From self-checkouts to smart inventory systems, many convenience store owners fear that retail tech means fewer jobs.
In reality, it’s about freeing teams from repetitive tasks so they can focus on what truly drives loyalty: faster service, better customer interactions, and smoother in-store experiences. Across the industry, experts agree – automation works best when it works with your people, not instead of them.
A common misconception is that introducing kiosks or robots leads directly to layoffs. In reality, automation is more often a shift in responsibilities than a reduction in headcount. For example, self-checkout stations don’t erase the cashier’s job, they transform it. Stores still need employees to monitor transactions, assist customers who run into issues, verify age-restricted purchases, prevent theft, and keep lines moving - ultimately creating an impactful shopping experience.
Convenience retail leaders have also pushed back on this misconception. During a NACS conference session, Josh Birdwell, vice president of retail and guest technology at Pilot Travel Centers, and Alan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Oil Co., made it clear that labor reduction isn’t the objective.
“It’s about redeploying labor,” Birdwell said, explaining that self-checkout enables stores to move employees away from cashier stations and into other areas where they can add more value.
Meyer echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that “labor shouldn’t be the number one priority, to me it’s about the customer experience.” He pointed out that a customer can complete a self-service transaction in about 30 seconds, compared to waiting up to 20 minutes in a traditional cashier line. In this context, self-checkout isn’t about replacing employees – it’s about improving the customer experience while freeing staff from repetitive transactions - so they can focus on higher value activities like assisting shoppers, preparing food, and driving additional sales.
Based on LendingTree’s survey of 1,924 U.S. consumers who've used self-checkout, 62% claimed it’s time efficient.
This approach is further exemplified in other retail sectors. When CVS rolled out self-checkouts at thousands of drugstores, there were no layoffs planned. Instead, cashiers were repositioned as “store ambassadors” on the sales floor, helping customers and answering questions rather than standing idle at a till. CVS simply moved employees from routine checkout duties to more customer-facing roles, which eventually reinforced that the technology was there to assist both shoppers and staff.
Automation thrives on the repetitive, time-consuming work that drains your team’s energy. In c-stores, this mostly includes manual data entry, counting inventory, processing routine transactions, and manual reconciliation. When these tasks are offloaded, something important happens – employees get their time back.
And time is leverage.
According to research published by Verizon, retailers are using automation to take over low-level duties such as inventory tracking and routine customer inquiries, freeing associates for more critical work in-store.
McKinsey reaches a similar conclusion. It shows that with current technology, only about 5% of jobs can be fully automated, so the real opportunity is not eliminating people but redesigning work. When it’s done well, automation can add 300 to 500 basis points of margin. The first win is that automation gives employees time back. The bigger win comes from where that time gets reinvested.
In a c-store, the best place to reinvest that time is where customers feel it and where margins are made. PwC’s 2025 customer experience survey found that 29% of consumers have stopped buying from a brand because of poor customer experience, while 86% say human interaction is still an important part of that experience. That matters even more in convenience retail, where foodservice generated 39.6% of in-store gross margin dollars in 2024, and NACS reports that foodservice leakage to quick-service restaurants represents $130 billion in lost annual sales.
Research from the CCRRC report highlights the impact of engaged employees. Stores with higher employee engagement see better customer satisfaction, stronger loyalty, and more recommendations from shoppers. They also generate about an average of $24,000 more in gross profit per year. In short, when employees spend less time on routine tasks and more time helping customers, both the experience and the store’s performance improve.
To make that shift sustainable, employees need systems that remove friction rather than create more of it. That is why connected POS and back-office automation is imperative. NACS describes the POS as the core system that runs the store, and notes that when items, pricing, and promotions are fully integrated into the pricebook, employees do not have to manually ring items, which reduces errors and improves control over pricing, revenue, and payroll.
One c-store example comes from Stinker Stores’ modernization with NCR Voyix. Before modern POS integration, store staff often had to manually enter items, update prices, or reconcile promotions across different systems tasks – that were time-consuming and prone to errors. With systems in place, NACS reported the store was expected to deliver 60% POS hardware cost savings, 80% back-office technology savings, a 50% reduction in support tickets, and 70% faster store rollout.
Stinker Stores modernized POS operations with NCR Voyix, reducing manual work, improving accuracy, lowering support needs, and accelerating rollout.
That kind of automation does more than save IT dollars. It reduces workarounds, keeps checkout more reliable, and lets employees stay focused on customers instead of troubleshooting the system. Once the core software is doing its job in the background, the team can spend more time improving what shoppers actually notice.
That same logic applies to store standards. Automation is most powerful when it handles the routine checks that have to get done but should not pull employees away from service.
Verizon points to IoT-based monitoring that can track refrigeration and other conditions in real time, reducing manual labor and flagging problems before they become larger issues.
In a Copeland case study, a 582-store convenience chain automated refrigerated case temperature logging and saved 70,810 annual labor hours, giving store personnel more time to help customers and maintain operations. The result is a cleaner, cost-efficient, more consistent store without asking employees to do more with less.
Automation in the c-store sector has delivered measurable productivity boosts. And there’s proof of its real world benefits.
A McKinsey study found that automating repetitive retail tasks can cut operational costs by up to 55% and free up to 65% of staff time for higher-value work. That means more customers get helped, more shelves get stocked, and employees have a bigger impact – without working extra hours.
Removing boring stuff off their plates allows them to enjoy their jobs more. Chains like Curbys and Jamba saw a 15% boost in engagement after switching to automated scheduling. One manager put it simply that when staff feel in control and less overworked, they’re happier – and they stick around. It also reduces burnout and makes for a calmer workday.
Employees who feel empowered give better service, and that lifts your whole business. When Meyer Oil Co. brought in self-checkouts, transaction counts drastically increased because fewer customers walked out due to long lines. With staff no longer frantically scanning items, they could manage multiple checkouts and greet people as they arrived. That meant smoother experiences and more sales.
Automation can also help retailers hang onto their teams. It gets rid of the little frustrations – like manual logs or late-night inventory and shows employees you value their time. As those grunt tasks disappear and opportunities grow, staff feel more respected and are less likely to leave. In an industry with high turnover, that’s huge. Store owners save on hiring and training and while keeping experienced people in place – a win win on both sides.
Annual turnover remains high across frontline sectors: 87% in quick-service restaurants, 81% in retail, 73% in logistics and warehousing, and 58% in call centers.
Retail’s smartest leaders see automation as a way to unlock people’s potential. By cutting out the repetitive, time-sucking tasks, you give your employees more space to shine. Done right, automation creates happy customers, higher sales, and staff who enjoy their jobs more. This isn’t a cost-cutting trick – it’s a strategy for growth and empowerment.
Think of every new system as a chance to level up your team. When your staff is free from checking out they can improve cleanliness, organize the shelf outlook, and create an experience-led impact for the business. In a fast-paced industry built on trust and service, your team is your edge. Give them the tools they need to thrive, and your store will too.