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Insights and Expertise Spotlight Innovators

Delivery went mainstream for C-stores, spotlighting innovators in the payments industry

changing merchants' POS needs

Dedicated series of pages to showcase your company’s unique message.
By Elie Y. Katz sale and the system processing the card work together, the
National Retail Solutions (NRS) quality of that integration shapes how much the merchant • Your own, customized News from the Wire that highlights stories about your company
trusts the whole setup. Agents who can speak to opera-
customer needs ibuprofen at 11 p.m., or a tional value, not just price, give a merchant more reason • Featured Content: updated monthly, either provided by you, or written by one of our own writers
bag of ice for a party already underway. A to stay. • Custom infographics and videos
decade ago they drove to the nearest open The role of an owned channel
A store. Now they open an app. For independent • And so much more...
convenience stores, delivery has moved from a novelty Third-party platforms are strong at putting a store in
to a real revenue channel, and the shift is reshaping what front of new local customers. Depending on them alone, Contact us for more details & pricing options
those merchants expect from the technology behind their though, means paying their fees on every order and oper- 707.284.1686
counter. For the agents, ISOs and processors who serve ating by their rules. A more durable strategy pairs those
this segment, the trend is worth watching. Delivery vol- platforms with an owned channel: the store's own brand- Sales@greensheet.com
ume flows through a merchant's payment and reporting ed online storefront, running through the same system as
systems, and how well those systems handle it affects everything else.
the merchant's margins, stability and the length of the
relationship. When delivery apps, an owned storefront and in-store
sales all flow into one hub, inventory stays accurate across
The operational drag of fragmented delivery
channels, pricing stays consistent, and reporting reflects
Many stores adopted third-party delivery the quick way: the whole business rather than fragments scattered across
a tablet for each app, stacked at an already crowded regis- disconnected platforms. That kind of consolidated data is
ter. The problems that follow are consistent. Cashiers lose exactly what makes a merchant easier to underwrite, serve
focus switching between devices. A delivery order arrives and keep.
on one screen while walk-in customers wait. Staff re-key A capability that has moved downmarket
orders into the register by hand, which invites pricing and
data-entry errors. For years, delivery at this level was reserved for national
chains with custom-built systems and dedicated IT teams.
The costliest issue is the inventory disconnect. When de- Independent retailers watched from the sidelines. That
livery apps don't reflect what's actually in stock, customers gap has closed. Integrated POS platforms now give inde-
order items the store already sold out of, and cancellations, pendent convenience stores the same delivery infrastruc-
refunds and negative reviews follow. Each of those events ture the large chains use, without the enterprise price tag
chips away at both revenue and reputation, and none of or the technical overhead. Industry data support the shift:
them show up cleanly in the merchant's numbers until the a large majority of independent businesses report strong
damage is done. returns from partnering with delivery services, particu-
larly when integrated tools remove operational friction
Why integration matters to the payments side and inventory errors that eat into margins.
Direct POS integration with delivery platforms consoli-
dates those orders into the same interface a store already Delivery is no longer a side experiment for convenience
uses for in-store sales. Orders arrive, get fulfilled and sync stores. It's a growing share of revenue, and the merchants
without manual re-entry. Price changes carry over to the who handle it through integrated systems run healthier
delivery menus, and low stock adjusts availability so cus- operations than those bolting on tablets one app at a time.
tomers can't order items that aren't available. For payments professionals, that difference is a useful sig-
nal.
For a payments professional, the relevance is straightfor-
ward. A merchant whose delivery, in-store sales and in- The sophistication of a merchant's commerce stack often
ventory run through one system produces clean, unified reflects the health of the account itself, and partners who
reporting; reconciles more easily; and spends less time recognize it early tend to build relationships that last.
fighting operational fires. Those merchants tend to run Elie Y. Katz is founder, president and CEO at National Retail Solutions
more stable operations, process more consistently and (NRS), https://nrsplus.com. NRS empowers independent retailers to
churn less. A merchant juggling four disconnected tablets manage their business on their own terms with modern, mobile-ready
and manual re-entry is a fragile account, no matter how POS systems. To learn more about securing a POS system that travels
competitive the rate. seamlessly with the merchant, call 833-289-2767 to consult with a spe-
cialist or visit the NRS website. To reach Elie, phone him at 201-715-5179
Integrated commerce also raises the stakes on the pay- or send an email to ekatz@nrsplus.com.
ment relationship itself. When the system recording the

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