NCR CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE RESOURCES
How convenience stores can put customers’ minds at ease during the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond)
Published March 25, 2020
Especially during the pandemic, many are understandably concerned about touching fuel pumps and other shared surfaces. Here are four quick and easy steps you can take right now to safeguard customers in your forecourt and c-store.
4 ways to keep fuel customers safer at the pump
1. Offer full-service fill-ups, if possible
If your fuel station can offer full-service fueling for your customers, consider doing so. This will keep customers from having to touch shared surfaces in your forecourt. It will also help reassure them that you have their safety in mind at all times. If you have the manpower available, it’s one way to highlight your customer focus and differentiate your brand during the COVID-19 crisis.
2. Put disposable gloves at your pumps
Having disposable gloves available at your pumps is an easy way to help safeguard customers. When they’re done pumping, they can drop their used gloves in the nearby trash cans. This keeps your customers—and your pumps—as sanitary as possible.
3. Make sanitizer available, too
Another option is to include sanitizer stations or sanitizer wipes at your pumps. Your customers can use them after handling the gas pumps, touchpads and touchscreens.
4. Frequently sanitize your POS terminals, touchscreens and more
Use a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution for touchscreens, wiping with a damp (not wet) cloth. Use a soap, water and bleach solution for plastic and metal surfaces. Get NCR’s guide on properly cleaning and sanitizing your POS terminals, self checkouts and ATMs.
Consider how to apply some of these sanitary precautions to shared surfaces inside your convenience store, too. Think about everything from door handles and refrigerator handles to keypads used for payments and food ordering—which are known to harbor germs and bacteria.
Consumers are already expressing their desire for measures like these in the forecourt, according to media outlets like ABC 4 in Utah. So, offering easy ways to minimize contact with surfaces not only keeps everyone safer, it also provides a visible way to reassure customers that you take their health and wellbeing seriously.
In a time of uncertainty, count on NCR
NCR is deeply committed to helping you navigate this uncertain and challenging time. Let us know how we can help you transform your store and forecourt operations to address the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and be sure to keep checking NCR.com/coronavirus for updates, guidance and other helpful information.
If you have questions about your OPTIC, RPOS or StorePoint equipment, please contact us at 1-800-CALL-NCR or have us call you back.
