From Canada comes a case study of what ATMs mean to convenience stores.
It’s the story of Alimentation Couche-Tard, the largest convenience-store chain in Canada with 2,000 stores (it also operates the Circle K chain in the United States). They decided that ATMs are a key to their continued growth. Here’s why:
The technology is part of Couche-Tard’s strategy of transforming the typical trip to the c-store from an impulse stop to a destination.
Competition from groceries has increased in recent years, blurring the line between quick-stop and full-service retail establishments. Grocery stores are opening earlier and closing later, and they offer more pre-packaged food and more one-stop shopping services, such as prepaid phone cards and lottery tickets, than they have in the past. An ATM has become de rigueur for a convenience
store, from a customer-service standpoint as well as a profitability perspective.“First and foremost, ATMs are for the convenience of our customers,” said Steve Lévesque, product category manager, whose job includes oversight of Couche-Tard’s Eastern Canada ATM network.
That convenience draws what Lévesque calls “new money” into the stores.
“ATMs serve as a destination for us, and customers who would not otherwise come into our stores use the ATMs. So we generate revenue there as well as some impulse sales,” he said.
It makes sense: ATMs embody the “convenience” aspect of convenience stores. And by drawing in new customers and increasing sales (not to mention surcharge revenue on transactions and the ability to sell on-screen ads), they add immediately to the bottom line. And with ATMs cheaper than ever before (ATM prices have fallen 75% in the last decade), it’s never been easier to harness that profit.
