Here we explore how managed network services enable a simplified approach to fuel and convenience connectivity, which streamlines the launch of new services and sites, and simplifies the integration of newly acquired ones.
Fuel and convenience (F&C) forecourts have transformed to become retail destinations in the last decade. So much so, in fact, that the industry is becoming less about fuel and more about convenience.
To grow revenue, many F&C groups are shifting their focus from serving vehicle needs to add adjacent services that meet consumer needs. And, to grow market share and margins, they’re adding new sites or expanding their reach through brownfield acquisitions.
Delivering convenience and opening or integrating new sites, increasingly relies on high-performance, reliable and secure connectivity. From parcel pickup and laundry services, to guest Wi-Fi and app-centric loyalty programmes — without connectivity, everything grinds to a halt. And that’s just what customers see. In the back-end, retailers need to integrate underground fuel tank gauges, security cameras, payment terminals, securely reach data hosted in the cloud, and much more.
The goal is to deliver seamless and personalized experiences that are also simple and efficient to orchestrate and extend. But, most F&C businesses are faced with a fragmented vendor landscape and a diverse self-managed network, meaning that complexity starts to scale exponentially when adding new services or opening new sites. Throw in new deployment paradigms — SaaS, PaaS and IaaS — and this complexity quickly outgrows the capacity and capabilities of in-house teams.
There is so much code, data complexity, devices, and attack surface vulnerabilities, that networking quickly becomes a distraction from their core business. It’s like trying to drive expansion and innovation with the handbrake on.
Managed Network Services are the Key to Accelerated Innovation
Leading F&C retailers are letting go of directly managing connectivity, to free themselves from this complexity and get back to the business of accelerating growth and innovation.
They’re leaving the labyrinthine array of bespoke and siloed solutions in the rearview mirror. Instead, they’re partnering with a managed network service provider (MNSP) to help them navigate their way through the colliding forces of complexity, digital transformation and business reinvention.
As explored in our latest eBook, ‘Accelerating fuel & convenience retail growth’, an MNSP can help F&C businesses to adopt a standardized and repeatable networking strategy. This affords them greater flexibility and better visibility into network performance, efficiency and utilization.
An MNSP takes care of deployment and integration, unlocking an automation-centric approach to networking that accelerates time-to-value and enhances operational efficiency. This transforms connectivity from a drain on resources into a strategic and operational advantage for growing F&C groups. Working with an MNSP simplifies the connectivity ecosystem, by replacing multiple vendors with a single trusted partner who takes of the responsibility of designing, delivering and maintaining the whole solution, by integrating connectivity, security and networking (such as switching, Wi-Fi), all while also providing 24/7/365 monitoring, support and updates.
The result is a modern, fully managed and modular tech stack that is fit-for-purpose, can adapt to changing business needs, and which reduces the operational burden on retailers. It can also be repeated, in almost copy and paste fashion, across sites and with every new service addition.
Get the eBook to Learn More About Selecting the Right MNSP
F&C retailers need to get out of the weeds of directly managing connectivity and back to focusing on growth and innovation in their core business. By working with a managed service partner, they can refine connectivity to the point that adding new sites or integrating new services becomes a turnkey function.
Read the eBook for more, including what to look for in an MNSP, and how Complete Commerce from TNS brings together connectivity and payments under a comprehensive managed service that is secure, compliant and simple.
Read the eBook
Read the eBook for more, including what to look for in an MNSP.