It's an understatement to say it's been a busy few months for GK. In the U.S., the team has been traveling across the country to meet with customers, prospects and colleagues. We've loved every minute of it. If you'd didn't get the chance to meet with us, we wanted to share some highlights from our recent events, including our U.S. Retail Innovation Summit, The NACS SHOW and the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race.
GK's First U.S. Retail Innovation Summit
We are incredibly proud of the recent Retail Innovation Summit that we hosted this September in our U.S. headquarters of Raleigh, North Carolina. The two-day event filled the conference rooms of the Hilton Raleigh North Hills with over 150 customers, partners, prospects and GK team members. In fact, keynote speaker Greg Buzek of IHL Group said the audience had "an energy and transparency that is often hard to find at these events."
Exceptional Speakers and Presentations
During the summit, attendees had the pleasure of hearing from several GK team members including Michael Scheibner, CEO, GK Software SE, Michael Jaszczyk, CEO of GK Americas and chief digital transformation officer of GK Software SE, panels featuring executives from Dollar Tree, RaceTrac Ladwig Companies and more. As well, John Pink, global head of consumer experience at Fujitsu spoke about Fujitsu's strategic investment in GK, which took place earlier this year. Pink shared that GK will benefit from Fujitsu's IT resources and funds, while still operating independently. This further validates GK's commitment to remaining platform-independent for its POS and cloud-based technologies.
Exciting Announcements and Demonstrations
On day one of the summit, we also released our latest solution, GK Engage. This comprehensive loyalty program empowers retailers to strengthen their customer lifetime value with strategic personalization. The AI-powered solution generates contextualized outreach for individual customers including messaging, offers and rewards. GK Engage is integrated into GK's OmniPOS solution, making it easy for existing customers to add Engage to their tech stack today.
We also announced the new Customer Experience Center that is now open on an ongoing basis in GK's Raleigh headquarters. The center offers retailers, partners, media and more the opportunity to view many of GK's solutions in action. Visitors can also hear from solution experts who will help retailers determine the best solution deployment for their end-customers.
Charitable Donations and Community Connections
Finally, we announced a $20,000 donation to the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI, Inc) during the conference. This charitable organization raises awareness and provides real solutions for the more than 400 million vulnerable children worldwide, like sourcing clean water and building schools. The donation comes on the heels of a recent trip our very own, Connie Driscoll, manager, PMO, took to Honduras where she supported the local communities.
This conference and the other 2023 GK Retail Innovation Summits hosted in Berlin and Bangkok served as excellent opportunities to bring the global GK community together and discuss highlights from the past and our goals for the future.
While this was GK's first Retail Innovation Summit in the US, it certainly won't be the last.
Big News at NACS
Just a few short days after the Retail Innovation Summit, GK flew to Atlanta for the NACS Show. There, our team met with customers, prospects and partners in the convenience store and truck stop industry to share our latest innovations.
Most notably, we introduced a new joint integration with our partner, Comdata. TotalSTORE POS, which was announced on Oct. 3, transforms Comdata's market-leading SmartDESQ into a next-generation retail platform. The solution is designed to meet the needs of medium and smaller convenience retailers by enabling an interconnected business that promotes excellent and efficient customer experiences.
But it wasn't all work – we also hosted a fun customer gathering at Der Biergarten! We always have a great time at NACS and we're already looking forward to next year's show.
Summer Heat at the Hy-Vee Car Race
Finally, earlier this year we co-sponsored the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at the Iowa Speedway, one of the largest INDYCAR race weekends of the summer! This event was a great opportunity for our customers and partners to connect and enjoy auto races, concerts and more. We hosted tours of the Hy-Vee offices and nearby store, showcasing the GK solutions that are enhancing the shopper experience for the retailer.
Let's Get Together in 2024
So, are you ready to get in on the GK excitement? Reach out today to schedule an introductory conversation. Or, if you love to travel, too, check out our events page to see where the GK team is headed in 2024. First up, the NRF Big Show in NYC from Jan. 13-16, 2024. We hope to see you there!
