Meet the Hub: one platform to power your convenience store
At RTC Europe 2025, conversations around the future of convenience retail often return to a practical challenge. As stores introduce more services, digital tools and connected experiences, how do operators manage everything without adding complexity?
During a session focused on unified retail platforms, Brent Hamby, Global Portfolio Leader, and Daniel O'Shaughnessy, Product Manager at Gilbarco Veeder-Root, presented the Hub as a way to bring together core store operations, payment and customer engagement into a single connected environment, helping retailers simplify how their sites are run while improving how customers experience them.
The convenience store is changing rapidly
What was once a straightforward retail environment has become a central part of the customer journey. Customers fuel, shop, order ahead, engage with loyalty programmes and expect those interactions to feel connected.
For operators, that shift introduces a different kind of challenge.
Not more technology, but how to manage what is already in place.
Many stores still rely on separate systems to run different parts of the business. Point of sale, back office, loyalty and payment platforms often operate independently. Each system may work well on its own, yet together they can create operational friction.
Teams move between interfaces. Data sits in different places. Updates take longer than they should.
This is where the idea behind the Hub becomes more practical.
The Hub is designed to bring these elements together into a single platform, allowing operators to manage store operations, pricing and customer engagement in one place rather than across multiple disconnected systems.
That shift has a direct impact on day-to-day operations.
Simplifying how stores are run
One of the consistent themes from the RTC session was how complexity often builds gradually.
New tools are added over time to support new services. Each solves a problem, but together they can create a system that is harder to manage.
The Hub addresses this by creating a more unified way of working.
Instead of moving between multiple platforms, operators can manage key retail functions through a single interface. Pricing updates, product information and operational controls can be handled more efficiently, reducing the time spent managing systems.
For store teams, this creates a more consistent way of working.
For operators, it provides a clearer view of what is happening across the business.
Connecting the customer experience
Customers do not think in systems.
They expect their experience to feel consistent whether they are interacting at the pump, in store or through a digital channel.
The Hub supports this by connecting retail and payment journeys.
This allows loyalty, promotions and transactions to work together more naturally, rather than being managed separately. It also helps ensure that changes made in one part of the system are reflected across the wider customer experience.
The result is not just operational efficiency, but a smoother and more predictable customer journey.
Supporting growth without adding complexity
As convenience retail continues to expand, operators are introducing new services and adapting to new expectations.
That often leads to more systems being added to support those services.
The challenge is ensuring that growth does not lead to complexity.
The Hub is designed to support that balance. By bringing together core retail and payment functions into a connected platform, it allows operators to expand their offering without increasing the burden on store teams.
This becomes particularly important for operators managing multiple locations, where consistency and visibility across sites are essential.
A more connected approach to convenience retail
The shift towards connected retail is already underway.
Customers expect more integrated experiences. Operators need clearer visibility across their sites. Technology must support both without becoming harder to manage.
The Hub represents a move towards a more connected approach - not by adding more systems, but by bringing existing functions together into a structure that is easier to manage and scale.
For operators reviewing how their stores are run, this creates an opportunity to step back and consider not just what systems are in place, but how well they work together.
Ready to leave fragmented systems behind?
Whether you're managing one site or many, we'd love to show you what the Hub can do for your business. Talk to our team and find out how a unified retail platform could work for your convenience store operations.