RETAIL
OPERATIONS BY MAURAKELLER Using electronic signage MAKING THE SWITCH
Royal Farms - Skyline Electronic Scroll Price Display
across North and South Carolina, works toward the company's goal of making life easier for their customers and employees. With electronic signs, Spinx employees are
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either able to change gas prices with a few clicks from within the kiosk, or they can change them
OR STEWART SPINKS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of The Spinx Company, a family- and employee-owned company headquar- tered in Greenville, SC, using electronic signage at most of their 65 gasoline sites
from their corporate offices, no matter the weather and no matter how busy the stores are. And the Spinx Company is not alone. More
and more petroleum marketers are switching to high-tech electronic signage as a way of staying in step with the competition and the ever-changing petroleum marketplace.
BENEFITS APLENTY Daktronics has seen LED price signs and electronic message centers quickly become the industry standard for c-stores and petroleum marketers. In fact, a large percentage—approximately 75 percent—according to their customers, of newly branded stores are going with LED signage. As Joni Schmeichel, national accounts market-
ing manager at Daktronics explains, Daktronics customers are interested in a high-quality, cost- effective and reliable method of keeping gas prices up to date in a quick and safe manner. "In addition to price signage, we are seeing these customers incorporate the use of high-quality elec- tronic message centers to enhance the outer appear- ance of their store, while using targeted messages to reach more customers and increase store traffic," Schmeichel says. "They are demanding a quality, energy-efficient electronic marketing solution that is easy to install and maintain, economically priced, modern in appearance, and backed by a reputable supplier that is in tune with their needs today and will continue to be years down the road." As holds true with most business, an uptick in
demand usually creates an uptick in supply. So while the number of companies offering electronic price and electronic message signage has increased, not all products or manufacturers are created equal. That's why it's important to do your homework— evaluating product options, costs, quality, and talk- ing with end users of a company's products.
GRABBING CUSTOMERS' ATTENTION With the volatility of gas prices over the last few years, Spinx wanted signs that are very easy to change and most
14 MARCH 2012 NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com
