What a couple of days! Last week’s Convenience and Impulse Retailing Expo in Auckland didn’t disappoint, with great energy on the floor, plenty of worthwhile conversations and a few surprises along the way.
It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces and teams showing up strongly across the event. A number of our partners and industry players were out in force, each bringing their own energy to the floor and contributing to a really vibrant atmosphere.
First up, it was wonderful to see Infinity reseller BridgedIT looking fresh and ready to go. They were clearly energised and the booth reflected that. Looked awesome!
I also spoke with Clarksons and Tanda, both of whom were doing what they do well. It was great to catch up with the teams in person rather than via a screen.
One of the highlights was being shown how 2D barcodes work at the GS1 NZ booth. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about retail technology, seeing how much data can be packed into a single barcode and what that means for supply chain traceability and the checkout experience was genuinely eye-opening. The industry shift toward 2D is coming faster than most people realise.
There was strong interest across multiple booths throughout the event, with plenty of teams kept busy by a steady flow of conversations. It was inspiring to see that level of engagement across the board — always a good sign of a healthy, active market.
ECL had one of the busiest booths on the floor, and their team was consistently working flat out. If you were waiting to chat to them and ran out of time, it’s worth following up with them directly.
The attendee mix was where things really came alive. I enjoyed catching up with familiar faces from BP, Mobil, Z Energy and Caltex, some of the biggest names in fuel and convenience retail in New Zealand, all under one roof. Conversations with those teams are always valuable, as they’re operating at scale and know exactly what they need from their technology partners. Alongside them, it was brilliant to see teams from Heartland Fuels and Metro Mart, two businesses doing really interesting things in their respective spaces.
The vibe across the whole event felt genuinely energised, and a lot of credit goes to the keynote speakers. The discussions that spilled out after the keynotes were some of the best of the two days. They were the kind of frank, forward-looking conversations you really only get when everyone’s in the same room thinking about the same challenges, and they make events like this one worthwhile.
Beyond the booths, I also met some new faces who could shape up to be great partners down the track. Watch this space!
All in all, a really valuable two days. I’m already looking forward to the next one!
