Published • 17 May 2022
The 365 Retail Markets team felt thrilled to participate in this year’s NAMA Show following its 2020 cancellation and 2021’s more intimate experience in New Orleans. In an industry hinged on maintaining relationships and adapting to consumer whims following a pandemic, face-to-face interaction has never felt more critical. Therefore, finally engaging with our colleagues felt like such a privilege.
As the world navigates adjusting to a post-pandemic norm, we understand that there are still many who were as privileged to attend this year’s event. Thus, the number of innovative products, new technology and general industry advancements that have manifested since NAMA’s last full show, compelled us to compile our thoughts on this year’s NAMA Show.
Easily one of our favorite parts of NAMA is showcasing our products and learning about the variety of innovations that our partners offer.
This year, our Product Pride points at NAMA included:
- The Stockwell 2.0, which won a People’s Choice Award
- Our suite of Pico technology, including the PicoVend, PicoVend Mini, PicoMarket, PicoCooler & PicoCooler Breeze.
Stockwell 2.0 is the next generation of smart store technology, or as we like to call it, ‘smart store in a box.’ This technology uses computer vision to offer a no-checkout experience that facilitates anonymous credit card or GMA payments –further removing friction from the consumer buying experience.
The Stockwell 2.0 allows our clients to sell beverages, fresh food, snacks and dry goods all from one unit.
Its optimizations includes lightweighting it by 50% of the previous generation. This technology opens the door for our clients to provide diversified products to a much broader audience.
The versatility and mobility of our Pico technology can significantly lower the initial market start-up costs and open the door for future locations.
Additionally, all of our Pico technology incorporates the most valuable features of our larger markets – ADM and GMA payment capability.
Our suite of Pico technology empowers our client base to drastically increase their total locations and overall available sales and profits.
During the 2022 NAMA Show, we gleaned three key takeaways after engaging with convenience industry colleagues and experts:
- The pandemic has accelerated no-contact service- Heightened sanitation precautions increased the demand and adoption of mobile apps, contactless payment options and food delivery service . This increased sense of security is something consumers continue to want, and therefore, features in which we expect our clients to continue investing.
- The focus has changed from hardware to technology- Operators are looking for a competitive advantage with technology. As new locations open, operators need to leverage the latest tools available in order to win business (I.e., mobile checkout, contactless payment, food delivery, etc.).
- The industry is well on its way to recovery- We know the last few years have been difficult, but if we gleaned anything from NAMA, it’s that our industry is resilient, valued and is well on its way to resurgence.
If you were not able to attend the 2022 NAMA Show, we hope you found these highlights and insights helpful and we look forward to engaging with you next year.
We value our customers, colleagues and teammates immensely and we feel honored to be part of events where we can all come together to help propel our industry forward.
Learn more about Stockwell 2.0 and Pico technology on our website or reach out to us directly.