Forecourt epos is entering a new phase – one where the focus shifts from reporting what has already happened, to actively guiding better decisions in real time.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of that change. AI in epos is moving from concept to practical results. We are already seeing it support loss prevention, flag anomalies, and save time for staff, with anything from computer vision alerts for walk-offs, to real-time prompts on refunds or age-restricted sales.
Crucially, this doesn’t signal the end of manned tills. Forecourts at their core are people businesses and human interaction remains central, from customer service and compliance to wet-stock management, fuel price updates and EV charging sessions. The balance between technology and store teams is vital – what operators want is simplicity for those teams, their shoppers and their operation as a whole.
Technology should enhance, not replace, human service. Retailers want one epos that connects fuel, shop, EV, payments and compliance, rather than juggling 10 different dashboards.
The next few years will also see low-key automation quietly entering sites. Robotic floor cleaning on night cycles, AI-led date checking and automatic reduction lists will free colleagues to focus on availability, standards and customers. Alongside this, epos will increasingly act as a compliance assistant, offering proactive risk scores and guidance at the till, rather than auditing issues weeks later.
Global trends point the way ahead: site-wide monitoring linked to epos in Australia, tighter fresh and waste control in Europe, and retail media monetisation at the counter in the US.
Underpinning it all is a move towards a single ecosystem – one platform that unifies fuel, EV, shop and foodservice. The future belongs to forecourts that blend AI, automation and great people, using technology to serve faster, lose less and decide smarter.
Darren Nickels, retail technology operations director at Henderson Technology
