Dive Brief:
- Pilot Company has signed a five-year agreement with NCR Voyix to deploy the payment solution vendor’s point-of-sale technology across its network of over 900 convenience stores and travel centers, both companies announced on Thursday.
- The agreement expands Pilot’s use of NCR’s tech, which the retailer has already used for its self-checkout kiosks. Pilot will now also deploy NCR’s POS and fuel solutions for both its retail and commercial gas segments, according to the announcement.
- Both the POS and fuel solutions are part of NCR’s Commerce Platform, which introduced several new proprietary cloud-to-edge applications earlier this year. Pilot is expected to implement “a suite of additional platform capabilities” as part of the new deal, according to the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Both Pilot and NCR called the agreement an “AI-enabled transformation” in the announcement. Although it’s not clear what other capabilities Pilot will enable as part of the deal, NCR recently upgraded several of its solutions with AI-driven functions. Besides its POS and self-checkout platforms, those upgrades also included its back-office, supply chain, kitchen, loyalty and analytics functions.
In the announcement, Pilot Chief Technology Officer Andy Lupo said the deal will help the retailer transform its POS environment while simplifying and modernizing its tech stack.
“For a network of our size, the job is to keep stores running smoothly while making meaningful improvements fast,” Lupo said. “NCR Voyix provides another way for us to serve our guests better every day by reimagining the store experience and innovating for the future.”
The updates can also help Pilot improve its systems faster, strengthen its edge security functions and reduce operational friction for team members, the companies said. NCR is calling its latest upgrades a “modern microservices architecture.”
“We’re proud to continue to support Pilot as they transform their point-of-sale system and fuel technology and accelerate new possibilities for their business and their guests,” said NCR Voyix Chief Product Officer Nick East.
NCR is one of the most popular payment and technology vendors in convenience retailing. Besides Pilot, its technology is used at retailers such as Circle K, BP, Parker’s Kitchen, Shell, Weigel’s and Stinker Stores, according to its website.
