Why Soft Costs Deserve a Spot on Your P&L: A C-Store Owner’s Guide

A convenience store employee manually tracking inventory with a clipboard – a low-value, high-frequency task ideal for automation.

Whether it’s a single convenience store on the corner, or a regional chain of gas-and-go markets, the challenge is often the same: labor inefficiency. According to NACS, Labor now ranks as the second-biggest expense for convenience stores.

With wages creeping up and turnover a continuous problem, a hidden layer of soft costs tied up to labor constantly eats up a big slice of the profit pie. The truth is, these few extra hours a week on manual tasks and a couple of unhappy employees quitting can make the difference between profit and loss. When multiplied, small losses across dozens of stores becomes a million-dollar problem. 

If Staff is Still Paid, Where Do Savings Show Up?

One of the most common questions from c-store store owners is: “If  my employees are already getting the job done, why should I pay extra for an automation tool?” That’s where they make the first mistake. Manual tasks come with hidden costs that drag down productivity and morale - often in ways that aren't always visible on a P&L

Streamlining duties isn’t just about cutting hours - it’s about what those hours produce. When employees are continuously engaged in repetitive and low-value tasks, their productivity dips, risk of errors increases, downtime hits operations, and customer experience is damaged. But when these tasks are automated or simplified, employees can spend more time on high-impact work, such as keeping shelves stocked, upselling products, upkeeping food programs, and keeping the store clean - handling more volume without burnout. 

Why Should They Care?

A widespread misunderstanding among c-store owners is that automation tools are only worth investing if the shrink and inefficiencies cost more than the tool itself .    In truth, the soft costs store owners don’t track are often the ones doing the most damage.

The point is often not that labor is hired regardless, it’s how these employees can be productively reallocated to more essential items – tasks that actively contribute to the store’s P&L. 

For example, if a manager enters the wrong numbers into a daily form or misplaces a pack during reconciliation, CCTV won’t catch it. Without data integration, surveillance cameras are powerless.

Errors and Downtime

Human errors can be costly. Mis-keying an invoice, ordering too much fresh food that goes unsold, or forgetting to upsell a combo deal are all tiny slip-ups that add up. Take scheduling mishaps for example, a soft cost many stores today struggle with. According to a report, more than 50% of c-store managers spend 3+ hours a week just handling schedules.

Training and Turnover

Turnover is another silent budget-killer. Every time an employee quits, c-store owners spend time and money recruiting and training a replacement. Without proper channels and technology to support this cycle, training a replacement for a single employee can cost hundreds of dollars in recruitment and onboarding. Retail, and convenience stores in particular, experience deadly turnover – sometimes over 200% in a single year.

Paperwork and Manual Tasks

This is further compounded by the administrative burden of paperwork and manual data entry. Tasks like preparing invoices, adding numbers to spreadsheets, and reconciling cash drawers are repetitive and tedious. They eat up hours of store managers’ time that could have been spent improving the business. 

All these little leaks – training, overtime, idle time, errors – form the soft cost iceberg below the visible tip of hourly wages. So how do we plug the leaks? That’s where smart automation comes in.

How Global C-Store Chains Cut Soft Costs with Automation

Against the common misconception, retail automation isn’t about replacing all your employees or expecting a dramatic dip in labor costs. It’s about eliminating those underlying soft costs that erode worker inefficiencies and scrape off profits. One national c-store chain found that simply adopting smarter scheduling software cut overtime expenses by 15% in the first year.

Automation Handles the Boring Stuff

The right automation tools can help c-stores offload mundane, repetitive tasks - enabling the store staff to focus on higher-value work, like improving shopper experience. There are countless tasks in stores that require a human’s personal touch – tasks that require connection and emotional presence, such as greeting customers, upselling products or handling customer complaints. This is what automation helps achieve – freeing up time for c-store employees to take on improvement initiatives, while automation handles the grunt work – faster, cheaper, and more accurately.

S&G stores for example automated their invoice payments across 69 locations, ensuring bills were paid on time and freed managers from tedious back-office work. For many convenience store managers who input that information themselves, this automated integration allows them to put that time elsewhere.

Smart Stores Don’t Rely on Memory or Manual Entry

One of the biggest benefits automation brings to c-store operations is that it minimizes the risk of errors and downtime. With the right software tools in place, data gets synchronized across systems, auto-filling forms, and flagging discrepancies in real time.

While c-store managers would spend hours fixing mistakes in the past, they can now focus on running the store more efficiently. C-store chains like Casey’s and Circle K have streamlined inventory and scheduling through automation, cutting down food waste, improving task accuracy, and reducing unnecessary delays.

This proved that when technology handles the repeatable work, employees stay focused, lines move faster, and the store runs smoother with less stress and fewer preventable headaches. 

Labor Efficiency Behind the Scenes

A regional chain in Alberta illustrated this well. Facing provincial wage hikes and staffing pressure, the chain turned to workforce management tools to forecast demand with precision. Instead of cutting staff, the chain analyzed historical sales and foot traffic patterns to adjust staffing levels based on real demand. Using automation, the store not only managed to cut labor costs by 10% but also ensured high customer satisfaction. At same time, employees benefitted from flexible schedules tailored to their availability – boosting morale and reducing turnover.

Self Service - A New Driver In Soft Cost Savings

Another great example is self-service kiosks and self-checkout to reduce front-of-house labor. These AI-based self-checkout systems use computer vision to instantly scan items without barcodes. This means one attendant can oversee several stations without needing multiple cashiers. A prime example is Walmart, that uses self-checkout or order kiosks for food service to reallocate labor. One industry analysis found that with kiosks or self-checkout, a single employee can monitor 4-6 stations at once, which can potentially cut cashier labor hours by 50-75% during certain shifts.

These real-world examples show automation isn’t just theoretical – it is happening now and delivering savings across every segment of retail.

When Employees Work Smarter, Customers Stay Happier

Smarter workflows free up employees to focus on what really matters  - better service, cleaner stores, stronger sales. Here’s why task automation still matters, even when your payroll isn’t shrinking.

• Learning Promotions and Upselling

  When staff aren’t bogged down with routine chores, they can learn current promotions, suggest relevant items, and boost basket size. Upselling a drink or snack adds up fast and directly improves revenue without needing more foot traffic.

• Cleaning Bathroom and Forecourt

  A clean restroom and tidy forecourt create a better first impression and improve customer retention. With freed-up time, employees can maintain cleanliness throughout the day, reducing complaints and enhancing the overall store experience.

• Upkeeping Food Program

  Instead of rushing food prep, employees can ensure hot items are fresh, properly rotated, and visually appealing. This improves safety, quality, and sales, especially during peak hours when quick service and consistent presentation matter most.

• Better Customer Service

  When staff aren’t distracted by back-office or manual tasks, they can engage with customers, offering help, solving issues, or just being friendly. This builds loyalty, encourages repeat visits, and differentiates your store from less attentive competitors.

Embracing the Future

At the end of the day, automation is about working smarter, not harder. The legacy ways of throwing more hours and bodies at every problem isn’t sustainable anymore. Same goes for managing lottery inventory and lottery operations. Here, trained labor and the right lottery management software will always be a key determinant in c-store lottery management.

Since lottery sales can oftentimes comprise over 30% of convenience store revenue, streamlining its operations and minimizing theft can represent a significant cost savings. With lottery tracking systems such as LottoShield, retailers have reported higher accuracy, faster reconciliation, and thousands of dollars in cost savings per store.

When managers and store staff aren’t buried in reports and mundane processes and counting errors, your whole organization runs smoother. Employees stay longer, leaders have more time to think strategically, and customers notice the difference.