Video: How smart stores are becoming easier to manage

365 Retail Markets used the 2026 NAMA Show to demonstrate how it is reducing friction for both operators and consumers. From VisionLink’s single-cart shopping experience across multiple smart store doors to future digital shelf labels that enable remote price changes, the company focused on tools designed to improve convenience, operational efficiency and consumer engagement.

Watch the full video to learn more.

Video transcript:

Bob Tullio: I’m here at the 2026 NAMA show in Los Angeles at the incredible 365 exhibit. And we have to call it an exhibit — it’s a lot more than a booth.

I’m here with Michael Wood and Ariel Theraube, part of the 365 product team. Michael, there’s a lot to be excited about here. What are you most excited about in this 365 Retail Markets’ exhibit?

Michael Wood:

Yeah, thanks, Bob. There’s a lot that we’re showing this week. We’ve got dining, we’ve got coffee, we’ve got our smart vision technology, our markets. But what I’m most excited about this year is our VisionLink solution, which is a really smart feature that we’ve enabled across our Vision Smart Store platform. So I’d love to show you that in a second. And then Ariel will be able to show you our new consumer experience features.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. Let’s take a look at some of those VisionLink-enabled coolers.

Michael Wood: Sounds good.

Bob Tullio: Let’s talk about this VisionLink technology. How does it work?

Michael Wood: Yeah, well, Bob, the way VisionLink works is it’s a digital feature that links all of our VisionSmart stores together. So as a consumer comes up and shops, they’re going to tap their card. We’re going to pre-authorize it for the first time. The door’s going to open. They can take items. And then once they’ve closed the door, finished that shopping experience on that door, they can go tap their card on another door. And then we’re not going to pre-auth that second time. We’re going to remember their card through tokenization. And then after they’ve finished their shopping journeys on multiple doors or cabinets — it can be as many as you want — we’re going to package up that transaction into a virtual cart. And then we’re going to give them one receipt, one charge, one seamless shopping experience.

Bob Tullio: From an operator perspective, how does this improve operational efficiency and profitability?

Michael Wood: Yeah, it’s a great question. I think what VisionLink really masters is it removes those barriers that traditionally with pre-authorization-locked solutions, where consumers were tapping on multiple doors, getting multiple authorizations, and it wasn’t a seamless experience.

With VisionLink, because we removed that barrier through tokenized payments, you can tap once, tap on as many doors as you want, removing that barrier around authorization holds.

And it’s seamless. We remember your SMS for a receipt later. So, increased basket size, increased value to our operators, which is what we want.

Bob Tullio: Is there something you could show us that’s coming down the line in the near future that people could get excited about?

Michael Wood: Yeah, sure. We’re really excited to show you an early preview of technology coming to our PicoCooler Vision lineup within our Vision Smart Stores. And that’s going to include these new screens that are going to be integrated into our CMS platform, as well as these really cool electronic shelf labels with a digital ink. They last many, many years. It’s going to be fully integrated into our back end, so operators can change price remotely without needing manually to go and change prices at stores. So we’re very excited.

Bob Tullio: So not available yet, but coming soon.

Michael Wood: Coming soon.

Bob Tullio: Fantastic. So, one of the things you talked to me about in the podcast was modularity. I understand Vision Smart Stores are modular. What exactly does that mean?

Michael Wood: Yeah, so for our Vision Smart Store platform, we’ve got a range of different platforms. We’ve got coolers, we’ve got ambient.

So right here you can see a cooler vision and an ambient vision side by side. And what you can do is you can actually connect them. So, you can have a single payment reader where a consumer can tap, unlock, open both doors and shop on two different doors. You can even have a third into a three-bay configuration. And you’ve also got freezers. You’ve got coolers, freezers, ambient, all can be in the same ecosystem, bolted together in different configurations. So really it’s about flexibility for the operator, making sure that they can stock the merchandise that they want for that location across all different formats.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. I think it’s time now to talk to Ariel.

Michael Wood: Sounds about right.

Bob Tullio: Okay. Ariel, let’s talk about the consumer experience. This age verification feature is interesting. Tell us about it.

Ariel Theraube: Yeah. So as a consumer, if I’m interested in buying an alcoholic beverage from one of our coolers, all I need to do is scan my phone at the device here. Then I’m going to be able to scan my face with Clear verification. This door will open. I quickly take out my beverage, close it, and I’m verified.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. Let’s talk about another aspect of the consumer experience with 365 Retail Markets.

Ariel Theraube: Awesome. Let’s do it. Here we have our redesigned kiosk experience that we also have on our dining kiosk. Today, you’ll be able to see an updated UI with new categories that start on the left side. Users are still able to scan their items. You have a nice new cart here and a faster, more seamless checkout.

Bob Tullio: So this is the dining kiosk. Tell us about this.

Ariel Theraube: Yeah, so we have a revised dining experience here as well. Users are really able to get through their order as fast as possible. So if I wanted to eat now, I quickly see the menu, a lot of imagery that helps me as a user pick what I want to eat, and then also go through my modifiers and make those selections as fast as I could, place that order, put my name, and then we are done.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. Ariel, I know that the app is an important consumer engagement feature. Tell us about the app.

Ariel Theraube: Yeah, so we’ve recently launched a new rewards program, which is a points for free product model. So the user is really able to engage with the app through that experience and throughout the market.

We also have a new feature called product recommendations to really help those users make their decisions faster. And we also have a new dining favorites feature, which allows the user to pick their order based on their favorites and order as fast as they can.

Bob Tullio: Fantastic. Great stuff. Really appreciate both of you taking the time.