Event review: forecourttech ’23 provides clarity over autonomous stores

The two-day event gathered industry professionals from around the world to discuss technology trends impacting the convenience and mobility sectors.

Over 120 delegates from international companies involved in mobility, fuels and convenience got together at forecourttech '23 for two days of discussions and meetings on October 17-18 in Alicante (Spain).

The two-day networking event is focused on technologies that optimise fuel and convenience retailing, and enhance the customer experience. Chaired by Mark Wohltmann, Director NACS Global, the educational sessions focused on smart stores, AI and the future of mobility.

On the first day, autonomous stores took centre stage with presentations by academics, retailers and suppliers. There are various degrees of autonomous shopping – from self-checkout to AI-powered unmanned stores. Sabine Benoit, Professor of Marketing at the University of Surrey Business School, shared some of the findings from her last study – staffed stores are still preferred by most users; stores should remove entrance barriers; a fully autonomous experience is not needed in all locations; and consumers don’t want a delayed basked verification.

Jake Patton spoke about JUXTA’s portable, unmanned store and how they are looking to “bring convenience even closer” through their “targeted retail anywhere” approach. The Vontier company is rolling out its first units in North America this year. João Dinis Soares detailed the self and autonomous checkout journey of Galp Energia, a leading fuel and convenience retailer in Portugal and Spain. In July of 2022, they opened their first Smart Store in the Algarve.

Since the rise to fame of ChatGPT the issue of AI has become part of the mainstream conversation. For years, the service station industry has looked at ways of using AI to improve strategic decision-making and daily operations. A panel formed by Gray Taylor (Conexxus), Frodi Hammer (A2i Systems) and Fernando Carrasco (Locatium) highlighted how AI can help retailers choose the right location for a site, develop a pricing strategy, and decide where to place products inside a store. “You need to use all that data you are gathering,” said Hammer.

“forecourttech once again brought together operators and solution providers from across EMEA, each with a shared desire to meet and learn in a relaxed but business like environment. Our speaker presentations covered current and emerging technology trends whilst our unique meetings platform allowed delegates to communicate and pre-schedule meetings. Our ability to qualify delegates has been a winning formula again this year,” said Stephen Bozdan, Managing Director at SAB Events Europe and organiser of the event.

Day two of the event, hosted at the Asia Gardens Hotel in sunny Benidorm, continued with more supplier and retailer meetings. The conferences focused on different issues with presentations by Cloudics, Haia Consultancy and Scheidt & Bachmann – how retailers are using cross-sector digital payments and personalised engagement in their businesses; the need to adapt existing architectures to enable the energy and service transition; and how the customer journey should be the foundation of tomorrow’s mobility hubs.

Petrol stations are transforming into convenience and mobility hubs powered by the energy transition and digitalisation. On the second day, mobility became the key theme with Oleksandr Koliakin, Global GM Digital Customer Solutions & Platforms at Shell, speaking about how forecourts need to re-evaluate how they interact with customers, with a greater focus on attracting and retaining customers.

Later on the day, a panel formed by Koliakin, Dan Munford (Global Convenience Store Focus), David Cornish (Techniche) and Richard Campion (Visa) explored some of the challenges and opportunities around EV charging, payments and mobility.

“Retailers have an advantage over charge-point operators when it comes to retailing and operation excellence,” said Koliakin.

The education sessions finished with a presentation by Mehmet Tözge, Director Smart Store Development at Lekkerland. An on-the-go consumption provider in four European countries, Lekkerland has decided to stay ahead of the pack by investing in multiple formats of smarts stores. A hybrid model where staff is present during the busy hours of the day while an unmanned area caters for the remaining hours could be primed for success.

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