For convenience store and fuel retailers, the battle for the customer is increasingly measured in seconds.
A driver stopping for fuel, a commuter grabbing coffee before work, or a traveler making a quick highway stop is not simply evaluating price or product selection. They are judging the entire experience — how quickly they can pay, how long they wait in line, and whether completing a purchase feels effortless.
That’s where self-checkout, mobile payments, AI-assisted checkout, and cashier-less solutions are helping gasoline marketers improve speed, convenience, and operational efficiency – but the most successful technologies focus on removing friction, not replacing people.
As labor challenges, changing consumer expectations, and increasing competition reshape the industry, gasoline marketers are investing in technologies designed to streamline transactions and improve throughput. Self-checkout kiosks, mobile payments, artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, and cashier-less solutions are moving from emerging concepts into practical tools that help operators create faster, more efficient stores.
However, industry experts say the technology itself is not the objective. The goal is removing friction from the customer journey while improving store operations.
“The first thing operators should think about is not the kiosk itself, but the customer flow,” says Matt Marino, president of WinkPay. “Where are lines forming? What transactions are slowing people down? Is it fuel, foodservice, age-restricted products, loyalty lookup, or just the payment step? Self-checkout works best when it solves a real operational bottleneck, not when it is deployed just because it feels modern.”
Chris Woods, director of strategic partnerships at Kurv, who brings experience in payments and fintech, with a specialized focus on unbranded gas stations and convenience stores across the retail and petroleum verticals, says operators need to begin with a clear understanding of their customer base and store environment before selecting technology.
“Self-checkout can be an excellent investment, but beforehand, operators should first evaluate transaction volume, average basket size, store layout and customer demographics,” Woods says. “The technology works best in locations with high foot traffic, frequent repeat customers, and a large percentage of simple transactions.”
That approach — identifying where customers experience the most friction and applying technology strategically — is becoming the foundation of modern convenience retail.
Self-checkout remains one of the most visible examples of retail technology adoption, but its success in convenience stores has been mixed. While these systems can reduce wait times and improve labor efficiency, traditional self-checkout models also introduce challenges around customer adoption, shrink, and transaction complexity.
Unlike many retail environments, convenience stores handle a wide range of transactions that are not always easy to automate, including fuel purchases, age-restricted products, lottery transactions, and prepared foods.
Jon Nam, general manager of c-stores at Mashgin, says operators need to evaluate whether a technology improves the experience for customers, employees, and the business.
“In 2026, self-checkout is far from a ‘new’ concept,” Nam says. “It’s something most operators have already evaluated, with mixed results at best. The lack of mainstream success comes down to traditional self-checkout’s limitations across transaction types, poor shopper experience, fear of increased shrink, and lack of cashier adoption.”
Nam says many customers do not necessarily want to take on the role of scanning every item themselves, particularly in a convenience environment where speed is the primary expectation.
“Technology-enabled checkout solutions must work for shoppers and cashiers and drive economic efficiencies for businesses,” he says.
Woods says operators should also avoid viewing self-checkout primarily as a labor replacement strategy rather than a customer experience enhancement. “Ultimately, self-checkout should be there to complement staff, not replace them,” Woods says.
Rather than replacing employees, newer checkout technologies are increasingly focused on enhancing the role of store associates. AI-assisted checkout platforms, for example, allow customers to complete simple purchases quickly while employees remain available for more complex transactions and customer interactions.
“The relationship between cashiers and customers is far from dead,” Nam says. “Most stores have strong bases of repeat customers that have built long-standing relationships with employees.”
Because many c-store transactions require employee involvement, Nam says the future is unlikely to be a completely cashier-less environment.
“While fully autonomous checkout can work for certain transaction types in some stores, it will not replace face-to-face retail in c-stores,” he says. “The best of both worlds is AI-assisted checkout. The slowest, least efficient parts of the checkout process are handled instantly by AI, while cashiers remain critical for supporting complex transactions and interacting with customers.”
For independent operators considering self-checkout technology, Marino says avoiding unnecessary infrastructure changes is also important.
“A lot of c-stores already have capable POS devices, kiosks, cameras, tablets, or Android-based terminals,” Marino says. “The mistake is assuming self-checkout requires a full rip-and-replace of the store environment. In many cases, the smarter path is adding new software, identity, payment, or biometric capabilities on top of the existing infrastructure.”
While improving speed is a primary reason operators explore checkout technology, security remains a major consideration. Self-checkout creates opportunities for efficiency but also introduces new challenges related to theft, fraud, and transaction accuracy.
Daniel Gabay, CEO and co-founder of Trigo, says self-checkout technology must be paired with stronger loss prevention capabilities.
“Self-checkouts are a great way to cut labor costs but they have up to five times higher rates of shrink compared to regular lanes,” Gabay says. “The reason is a combination of both honest mistakes by shoppers and intentional theft.”
Gabay says simply adding cameras does not solve the problem.
“A common mistake is to think that installing a camera over the self-checkout is a remedy,” he says. “But with asset protection and staff spread as thin as they are, they have to be selective about what they choose to respond to and won’t typically spend hours watching every single camera feed.”
Instead, AI can provide an intelligence layer that analyzes activity and identifies potential issues in real time.
“Retailers need AI to continuously ‘watch’ the footage with computer vision AI capabilities, flagging in real time anomalies and cases that require either staff intervention or a notification to the shopper,” Gabay says.
Woods says security considerations must be part of the deployment strategy from the beginning.
“Operators should ensure that all payment systems are PCI-compliant and support technologies such as tokenization, encryption, EMV, and multi-factor authentication, where applicable,” Woods says. “Regular software updates, network segmentation, employee cybersecurity training, and continuous fraud monitoring are equally important.”
Fuel retailers, he says, are also frequent targets for cybercriminals because they process large transaction volumes.
“Investing in security infrastructure is no longer optional; it’s essential to protecting both revenue and customer trust,” Woods says.
Marino says retailers exploring biometric payments and identity-based commerce must also understand how customer data is handled.
“For biometric checkout specifically, operators need to understand that this is not about storing a photo of someone’s face or palm and passing it around the system,” Marino says. “The right model is consent-based enrollment, secure biometric templates or vectors, liveness detection, tokenized payment credentials, and strong controls around where data is stored and how it is used.”
Mobile payments continue to gain momentum across retail, but convenience experts say the technology only delivers value when it actually improves the customer experience.
“The key is to reduce friction,” Marino says. “Too many mobile payment experiences still require the customer to open an app, remember a password, scan a barcode, select a card, enter a phone number, or take some other extra step.”
Woods says the most effective mobile payment experiences connect payment, loyalty, and rewards into one seamless interaction.
“Mobile payment should be fast, secure, and integrated directly with loyalty and rewards programs,” Woods says. “Customers should be able to pay at the pump, order inside the store, earn and redeem offers without multiple steps.” Retailers that connect payments with personalized promotions and fuel discounts can also create stronger customer relationships.
Nam says creating consistency across payment touchpoints is critical as retailers adopt more digital options.
“Mobile payment and other speed-of-service options inside and at the forecourts are growing,” Nam says. “The key to success depends heavily on a consolidated platform that enables these various payment experiences to be used at all checkout opportunities.”
Managing traffic during morning commutes, lunch periods, and holiday travel remains a challenge for many fuel retailers. Technology can help operators handle these surges while making better use of existing employees.
Marino says the goal is not necessarily reducing staff but allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities.
“Speed matters and there are various ways to solve this, including self-checkout, kiosk ordering, mobile pay, biometric checkout, and better integration between fuel, in-store purchases, foodservice, and loyalty,” Marino says. “The goal is to let customers choose the fastest path for the transaction they are trying to complete.”
Woods says technologies such as mobile payments, self-checkout, and pay-at-the-pump solutions can help shift routine transactions away from traditional checkout lanes.
“Self-checkout kiosks, mobile ordering, mobile payments, and pay-at-the-pump solutions all reduce bottlenecks during busy periods,” Woods says.
Cloud-based POS systems and predictive analytics can also help operators better understand traffic patterns and adjust staffing accordingly. Nam says AI-assisted checkout can help operators increase throughput without adding labor.
“Retailers are already at minimum base labor hours,” he says. “They are challenged to help customers check out while also ensuring the store is stocked and clean.” By reducing manual checkout tasks, employees can focus on customer service, food preparation, stocking, and maintaining the store environment.
“With AI-assisted checkout, one cashier can support a level of throughput that would otherwise require three cashiers,” Nam says.
Indeed, AI is becoming one of the most influential technologies in convenience retail, but industry experts say operators should focus on practical applications that create measurable results. Those applications include fraud detection, transaction monitoring, personalized promotions, inventory insights, and operational forecasting.
Woods says AI can help gasoline marketers improve both customer engagement and store operations.
“On the payment side, AI helps identify suspicious transactions, reduce fraud, and improve security,” Woods says. “On the retail side, it can analyze purchasing patterns, predict inventory needs, and personalize promotions.”
AI-powered loyalty programs, he says, represent one of the most immediate opportunities.
“By analyzing customer behavior, retailers can deliver targeted offers that increase fuel purchases, inside-store sales, and customer retention,” Woods says.
Gabay says AI is helping gasoline retailers expand the value of the forecourt beyond fuel sales.
“The future of the gasoline forecourt isn’t just about selling fuel; it’s about capturing time, removing friction, and creating an experience,” he says.
Looking ahead, industry leaders expect convenience retail to become increasingly connected, combining payments, loyalty, security, customer data, and store operations into a more seamless ecosystem.
Woods says the biggest impact will come from the convergence of AI, mobile commerce, loyalty , and connected payment systems.
“Customers increasingly expect personalized experiences, frictionless payments, and digital engagement across every touchpoint,” Woods says. He expects continued growth in mobile ordering, app-based fuel payments, digital wallets, smart loyalty programs, and AI-powered customer engagement tools.
“Operators should begin investing in scalable payment infrastructure today, ensuring their POS, loyalty, and payment systems can integrate with future technologies rather than requiring complete replacement later,” Woods says.
Marino believes the industry will continue shifting toward identity-driven commerce.
“Today, most checkout experiences are still built around the customer presenting something: a card, a phone, an app, a loyalty number, or a barcode,” Marino says. “Over the next few years, that will change.”
Ultimately, the operators that benefit most from technology will not necessarily be those with the most advanced systems, but those that use innovation to solve real customer and operational challenges.
“The winners will not necessarily be the operators with the flashiest technology,” Marino says. “The winners will be the operators that make the experience easier for the customer and more efficient for the business.”
