SparkCognition hosts over 150 convenience store owners attending the 2023 NAG Conference to showcase how computer vision is redefining the category.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 28, 2023 — SparkCognition, a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) software solutions perfected for business, demonstrated during the 2023 NAG Convenience Conference how AI is transforming the way store owners and operators are marketing, merchandising, addressing loss prevention, and improving safety and security. Attendees on Monday visited SparkCognition’s R&D Center, HyperWerx, a 50-acre campus where they experienced and learned more about this game-changing technology. They also visited a local TXB convenience store where the technology has been deployed.
At the general conference, SparkCognition’s Chief Technology Officer, Sridhar Sudarsan, presented AI’s place in organizations’ long-term fuel strategies. He was joined by Daillard Paris, Director of Supply & Trading (Northeast Operations) at Sheetz, and Peter Rasmussen, Founder and CEO of Convenience and Energy Advisors (CEA). The session explored how integrating electric vehicles and alternative fuels presents new challenges for convenience store retailers. Sudarsan shared data insights compiled by CStore Decisions and SparkCognition’s AI on EV charging study, including newly identified customer personas like ‘overnight chargers, ‘frequent customers,’ and ‘rare chargers’—critical elements that C-store owners will need to understand as the EV market grows exponentially this decade.
“Advancements in retail technology are making convenience store retailers smarter, more efficient, and more profitable. From loyalty programs that capture consumer data to artificial intelligence that provides critical insights, retailers can now predict store demand and upsell consumers in real time. This helps staffing, ordering, and ensures consumers have a wonderful shopping experience,” said John Lofstock, former Executive Consultant for the National Advisory Group (NAG) and the Young Executives Organization (YEO).” As part of the 2023 NAG Conference, the SparkCognition HyperWerx visit showcased how AI integrates with physical systems to deliver cutting-edge retail solutions. This benefited NAG members in ways they have yet to realize.”
“AI is at the heart of digital transformation occurring in C-stores, whether it’s understanding consumer behavior, improving store and forecourt experiences, or maximizing operational efficiencies,“ said Sudarsan. “SparkCognition’s Visual AI Advisor is deployed at over 15,000 retail fueling stations enhancing KPIs on customer conversion, compliance, safety, operational efficiency, and reduced labor costs.”
Visual AI Advisor allows operators to identify, analyze, and alert key stakeholders 24 hours a day, with extraordinary accuracy and efficiency, empowering retailers to go from reactive to proactive in their day-to-day operations. The result is an improved consumer experience, reduced accidents, and greater profitability. Convenience store owners leverage pre-built visual AI use cases to capture insights on customer movement, dwell times, demographics, forecourt conversion, and much more. The Business Intelligence Group recently named Visual AI Advisor a 2023 product winner in the computer vision category.
About SparkCognition
SparkCognition’s award-winning AI solutions allow organizations to predict future outcomes, prescribe next best actions, and help ensure worker safety. We partner with the world’s industry leaders to analyze, optimize, and learn from all types of data, augment human intelligence, drive profitable growth, and achieve operational excellence. Our patented AI technologies, including machine learning, deep neural networks, natural language processing, and computer vision, lead the industry in innovation and accelerate digital transformation. Our solutions allow organizations to solve critical problems—prevent unexpected downtime, maximize asset performance, deliver net-zero initiatives, and eliminate accidents, all while avoiding zero-day cyberattacks. To learn more about how SparkCognition’s AI solutions can unlock the power in your data, visit www.sparkcognition.com.
