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importantly, reliable. Spinx looked at Skyline electronic gas price signs to gain the ability to be more competitive for their customers by quickly reacting to changing mar- ket conditions. "Not only is changing gas prices quick and easy, it is safe for our employees," Spinks says. According to Greg Stadjuhar, vice president of sales and marketing at Skyline Displays in Colorado Springs, CO, they continue to see the trends of electronic price signs being treated as a part of the overall system of the store itself. "As corporate control of all systems, as well as pricing, continue to grow in popularity, having a sign system that integrates into either or both of these trends is extremely important," Stadjuhar says. "We see our customers looking at the perfor- mance of the whole store from the energy being used to performance of the coolers and many other store functions, they want to analyze and maintain everything from a corporate office." Vic Wenner, Daktronics' national accounts sales manager agrees. "Quality electronic signage posi- tions a c-store or petroleum marketer as technically advanced, more inviting to consumers, modern and image conscious," Wenner says. "The con- sumer's perception is that stores who care about their image also care about their customers and the consumer's overall experience. It promotes the image of a clean, new, updated facility — cleaner bathrooms, better food choices, fresh coffee, etc." Wenner stresses that price remains one of the dominant reasons why consumers choose to pur- chase fuel at a certain location, according to the results from the new 2012 NACS Consumer Fuels Report. "Price signs that are prominent, easy to read, accurate and viewable from a distance catch the eyes of consumers — drawing in additional revenue for owners," Wenner says. "Today's cus- tomers have demanded attractive, bright, high- contrast displays in a wide range of digit sizes and LED color options." It's also important to have a sign that can both integrate into a central control system as well as allow the corporate managers to evaluate the per- formance and the status of the sign at any time. "Of course, the more prevalent trend is the full integration of all components from a corporate pricing execution strategy," Stadjuhar says. "As everything in our lives continues to become inte- grated, the ability to automate the pricing of all a customer's fuels from a simple click of a mouse or touch of a smart phone is no longer a fad, but a necessity, to stay competitive in the ever aggressing fuel pricing market." www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine In fact, more and more fuel customers will not even look at electronic signage products if they will not seamlessly integrate with their P.O.S, central pric- ing software, pumps and other important systems. "No customer would ever think of buying a pump that they would have to go out to and change the price on it with a remote, so they now expect the same out of their price signs," Stadjuhar says. "They want one push of a button at corporate office or at the back office and seamless execution of the full price change. Of course, as all these sys- tems are integrated, our customers want to make sure they are working with a company that not only has the capability, but can address key concerns like PCI compliance, and full tested integration with all partners involved." When the Spinx Company considered the huge investment in converting their locales to electronic MARCH 2012 15 Photo courtesy of Daktronics