Dive Brief:

• Convenience retailer Stinker Stores has launched customer experience platform FeedbackNow at four pilot locations, according to a recent announcement.
• Through the platform, Stinker strategically places devices with smiley boxes, which let customers rate their experience with a smiling, neutral or frowning face; multiple-choice buttons; and QR codes throughout these stores, allowing the retailer to capture real-time customer feedback on food options, restroom cleanliness and overall experience.
• This continues a flurry of technology-driven initiatives for Stinker this year. Since January, the retailer has debuted a new retail intelligence platform, location-based digital promotions and bitcoin ATMs in its stores.

Dive Insight:

Stinker hopes to collect and implement feedback to tailor the food offerings in each of its stores to the expectations of each region it operates in, since the retailer covers a wide footprint in areas with different tastes, Billy Colemire, director of marketing for Stinker Stores, said in the announcement.

“We will collect data from various parts of our stores during the pilot and determine the best way to use this dynamic new service to further improve our customer experience,” Colemire said.

FeedbackNow’s input devices can be wall-mounted, placed on countertops or stand alone, and also come in folder form for customers to fill out. The devices integrate with a mobile application where customers can leave feedback as well. Once consumers leave feedback, retailers receive digital reports at their preferred frequency.

Stinker will be testing different ways to improve customer experiences and compare results across stores, according to the announcement.

Stinker isn’t the only c-store retailer to pilot FeedbackNow, as Crosby’s, Road Ranger and Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores also use the platform, a spokesperson from FeedbackNow said in an email.

FeedbackNow is a division of research and advisory company Forrester. The program was founded in 2011.

Boise, Idaho-based Stinker Stores operates 110 locations in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. The Stinker family of companies also includes Arrowrock Supply, a grocery and tobacco wholesaler, and Westpoint Transportation, a trucking company that moves petroleum products in the transportation of motor fuels and petroleum products in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.