In today’s marketplace, engaging with consumers online is essential—97% of consumers conduct local online searches to find a business or service. Your customers are learning about new retailers via social media, searching for products or services on their phone while on the go and choosing which businesses to visit based on the reviews they find.

“Customers use their smartphones and digital devices to discover what’s out there, what they want and who has it. In an era dominated by e-commerce giants and digital marketplaces, brick-and-mortar stores face unprecedented challenges,” said Jen Johnson, NACS THRIVR director. “To thrive, these physical establishments must adapt to the digital age by ensuring searchability, active response to customer reviews and robust engagement through social media platforms.”

But maintaining an active and engaging online presence is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. “Retailers need to regularly update their business profiles, manage customer interactions and create engaging content,” Johnson said. “This ongoing maintenance can be resource-intensive, particularly for smaller retailers with limited staff, so having a tool to simplify this process and reduce the number of clicks to execute is powerful.”

That’s why NACS developed THRIVR, powered by SOCi, a platform designed specifically for c-stores that integrates social media, reputation and listings management tools, and in turn helps retailers:

• Enhance their online presence.

• Manage social media accounts.

• Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO, or the process of improving website traffic generated through search engines) and visibility.

The goal is ultimately to improve customer engagement and increase basket size.

Digital Footprint

Consider this example: Let’s say a consumer looking to stop for lunch while running errands searches their map app for “fried chicken near me.”

This potential customer might be presented with a handful of QSRs, local restaurants, a grocery store and a c-store that carries that item as part of its foodservice program. But if that convenience retailer doesn’t ensure its listings include fried chicken among all of the products and services it offers, and that it ranks highly for SEO, the store might not show up at all.

“If consumers can’t find you digitally, they won’t know what you’re offering and it’s a huge missed opportunity for sales,” said Johnson. Johnson has seen numerous stores struggle with this, citing examples like a retailer that had an expansive high-end wine selection but didn’t show up in local searches for wine. Or a c-store that offered a wide range of bait, shiners, crickets, night crawlers and tackle items that wasn’t being promoted to local fishers because those products weren’t part of its digital convenience store description on Google.

“If consumers can’t find you digitally, they won’t know what you’re offering.”

Pak-A-Sak, a third-generation family business of convenience stores that operates over 20 locations in Texas, implemented THRIVR at the beginning of the year.

“I realized all of the opportunities that I was missing out on by not including specific products or partnerships with brands that we use in our listings,” said Tiffany Sims, communications manager at Pak-A-Sak. “It was really eye opening when we completed all of our listings [in THRIVR] and added some of the categories or important products that we didn’t have on there before, because it made me realize the growth potential that we have. And it’s already helped our SEO.”

Searchability is key, and an equally important factor is what consumers find when a retailer pops up in their search. According to Google, businesses with photos earn 42% more direction requests and those with complete profiles receive seven times more clicks.

One crucial piece of information consumers are looking for is a store’s operating hours, and it’s critical that retailers keep these up to date. Google found that 96% of customers are more likely to visit a business that displays hours of operation, and searches for businesses “open now near me” increased eightfold between 2021 and 2022.

Consumers also check for holiday hours that might vary from regular opening and closing times. Drew Bryant, president of JFM Incorporated, which operates Creole Fried Chicken licensee programs and 14 Jr. Food Mart convenience stores in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, makes a point to list both c-store hours and specific kitchen hours so customers know when food is available.

But keeping individual Google profiles for multiple stores updated is “cumbersome, hard to manage and creates inconsistency,” he said. “On our Google listings specifically, there was outdated information and discrepancies, which I think was creating customer confusion, and so we definitely missed opportunities to draw in customers.”

Keeping the listings up to date wasn’t always for lack of trying—one of the reasons, he explained, is that it’s a cumbersome process to get Google listings updated or to contact Google if your page is showing errors. “If you don’t know how to do it, it’s not that easy,” Bryant said.

With the ability to manage Jr. Food Mart’s listings in one platform on THRIVR, “Our online presence is streamlined and consistent. We don’t have to spend a lot of time keeping things up to date or individually managing our listings. It’s more about maintaining our digital footprint, and we can now do that more effectively.”

Sims agreed, adding, “It’s really useful to be able to go in and update all holiday hours at one time, or add a specific product to one or all stores at one time.”

By enhancing their online presence, retailers can attract new customers more effectively, said Johnson. “The increased visibility and improved customer engagement can drive higher foot traffic and sales, contributing to business growth.”

Social Media Strategy

Social media isn’t solely an outreach tool—a brand’s social presence can make or break a sale. According to research from THRIVR, 78% of consumers make purchase decisions influenced by social content and 63% will shop elsewhere if they don’t like a brand’s social pages.

“Social media has revolutionized the way businesses interact with consumers, offering a dynamic platform for engagement and brand storytelling. Brick-and-mortar stores can harness the power of social media to amplify their reach, foster community and cultivate brand loyalty,” said Johnson.

For Pak-A-Sak, social media has been a key factor in reaching new customers and driving leads, impacting everything from creating a consistent brand message to highlighting promotions that draw in consumers.

Customer reviews are a powerful factor that can influence perception of your business.

“A lot of our social content on platforms like Facebook and Instagram is for brand awareness or insight into who we are as a brand. But it’s hard to do one-off posts for something like that on Google, so that’s where we focus on FYIs for customers, like hours changing, new store openings or specific product releases or promotions,” said Sims.

She relies heavily on THRIVR’s scheduling feature for social media outreach. “I can upload a large number of posts across all platforms at once, and that’s been extremely helpful,” she said. “I try to schedule things out as much as I can and can schedule posts up to 30 days in advance.”

And the time saved from having a streamlined social media platform that’s also integrated with THRIVR’s other online reputation management tools gives Sims time back to devote to other aspects of Pak-A-Sak’s digital presence.

“We’re now able to focus a little bit more on actual reputation management and our Google listings and reviews, all of which are things that can fall through the cracks otherwise. And we have seen a really positive impact from doing that,” she said.

Reviews Define Reputation

Customer reviews are a powerful factor that can influence perception of your business, impacting whether new customers come to your store or not.

“A single positive or negative review can reverberate across social networks and online platforms, impacting a store’s reputation and bottom line,” said Johnson. “Brick-and-mortar businesses must actively monitor and respond to customer feedback to foster trust and loyalty.”

Whether positive or negative, Bryant responds to all reviews of Jr. Food Mart. “With THRIVR, I can monitor reviews in real time and respond quickly, instead of having to go to different store pages and see what’s been posted. Previously, we were definitely missing opportunities to engage with our customers and address concerns.”

Johnson said that responding to negative reviews is a necessary step in relationship building. “By acknowledging and addressing a customer’s concern, retailers can turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal advocate,” she said.

Sims agreed that “responding to reviews has been a lot easier and a lot quicker. The AI feature also helps expedite the process a little bit.” Since implementing THRIVR, both Bryant and Sims said they’ve seen an increase in the number of reviews on their Google listings.

“Responding to those reviews has helped our SEO, and our rankings have improved for specific categories, whether it be through posting specifically about products or just mentioning things within the reviews,” Sims said.

The key components of reputation management all drive customer loyalty and encourage both new and repeat visits. “This is crucial in an industry where customer loyalty can significantly impact long-term success,” said Johnson. “By staying at the forefront of digital innovation, retailers can not only meet but exceed the expectations of their digitally savvy customers, ensuring sustained growth and success in the years to come.”