Keeping ahead of the c-store transformation

The fuel and convenience sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation as consumer buying patterns shift. Retailers on both sides of the Tasman have faced faltering foot traffic, lower fuel sales, increased price consciousness among shoppers focused on the cost of living and a drop in income from traditional core items in the wake of health concerns and government regulation.

Basket sizes have shrunk, operational costs have increased and margins have tightened in an increasingly competitive landscape. At the same time, consumer expectations have risen — they demand speed, convenience, variety and seamless experiences across both physical and digital channels.

But change also brings opportunity. Retailers who understand their customers and can quickly adapt to changing preferences are gaining a competitive edge.

Here we look at some of the fundamental shifts taking place in fuel and convenience and at how retailers can create the differentiated, data-driven experiences that build loyalty and drive profitability.

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Drainers and gainers

Convenience stores in Australia and New Zealand are seeing similar changes in consumers’ buying habits, and these changes are impacting products that have traditionally underpinned c-stores’ profits.

According to a 2024 study of the state of the convenience industry in New Zealand, tobacco experienced the largest drop in value of any category, while growth in vaping did not offset the declines for cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco. Meanwhile, AACS’s State of the Industry 2025* report found that in Australia tobacco’s share of total store sales has fallen below 20%, down from 25.4% at the end of 2024.

C-stores have also seen a drop in sales from staples such as bread and milk, as well as from telecommunications products and printed materials such as magazines. In Australia, for example, the value of milk sales dropped 6.6% in value from 2024 to 2025.

On the other hand, some categories are showing the way with growth. In Australia, packaged beverages, and especially energy drinks, represented almost 70% of the value growth excluding tobacco from 2024 to 2025. A comparable situation exists in New Zealand, where sales from sport and energy drinks, along with fresh coffee, increased in value last year.

Foodservice also performed well in Australia during the first half of 2025, with prepared food leading the way, up 8.9% in value from 2024, while in New Zealand grab-and-go items such as cereal and biscuits remained essential parts of the c-store offering.

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The trends driving customer behaviour

While a range of factors, including health concerns, are driving customers’ purchasing decisions, value for money is crucial, with price-conscious shoppers looking for deals.

Cost of living considerations are clearly evident in the fuel and convenience space. Thirty-two percent of New Zealand consumer are shopping less often instore at fuel stations, with 49% citing pressures on the household budget as a reason.

Changes in how fuel stations operate are also having an impact, especially the advent of pay-at-the-pump. While 38% of customers shop instore when they stop for fuel, being able to pay at the pump means fewer shoppers are going into the store to make impulsive purchases of snack items. Those who do go inside the store are more likely to make planned purchases of hot food and coffee.

At the same time, shoppers with more disposable income and those who prioritise value over price are open to loyalty card offerings.

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Reshaping the c-store offering

The authors of the New Zealand study offer fuel and convenience retailers five tips to increase foot traffic instore and drive profitability:

• Offer on-pump promotions to drive customers into the store, so that they get discounts on products even if they pay for their fuel at the pump.

• Offer cross-promotions between planned and impulse categories.

• Become a preferred supplier of on-the-go meal and snacking options.

• Allow shoppers to make in-app purchases for instore pick-up across a range of products.

• Leverage loyalty cards to offer instore deals.

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How can Infinity help?

Delivering on these recommendations means having the right inventory and customer data at your fingertips. You’ll need a solution that lets you understand customer preferences, plan effective promotions and effectively manage inventory.

Infinity empowers you to transform your operations and customer engagement strategies, giving you a future-ready retail solution.

• Customer-centric engagement: Leverage real-time data to personalise offers, promotions and communications, allowing you to build loyalty programs that delight customers and build connection.

• Optimised inventory management: Respond quickly to category shifts with real-time performance insights so that high-demand items like food and beverages are always available.

• Data-driven decision-making: Use advanced analytics to predict trends, optimise pricing and enhance store layouts, empowering you to make faster, smarter decisions that align with evolving consumer behaviour.

• Unified cross-channel retailing: Deliver frictionless, consistent experiences across instore, mobile and online channels through click and collect, self-checkout and mobile ordering.

• Operational efficiency: Streamline processes across locations with centralised control and automation.

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*AACS State of the Industry Mid-year Report 2025, Commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores Limited and prepared by Convenience Measures Australia (CMA).

Want help to deliver compelling c-store experiences?

If you’re looking to build a winning c-store offering, get in touch. We’d love to show you how Infinity can help you offer seamless, unified, profitable customer experiences.

Integrating Infinity and Xero for the best of both financial worlds

Keeping a watchful eye on profit and loss and cashflow data is key to running any successful retail business, but that information won’t do your operation much good unless it’s current, accurate and reliable.  

For years, many retailers have relied on Xero accounting software to give them the up-to-date view of their business they need, while some have also used the power of Infinity to manage inventory and point of sale transactions.

Now, you can get the best of both worlds through an integration between these two leading platforms.

The Infinity Xero Integration sends POS sales and other transactional data from Infinity to Xero, which then handles business accounting activities, seamlessly updating the financial information that’s the cornerstone of your business.

The result? An accurate daily picture of profit and loss plus tax in Xero based on selling activity within Infinity that lets you spend less time buried in spreadsheets and more time building relationships with your customers.

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Key Benefits

• Real-time financial insights with up-to-date reporting and tax position.
  
• Improved cashflow and cost management through reconciliation and payment tracking.
  
• Greater operational efficiency by syncing stock adjustments, transfers and receipts directly into Xero.
  
• Enhanced accuracy and compliance with consistent data across POS and accounting.
  
• Time savings that allow teams to focus on customer relationships and strategic growth.

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How it works

A wide range of everyday transactions are handled, including cash sales, debtor sales and refunds, stock adjustments, stock transfers, stock receipts, supplier invoices, stock takes, till adjustments and bank reconciliations.

When it comes to debtor transactions, you can choose between two options, depending on which suits your business best. You can manage all debtor activity in Infinity and use Xero as a sub-ledger, so that transactions are sent as journals. Alternatively, you can opt to maintain debtor activity in Xero, so debtor sales and credits are sent from Infinity to Xero for processing. In this mode, Xero debtor payments that have been matched to an invoice are sent to Infinity. That way, debtors’ credit position in Infinity is kept accurate and reflects payments that have been received directly via Xero.

Updated transaction data is sent from Infinity to Xero, and vice versa, either automatically at a specified interval or manually whenever is convenient, giving you total control over the update process.

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Granular view of complex transactions

The integration offers a granular level of posting for complex transactions, so you get fine-grained cost management that enables accurate profit and loss reporting.

So, for example, if you import inventory from offshore suppliers, you can pay them in their local currency. Any freight costs that have been added to supplier invoices and disbursed across the items can be posted as GRNI, to give you a more accurate view of the cost of goods sold.  

You also get granular control over how bank fees are posted, including card fees, making bank reconciliations faster and more accurate.

And when it comes to tracking revenue, you can make use of multiple revenue categories, including cash sales and trade sales. You can even track revenue based on payment type.

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Suited to all environments

Its easy-to-use interface means the integration suits every type of retail business, from multi-branch chains to standalone stores.

It’s also straightforward to deploy and support, with enhanced logging and troubleshooting that lets you track errors and quickly address any issues.

What’s more, by integrating Infinity with Xero you get to leverage Xero’s ecosystem of business tools, allowing you to manage everything from payroll to sales and marketing contacts.

There’s never been a better time to integrate Infinity and Xero so you get the timely, granular, automatically updated accounting information you need.

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Interested in using the Infinity Xero Integration to streamline and simplify your accounting processes? Get in touch. 

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New in Infinity – August 2025

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PRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Help us develop and improve Infinity
As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we’re giving you the option to share information with us about how you use Infinity. We’ll use this information to identify features that can be enhanced or retired, as well as any opportunities for user training and upskilling.

When you upgrade Infinity, you’ll be able to choose whether to opt in or out of sharing data with us. If you opt in, we’ll capture and analyse menu clicks at both the Head Office and the Back Office, along with technical information such as operating system and SQL versions. This will allow us to see which features are used heavily and which aren’t being used frequently, as well as giving us an understanding of the systems Infinity is being run on.

It’s important to note that we won’t capture any data that can identify individuals, including passwords or user names.

Taking part in data sharing means you can help shape the way Infinity evolves and ensure that it remains relevant and useful to you. Even if you initially decide not to share data with us, you can opt in at any time, and vice versa.

If you have questions or concerns please contact Infinity Support.

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INVENTORY

Easily order and manage non-stock items
Ordering and managing stock can be tricky if your business needs a regular supply of items that you don’t necessarily want to bring into your inventory. So, for example, if you sell coffee you’ll need a steady number of coffee cups to be on hand, but you aren’t going to want those cups to be counted as stock items that are sold on their own. Similarly, if the coffee machine breaks down, you need an easy way of paying for a repair by purchase order without treating the repair as an item.

To help make the ordering of these items more seamless, Infinity now allows you to include non-stock items in purchase orders. When you receipt them, the quantity on hand won’t increase, so you can keep these items on hand without them impacting your inventory.

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CUSTOMER AND LOYALTY

Expand your fuel offering with automatic discounts
If you’re a fuel retailer who uses Infinity’s loyalty solution and you offer cents-per-litre discounts, you now have even more options when it comes to rewarding customers for their business. We’ve introduced discounts that apply automatically, so that purchasers save on fuel without your store staff having to manually select which discount applies, thereby speeding up transaction times while still offering customers meaningful savings.

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INTEGRATIONS

Leverage seamless integration of accounting data into Xero
If you use Xero as your accounting software, or are thinking about moving to Xero, you now have even more reason to integrate it with Infinity. We’ve listened to feedback and introduced improvements that make our Xero solution easier to deploy, use and support.

We’ve improved the overall experience by polishing the user interface, simplifying installation, enhancing logging so you can easily track errors and providing you with better troubleshooting to quickly address issues.

There’s never been a better time to integrate Infinity and Xero so you get the timely, granular, automatically updated accounting information you need while also leveraging Xero’s ecosystem of business tools.

Charge fees directly from EFTPOS devices
If you use Windcave as your EFTPOS provider, you can now add surcharges to these transactions from the EFTPOS device. This means you can charge a fee for things like contactless payments and have it recorded in Infinity, so you’ll get an accurate view of these charges in reports and transaction records.   

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

If you’d like to get our regular ‘New in Infinity’ updates in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter.

Unified commerce vs omnichannel: getting the most out of your cross-channel platform

As any retailer knows, consumer preferences and expectations are constantly evolving. Customers want flexible, personalised experiences that allow to them to pick and choose between physical and digital channels, and they expect those experiences to be seamless.

‘Omnichannel’ has been the term most often used to describe the strategy retailers need to adopt to deliver on this customer demand, while ‘unified commerce’ has also reached buzzword status. Both are used to describe the delivery of seamless experiences across channels.

But while they’re used interchangeably, there’s a significant difference between them.

Unified commerce is the next-generation architecture that finally delivers on what omnichannel promised.

A unified commerce platform provides a central hub that breaks down the silos between channels to deliver truly seamless experiences, while also solving omnichannel’s biggest weakness – operational complexity.

Unified commerce is gaining traction, with one study showing that rolling out a unified commerce platform was a top priority for 30% of retailers, while a combined 71% were somewhere on the path to adopting a unified commerce strategy.

Still, barriers remain. A study by Adyen this year found that 28% of those businesses without a unified platform lacked data on customer behaviour across channels, and 30% lacked the technology infrastructure to offer truly personalised experiences.

As we discuss here, the challenges faced by retailers offering hybrid in-store and online shopping options without the benefit of an integrated platform can be significant, while those prepared to take the leap gain competitive advantage through a deeper understanding of their customers and their evolving wants and needs.

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Omnichannel offers options but creates operational complexity

Omnichannel strategies talked about creating seamless and consistent customer experiences across all channels, but the execution has fallen short.

Why? Retailers have to quickly spin up new channels as consumers demand them. An omnichannel approach connects numerous channels but they operate in functional silos, meaning that customers can’t move between channels in one seamless interaction.

Omnichannel makes things much harder for retailers in five ways:

• Integrating data silos: Often loosely connected with manual processes and custom integrations, omnichannel solutions are fragile, inefficient and costly to maintain. The silos generate a cascade of inconsistent, inaccurate data shared across the business, making it virtually impossible to deliver a seamless customer experience.

• Inventory that isn’t real time: Many omnichannel systems only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions. This prevents retailers from offering the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ options that are best for customers and most profitable for them.

•  Adding modern technologies and capabilities: Connecting legacy systems with modern technologies requires custom integrations, making the creation of new brand experiences complex, expensive, time consuming and risky.

•  Obtaining a single view of the customer: Silos negatively impact customers because they have to deal with inconsistencies and gaps, such as partial sales histories, different answers to questions or having to start new conversations in each channel.

•  Loss of innovation: Day-to-day inefficiencies mean that internal teams are tied up in remediation and troubleshooting and have less time to spend on creating the innovative, personalised experiences customers desire.

Operational complexity in the real world:

A customer browsing your web store sees that a product is available and orders it online for in-store collection. But behind the scenes, you’re running the online store and in-store POS on different systems, meaning data isn’t integrated and is syncing at different rates. To the customer, it might look like everything is working in harmony, until they find out that the product they ordered isn’t available because the stock level data in the online store is out of date.

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Unified commerce puts the customer experience first

Customers today expect to transact when, where and however they want. They don’t care how you achieve it and will reward you if you have it – or shop elsewhere if you don’t.

The only way to meet these demands for a truly unified experience is to move beyond omnichannel to unified commerce.

As Nick Gray, founder of retail consultancy I Got You, recently told Inside Retail, ‘Unified commerce is where you put the customer at the heart of every decision, so it’s a customer-centric retail strategy that seamlessly connects all sales channels.’

Unified commerce breaks down the walls between internal channel silos by using a centralised platform that combines point of sale, inventory, ordering and fulfilment, loyalty, pricing and business intelligence.

With a unified view of the customer, and all channels and engagement points connected in real-time, you can deliver a personalised and consistent customer experience by way of a single source of truth. No hitches, and no inconsistencies.

You can make purchasing online and in-stores more seamless and convenient through endless aisle, digital payments and ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ services.

And you can quickly respond to changing customer expectations and new technologies by using microservices and APIs to expose data and connect third-party services.

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This blog was originally published in October 2023 and updated July 2025.

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Want help to reduce operational complexity?

We can help you define your goals, develop a business case and create your roadmap to simplified operations and unified customer experiences. Get in touch.

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For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our UC ebook:

From agile to permaculture: Triquestra farewells Vidula Kulkarni

At the end of this month, Triquestra will say a fond farewell to our programme manager, Vidula Kulkarni. Since joining us in April 2016, Vidula has played a pivotal role in some of our most complex and high-impact projects, and she will be a familiar face to many of our customers who have benefited from her knowledge and energetic engagement over the years.

Before saying goodbye, we wanted to look back over her time with Triquestra to see how both she and we have evolved.

Vidula joined Triquestra at a particularly busy time, with several large projects on the go. Her background in software development meant she could hit the ground running when she took on the role of project manager, and she soon proved her worth by working closely with Freedom Furniture and Fantastic Furniture.

After a busy start, her role at Triquestra evolved from managing a range of smaller accounts to overseeing large projects and teams. Vidula has played a vital part in delivering some of our biggest initiatives, including the Pumped and Z Rewards customer loyalty projects for Z Energy, as well as Z’s Sharetank, a virtual fuel tank that lets customers prepay for fuel and then share it with family and friends. Other significant projects have included the Everyday Rewards loyalty scheme for GAS and digitally assisted sending for NZ Post, which streamlines parcel sending by allowing customers to complete documentation electronically.  

She’s revelled in the opportunities all these projects have given her. "Managing multiple projects simultaneously was challenging but rewarding. It helped me grow and develop new skills," she says. She’s also appreciated the support she’s had from Triquestra management, who have trusted and encouraged her to take on these challenges.

Vidula also leaves a lasting legacy at Triquestra in terms of how we deliver for our customers. It’s no exaggeration to say that she changed the way we work every day by implementing an agile approach to software development.

Vidula Kulkarni

She introduced us to terms like ‘scrum master’, ‘agile coach’ and ‘sprint’ and orientated our development cycle away from delivering large pieces of work at once and towards producing smaller increments. This change of approach has meant our customers receive more regular updates, while agile practices, such as daily stand-ups and planning meetings, have allowed the Triquestra team to gain a better understanding of our customers and their business drivers.  

"We started small, with a few people, and gradually expanded. The team quickly saw the benefits of agile, such as increased engagement and more efficient project management," Vidula explains. 

But as she said in 2017, there’s a difference between ‘doing’ agile and ‘being’ agile. Under Vidula’s guidance, Triquestra has avoided a one-size-fits-all approach and has adapted the way we work to meet customers’ needs and expectations. As she explains, “The benefit has been to think of multiple ways to do a project. It's not a rote way of thinking. So, for example, we adopted a continuous delivery model for Z, which was agile based, but which was totally different from how we worked with Fantastic Furniture.”

In recent years, Vidula has worked as our programme manager, overseeing projects, providing mentorship and becoming involved in pre-sales activities.

Now, though, she’s ready to take on a new challenge away from software as she and her husband set up a permaculture farm in Kokan, Maharashtra, India. She’s excited about the opportunity to contribute to the local economy and improve environmental conditions through sustainable farming practices. And she’s looking forward to returning to life as a yoga teacher, too.

We wish Vidula all the very best for her future endeavours and look forward to hearing about progress from the farm!

Triquestra celebrates Matariki 2025

In 2022 New Zealanders gained a new mid-winter public holiday to celebrate Matariki, named after the star cluster that rises on the winter horizon and heralds the Māori New Year.

The Matariki cluster, also known as Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, is visible across the world and has significance to people globally, being mentioned in the Bible and the Koran, and known as Subaru in Japan.

In traditional Māori culture, its first appearance in the early morning sky marked the end of harvest and was a time for people to come together for feasting, as well as to reflect on the past year and plan for the future. Now, all of New Zealand’s people can share in this important Māori tradition with a holiday that this year fell on Friday, 20 June.

Learning about Matariki holds a special meaning at Triquestra, a proudly diverse New Zealand company. In the past, we’ve held events celebrating Eid-al-Fitr, Diwali and Chinese New Year, and in the spirit of inclusion we saw last week as a chance for everyone to learn about New Zealand’s Indigenous culture.

Our guides on this journey were Trev Teau and Kauri Wharewera from Kulture Ink, a tattoo studio that specialises in Māori and Polynesian design, to explain the history and meaning of Matariki. They introduced us to the nine stars that comprise the Matariki cluster, explaining that together with other surrounding stars they form the shape of a waka, or canoe, with Matariki at the prow and Orion’s Belt at the stern.

Trevor Teau & Kauri Wharewera from Kulture Ink

Each star within the Matariki cluster has its own meaning, including Pōhutukawa, which connects us to those who have passed on, and Tipuānuku, which has a connection to the food that comes from the earth.

The most important part of the Matariki celebration is Hautapu, which involves feeding the stars with a sacred offering of food harvested from the earth, water and sky. During hautapu, loved ones who have passed away in the previous years are remembered and mourned, and the food is cooked before Matariki rises. The ceremony ends with the rising of the sun.

Kauri explained that Matariki is a time to harvest not just food but also the lessons that have been learned in the past year, while planting the seeds for the coming year until Matariki rises again.

Afterwards we enjoyed a feast of our own, including fried bread fresh from the oven. Sharing food also gave us a chance to reflect on the similarities between Matariki and Eid, as well as Easter, which are connected to the lunar calendar and have a focus on feasting, and the ways that people across the world find similar ways to come together and celebrate with a feeling of renewal.

AI and the future of retail: A CTO’s view

Mike Baxter is Triquestra’s CTO.  Here he talks about how he sees the future of AI unfolding for retailers.

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The surge in interest in AI, especially in the past year, has retailers asking how they can incorporate it into their businesses for maximum effect. And at a time when 65% of Asia Pacific CEOs anticipate that AI will significantly enhance their organisation’s efficiency, it makes sense to think clearly about how to implement AI tools in a way that enhances productivity, streamlines processes and adds to revenue growth.

AI has the potential to revolutionise the retail sector, including when it comes to customer-facing aspects such as personalisation, as well as the ‘under the bonnet’ tasks involved in inventory management, the bedrock of any retail business.

Global retailers like Zara and Amazon are already using AI to monitor inventory in real time, dynamically allocate stock based on local trends and predict demand for millions of its products in just seconds.

As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about technology and how to integrate it into the ways Triquestra and our customers do business, I’ve got some thoughts on how the future of AI might play out and how retailers can get ready to make the most of it.

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The next next big thing

Ten years ago the term on everyone’s lips was ‘cloud’, and we were all asking how we could incorporate cloud technology into our business for best effect. Now that AI is the next next big thing, it’s worth pointing out a few important differences between these two leaps forward.

For one thing, AI is a simpler proposition. Whereas cloud implementation required significant IT infrastructure investment and configuration, AI is already integrated into many existing tools, and most people are familiar with the best-known ones, like ChatGPT. That alone makes AI more accessible and easier to understand compared to the initial stages of cloud adoption.

That doesn’t mean it’s all plain sailing, though. It’s important to recognise that AI comes with its own challenges and pitfalls that you need to keep in mind when integrating it into your business.

Start with being clear about what you’re trying to achieve. Learn from the mistake that some businesses made during cloud implementation when they were carried away by the hype instead of clearly defining their goals. Start with something small, solve it, learn from it and then repeat it.

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Get the inputs right

When people talk about AI, they’re really talking about a few different things all working together. If we think about demand forecasting, there’s a layer of machine learning that trains models on inputs like algorithms and data and then produces predictions of future customer behaviour. AI enhances this process by automating the analysis and selection of the best algorithms and data.

But AI’s effectiveness relies on the quality of the data and the instructions it’s given. In other words, it can only offer quality analysis if it has quality information to work with. Proper data management and preparation are essential for achieving accurate and useful AI outputs.

As Triquestra’s CEO Greg Cantlon said recently, ‘The retailers who will win the AI race aren’t necessarily those jumping on every new AI trend — they’re the ones building strong foundations with systems that make their data easily accessible and actionable.’

It’s also vital to ask the right questions. High-quality, tailored prompts that give precise context will return more helpful, accurate results than vague queries that take a shot in the dark. Without quality prompts, language models will give different results even with the same data.   

Let’s say you’re a furniture retailer who wants to know about upcoming demand for outdoor furniture over summer. You’ve opened more urban stores in the past 12 months and warmer than expected temperatures and lower rainfall are expected. By using this data and targeting your prompts to querying sun umbrellas instead of all categories of outdoor furniture, you learn that increased sales in the range of 10% are likely and can plan accordingly.

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Be willing to pay

Poor-quality prompts and data don’t just return variable results, they can also waste time and cost money, especially if you are paying to use an AI tool.

AI pricing models are based on tokens, where each token represents a chunk of data and the cost depends on the volume of data processed and the complexity of the prompts. Therefore, targeted prompting is a good way to optimise cost efficiency, whereas generic questions and bloated data sets can incur unwanted expense.

Still, it’s worth investing in paid tools, given that they offer better efficiency, especially when using targeted prompts. They also provide the benefit of enhanced data security and retention, whereas free tools can scoop up your data to train models for other users.

When it comes to choosing an AI tool, be willing to pay.

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Prepare for rapid change

One of the standout aspects of AI technology is how rapidly it’s developing and changing. So, for example, language models are starting to specialise in different areas, such as writing software code, analysing customer sentiment, and personalisation. This specialisation could lead to more accurate and relevant outputs.

The key, though, will remain quality inputs. As AI advances, the need to interact with it in an intelligent, informed way will increase rather than decrease. That means developing people who understand your business and can interact with AI in a way that gets the best, most useful results.

Even at a time of rapid technological change, the human factor will be crucial to your success.

So will data quality and integrity. And that’s where Infinity comes in. As Greg said, ‘The question isn’t if your business will need to adapt, but how quickly you can do so when the time comes. The key is to choose systems built on robust APIs and data accessibility. Your point-of-sale system shouldn’t just handle today’s transactions — it should be your launchpad for tomorrow’s AI innovations.’

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Want help to manage your data for best results?

If you’re looking for help to build a solid foundation for data accessibility, get in touch. We’d love to help you prepare for the future of retail.  

New in Infinity – June 2025

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you and your team reduce operational complexity and create a differentiated omnichannel customer experience.

 Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licencing to access some functionality.

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INFINITY API

Leverage real-time cost information

Our Products API now lets you see a real-time value for weighted average costs if you create transactions or carry out inventory analysis in an external system.

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PRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Quickly locate branch item information in clusters

Searching for detailed stock item information can be time consuming, especially if you have a lot of stores offering different prices or sourcing items from different suppliers. Head office staff can find the branch information for an item in a cluster more quickly now that they can sort branches alphabetically instead of having to know the branch’s numerical ID.

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INVENTORY

Get a consistent view of stock take results

Stock taking is one of the most important tasks in your business, and getting the count right is vital to maintaining accurate inventory data. To help your staff quickly identify and double-check variances before they complete the stock take, you can now choose to list items in the printed stock take report in the same order they appear on screen, meaning staff don’t waste time trying to match what they see on screen with what’s in the report.

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REPORTS & ANALYTICS 

Summarise stock takes by stock count group

We’ve also enhanced stock taking by giving you a new report that summarises stock takes that have been carried out based on stock count group. The Stocktake Count Group Summary Report provides an overview of stock takes that have been carried out at branches, lets you see variances and gives you the option to list results according to individual stock count groups.  

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POINT OF SALE

Monitor staff safety at the point of sale

Staff safety is a growing issue across the retail sector, with some staff regularly dealing with threatening or abusive behaviour from customers. You can now keep track of how often your staff are facing this problem by using new functionality at the POS. When your staff feel threatened, they can press an on-screen button that records the event, allowing you to monitor how often these incidences are happening and enhancing your people’s sense of well-being.

Speed up processing of sales by under-age staff

If you sell age-restricted items, such as alcohol, you need to be sure that you’re complying with the law without compromising speed of service. To help you serve customers quickly and efficiently while meeting your legal obligations, Infinity now recognises an under-age staff member each time they complete a new transaction, instead of forcing them to log back in after every sale.

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ADMINISTRATION 

Send invoices and statements to multiple debtor contacts

Managing debtor customers is a more seamless experience now that you can automatically send invoices and statements to more than one email address, saving you the hassle of manually emailing documents to the relevant people in the business and enhancing lines of communication.

So, for example, when the customer buys an item in-store, you can send the invoice to the purchasing team as well as to the customer’s primary contact. And at the end of each period, you can send statements to the primary contact and to the customer’s accounts payable, so that the right people see the amount due.

Enhance financial integrity of trading days

If you use Infinity’s extended cash management module, you can now require store staff to complete any draft trading days before creating a new one. Trading days can also be completed the next day if necessary even if new sales have been processed, giving you peace of mind that all transactions are correctly accounted for.

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TECHNOLOGY 

Use the latest Microsoft technologies

Infinity now ships with SQL Server 2022 as default, giving you the most recent version of SQL Server currently in Microsoft’s mainstream support. We also continue to support SQL Server 2016, 2017 and 2019, while customers on SQL Server 2012 and 2014 should be planning to update to a later version.

Proactively address database-related performance issues

If you use a version of SQL Server Express, you’ll now be warned when the database size reaches a threshold of 9.8GB or higher, allowing you to proactively address issues before they affect your store operations.

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

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How drop shipping can drive down cost and grow revenue

Think of drop shipping and you might imagine a small, start-up online entrepreneur selling a relatively small range of products sourced from suppliers who handle the shipping and delivery.

But drop shipping can also be a powerful tool for larger, established retailers looking for ways to maxmise revenue, drive down cost and enhance fulfilment options.

Here we look at some of the advantages to be gained from drop shipping, and at how to seamlessly integrate it into your existing business model.

The rise and rise of drop shipping

Consumers’ love for the convenience of online shopping has seen drop shipping grow exponentially. This year, the global drop shipping market is estimated at a whopping US$434.98 billion, with the Asia Pacific region accounting for US$156.59 billion of that value, while annual growth is predicted in the range of 22% until 2034.

Over the next decade, growing middle-class wealth is expected to see Asia Pacific dominate the global drop shipping market as consumers look for ways to spend their disposable incomes, with overall market value expected to rise to US$939.50 billion.

Understanding the benefits

Given these numbers, it makes sense for established retailers to consider ways to get a slice of the drop shipping market pie. And, as well as revenue growth, drop shipping can offer a range of benefits to recognised brands.

For a start, by sourcing and shipping products directly from the supplier as and when customers want them, you avoid the overheads that come with warehousing and the costs of potential spoilage. This is especially true for retailers, such as furniture and homeware vendors, that sell large items requiring ample storage.

Not having to warehouse stock also allows you to offer a wider range of products, and you get to trial new product lines without having to buy large volumes up-front, thereby lowering the risk of being left with unsold stock.

Using drop shipping also gives you an added fulfilment option when it comes to meeting your customers’ desire for fast, efficient delivery.

What’s more, established brands with an existing online offering and customer base can avoid some of the pitfalls that come with setting up a drop shipping business by leveraging existing suppliers, sales channels and customer support.

Managing the risks

Like all aspects of retail, drop shipping is not without risks that need to be managed for brand protection. Suppliers need to be carefully vetted to ensure shipping costs and estimates are reliable and accurate, legal obligations are met and product quality is maintained.

At the other end of the supply chain, customers need to receive the same level of care and support as if they had bought from your warehoused stock, so that the buying experience is seamless. That means giving your people up-to-date information about drop ship orders and empowering them to quickly address any issues.

Choosing the right partner

Making the move to drop shipping as seamlessly as possible, for both you and your customers, means choosing a technology partner who can help you integrate it into your existing business model in a way that lets you easily track drop shipped orders and inventory.

That’s where Infinity comes in.

With Infinity, you can easily create a new stock item that is added to your inventory but flagged as a drop ship product for order fulfilment.   

You can then search for and retrieve drop ship orders and monitor their progress to delivery just as you would with a conventional order.

And if the customer changes their mind and wants to return or refund the item, Infinity can bring the product into your inventory so it can be receipted, counted and returned to the supplier.

When it comes to drop shipping, Infinity gives you the flexibility to expand your offering and manage orders without the cost of end-to-end inventory management. You get to choose what’s best for customers and most profitable for you.

Drop shipping in practice

When one of Australasia’s best-known furniture retailers was looking for a way to expand the range of items on offer from existing suppliers without increasing warehouse capacity, they turned to Infinity to handle drop shipped inventory and orders.

The process is streamlined and easy.

When a customer goes to the online store and identifies a drop ship product they want to buy, a new stock item is instantly created on the fly via an Infinity API that connects the web store to the supplier’s system.

The item becomes part of an order that is tracked through to completion, as well as being assigned to a physical store based on the customer’s delivery address and post code.

If any issues arise, the customer can go instore and know that their query will be handled, up to and including order cancellation, while store staff can retrieve and view the order just like any other.

The result? An expanded product offering and seamless customer experience.

Want help to get the most out of drop shipping?

If you’re looking for help to meet the demands of today’s and tomorrow's delivery conscious shoppers, get in touch. We’d love to help you deliver the shopping experiences customers expect.  

Introducing Chay Grant, Quality and Support Lead

Chay was recently appointed to the role of Triquestra’s Quality and Support Lead. Here he introduces himself and explains how his role helps us deliver quality outcomes for customers.

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I’ve been at Triquestra for just over 10 years. During that time, I’ve taken on the roles of Support Analyst, Implementation Consultant, Test Analyst, Business Analyst and Technical Analyst.

All these roles have allowed me to gain knowledge and skills across the business, and they give me a unique insight into the challenges and opportunities that face both our team and our customers. I’ve also been able to develop many different relationships, both at Triquestra and with our customers.

At the heart of all I do is the drive to understand our customers’ needs and to ensure that the quality of the software we deliver to meet those needs is exceptional. This desire, coupled with my previous background in teaching and education, has inspired me to take on the role of Quality and Support Lead.

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My vision

My vision is to lead an empowered Triquestra Test and Application Analyst team of adaptable, high-performing, independent thinkers who achieve quality fit-for-purpose outcomes for our customers. This means our customers regularly and consistently get the help they need to keep their businesses running smoothly and ahead of the game in a competitive market.

As I’ve been in the same shoes as my team, I understand the unique complexities they face. Very rarely are two problems or business opportunities identical, and that can be challenging.

So, you have to be flexible, willing to think outside the box and really adopt a critical-thinking mindset. You have to get inside customers’ thinking when it comes to the results you’re delivering, and communication is always key. It’s the glue that holds everything together. You have to be willing to be a life-long learner, which is something I’ve carried across from my teaching experience. And that willingness leads to continuous improvement, which allows us to grow as a team.

This kind of mindset benefits our customers, too, because it means we can adapt to their needs and deliver on them. And those needs are always changing.

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Building relationships

During my time at Triquestra I’ve had the privilege of forming many different working relationships, both with our team and our customers. Relationships are built on trust and understanding, and having that trust and understanding means you can work collaboratively both in-house and with customers. This sort of collaboration improves the quality of output, and you get there more quickly too. There are fewer links in the chain, and everyone is close to what is going on and the expected outcomes.

I’m looking forward to taking on this latest challenge and delivering the best experience and results for our customers.