Food Chain - Issue 201a - September 2024 | Page 90

PARTNER CONTENT
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“ We primarily work with convenience retail and petroleum wholesale businesses , as well as adjacencies like quick service restaurants , fast casual , and specialty retail ,” begins Linnea Geiss , PDI Chief Operating Officer . “ We strive to increase our customers ’ efficiency and profitability in a variety of ways , including securely connecting data and operations , and managing back-office systems and customer-facing programs , such as loyalty and rewards programs .”
Transformative technology
In 2015 , PDI kicked off a major phase of growth . Today , the company works with over 200,000 retail sites across nearly 70 countries . This rapid growth has also expanded PDI ’ s presence in the quick service restaurant footprint .
“ When I think about the markets in which we operate ,” Linnea continues , “ I ’ d say , in general , they ’ re expanding to meet changing consumer demand and consequently , navigating a wide range of technological advancements . Convenience retail is really a great test bed for the wider industry . More than 83 percent of convenience shoppers make unplanned purchases when they ’ re in the store . As a result , convenience retail is often the fastest , most efficient , and cost-effective way to introduce new products .
“ The sector is also experiencing considerable digital transformation , which was accelerated by Covid . Additionally , a fascinating trend is personalization , where we ’ re seeing AI-driven consumer recommendations . We ’ re also seeing a convergence of convenience retail and quick service restaurants unlike ever before ,” Linnea elaborates .
“ Technology has changed the way we do everything , not just in this market , but in our daily lives . For convenience retail and quick service restaurants , the contactless checkout and the self-service kiosk are incredibly important advances , and leveraging AI to create a more robust customer experience has been monumental . While we ’ re embracing all this connected technology , it ’ s equally crucial to ensure we ’ re adopting enhanced cybersecurity measures to mitigate greater risk .
“ At PDI , we integrate AI throughout our products and daily operations , we embrace automation to increase operational efficiencies . For instance , point of sale is an important technology for both quick service restaurants and convenience retail . Likewise , we use machine learning to help detect instances of compromised security and streamline our automated and real-time responses to threats .
90