution to feed transaction data in existing formats to head office.

Secondly, Torex has added Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) ability to the Co-operative’s proprietary POS, meaning the retailer can process fuel cards. The EFTLink also allows the Co-operative’s InControl POS to process oil company cards as well as fuel cards, as the technology enables them to interface with all of the oil companies’ terminals.

The third product, Torex SMS Reports, offers a suite of fuel reports that ensures wet stock can be easily managed by a company such as the Co-operative, which is relatively new to operating in the petroleum market.

All Torex solutions chosen by the Co-operative are highly cost effective as any existing POS hardware does not have to be replaced. With the hardware remaining the same, very little training or adjustment is needed for staff to use the updated versions and the Co-operative can take on new fuel sites and quickly roll out the solutions to save both time and cash.

The Co-operative’s Fuel Programme Manager Eivind Brown explains, “Fuel forecourts add a new aspect to our business and it has been great to have an expert on board who we could rely on to help us get the most out of our forecourts.” He adds, “We’ve worked very well with the Torex team in delivering this solution and feedback from the forecourts indicates they are really benefiting from this collaboration.”

Jon Dunman, Vice President Torex Convenience & Fuel Solutions, concludes, “Using our expertise in the petrol and convenience market, we were able to offer a software solution appropriate to the Co-operative’s needs to simplify and reduce operating costs. We were pleased to be chosen for the work and we hope to build on the success of this implementation by offering further services to the Co-operative.”