Articles
Plain answers for running a store.
Shifts and cash, the pricebook, fuel, lottery, scan data and compliance, written for owners and managers.
Lottery
Catching scratch-off lottery mistakes at shift change
How to count scratch-offs by ticket number at every shift change and catch the usual mistakes: missed activations, swaps, sold-out packs and prizes paid in tickets.
Running the store
December holiday sales plan for a convenience store
A week-by-week December plan for a convenience store: two long bank weekends, gift card scams, lottery gifts, last-minute sellers and the year-end count.
Fuel
Fuel margin in cents per gallon, with a worked example
How to work out what you really make on a gallon: the street price, the blended cost of the fuel in your tank, and card fees, walked through one example.
Running the store
Holiday and big-event prep: staffing, stock, cash and lottery
Long weekends, big games, storms and huge jackpots bring some of your busiest days. How to plan staffing, stock, cash and lottery a few weeks ahead of the rush.
Shift and cash
How to close a shift quickly and correctly
A shift close should take minutes and balance the first time. The order to do things in, what to count and record, and a checklist your clerks can follow every shift.
Pricebook and inventory
Inventory counts that match: how to count and handle variances
A count is only useful if you trust it. How to prepare and count, how often to count each part of the store, and how to track down a variance before you adjust anything.
Fuel
Jobber invoices and what your fuel really cost
How to read a fuel jobber invoice line by line, work out the all-in cost per gallon, check it against the delivery, and keep track of drafts and card credits.
Pricebook and inventory
Keep your pricebook clean: duplicates, PLUs, departments, dead items
A messy pricebook rings wrong prices and makes every count harder. How to find duplicate items, organize PLUs, fix departments and retire items that have stopped selling.
Scan data and loyalty
Loyalty programs for convenience stores that customers actually use
How to run a convenience store loyalty program people actually use: a phone number at the register, a few simple offers, and tobacco loyalty that follows the rules.
Pricebook and inventory
Multipack and mix-and-match deals that ring up right
A deal that rings wrong costs you margin or a customer's trust. How to set up multipack and mix-and-match deals, test them at the register and keep the shelf sign in step with the price.
Shift and cash
Over/short: how to find where the cash went
When a shift comes up short, guessing wastes time and points at the wrong person. A step-by-step hunt that starts with the count and ends with the receipts.
Compliance
Preparing for a SNAP/EBT store visit: what to have in order
A SNAP store visit checks that your store matches what you told USDA. What reviewers look at, how to get your stock, register, staff and records ready, and where to find the current rules.
Running the store
Preventing theft at the counter without accusing your staff
Most clerks are honest, and treating them like suspects drives good people away. How to set up the counter, the cash and your checks so theft is hard and trust holds.
Pricebook and inventory
Price changes without surprises: from the back office to the shelf tag
A price change is finished when the register rings the new price and the shelf tag matches it. A four-step routine that carries every change all the way to the shelf.
Running the store
Running a second store: what changes and what to set up first
With one store, you are the system. With two, you can't be in both places, so each store has to run on written routines. What changes, and what to put in place first.
Shift and cash
Safe drops, loans and bank deposits: a simple routine that holds up
Cash moves from the drawer to the safe to the bank several times a day. A routine for drops, drawer loans and deposits that keeps every dollar easy to trace.
Lottery
Scratch-off lottery from delivery to settlement
The life of a scratch-off pack, step by step: receiving, activation, counting each shift, settlement and returns, with what to check at each stage. State rules vary.
Compliance
Selling tobacco and alcohol: ID checks done right
Underage sales usually happen when a busy clerk skips a step. The rules that apply, how to read an ID quickly, how to set up register prompts and why a refusal log is worth keeping.
Shift and cash
Shift Report vs Day Report: what each one should tell you
The Shift Report covers one clerk's stretch at the counter. The Day Report adds those shifts up. What belongs on each one, and how to read the two together.
Fuel
Tank readings and fuel deliveries: checking what came off the truck
A routine for checking a fuel drop with a stick or a tank gauge: readings before and after, fuel sold during the drop, temperature, and which differences to chase.
Fuel
Thanksgiving week at a gas station: fuel, staffing and the top sellers
Thanksgiving week sends more cars past the pump than any other week. How to size the fuel order, staff the rush and stock what travelers actually buy.
Pricebook and inventory
The retail inventory method explained simply, with a worked example
The retail inventory method estimates what your inventory cost without looking up the cost of every item. How it works, a worked example with simple numbers, and the mistakes that throw it off.
Scan data and loyalty
Tobacco scan data programs, explained for store owners
What tobacco manufacturers ask for in a scan data program, what goes into the weekly file, and the steps a store takes to join and stay in good standing.
Pricebook and inventory
Vendor invoices: catching short ships, wrong costs and missing credits
Invoice mistakes are usually small, and they get paid when nobody checks. A routine for catching short ships, wrong costs and credits that never arrive, at the back door and in the office.
Shift and cash
Voids, no-sales and refunds: what to watch and what is normal
Every store has voids, no-sales and refunds, and most are honest. How to learn what normal looks like at your store, which patterns deserve a closer look, and simple rules.
Running the store
What a c-store back office does, and what it shouldn't make you do
The jobs a convenience store back office should handle, from shift close to pricebook to fuel and lottery, and the chores it should never push back onto you.
Founder POV
The software independent operators actually deserve
The big chains have an unfair advantage, and it isn't scale. It's software. Why store operators deserve a back office that actually fits the work.
Operator tactics
Five numbers that tell you if your store had a good week
Most operators know their monthly P&L. Fewer know their weekly pulse. Five numbers to pull every Monday, before the week gets away from you.
Industry analysis
The quiet squeeze on independent c-stores
Independent stores aren't losing to the chains the way most people think. The real pressure is quieter, slower, and much harder to fight.