As Whole Foods gobbles up the competition (including its biggest rival, Wild Oats) and Wal-Mart and Target increase their food offerings, the independent supermarket segment might seem to be a lost cause. One would think a technology provider would be better served targeting taco shacks on the Pacific Rim than pitching new solutions to a business model that appears destined for obsolescence.

Reality is not always what it appears, however. Total grocery industry sales were $478.9 billion in 2005, with indies accounting for less than 10 percent of all supermarket revenue, according to Progressive Grocer. Despite the expanding encroachment from the big chains — Wal-Mart, for example reported food sales were up 13 percent in Q3 2007 — Americans continue to patronize smaller grocery stores.

Helping these independent and regional operators boost profits is StoreNext, a Plano, Texas-based joint venture of Fujitsu and Retalix. Through third-party dealers, StoreNext helps put local grocers on a level technological playing field with their much-larger competitors.

The independents have “had cash registers and software for years,” says Tony VanSeventer, vice president of products and marketing for StoreNext. “But all the new technology, from self-checkout to the old UScan stuff, really had no return on investment” for them because the implementation costs were prohibitive.

“They’ve survived against the Wal-Marts, against the Krogers, against the Safeways, against the Whole Foods — against anything that’s been thrown at them because they really know how to market to their customer base,” VanSeventer says. “However, one of the big problems that those grocers had faced is that they simply had no access to technology.”

StoreNext works closely with wholesalers to provide independents with POS, electronic payments, self-checkout, back-office, electronic shelf label, headquarters and hosting, fuel management and mobile/wireless systems. Its latest solution, Connected Payments, might just be the key to giving independents the edge they need to win the profit battle by decreasing electronic payments interchange and processing fees.

StoreNext partnered with payment processor MTXEPS to provide improved processing rates on debit, credit, EBT and other payment options to Connected Payments subscribers. Connected Payments electronic check conversion and Pay By Touch biometric payments will be supported, as well as gift card capabilities for profit enhancement.

As a result, independents can replace their payments systems without incurring software license charges and maintenance fees. The program is designed to cut independent merchants’ payments expenses by up to 25 percent, VanSeventer says.

“If you look at the industry averages right now, an independent grocer actually pays more in electronic payments fees than their bottom line margin,” he says. For them, electronic payments “has risen to the No. 4 cost after basically building and lease, staffing, and the stock and trade. … Heating, air conditioning and electrical utilities are lower per year now than the cost of electronic payments.

For a grocer making annual payments fees of more than $100,000, $20,000 to $30,000 is “big money to save,” VanSeventer says.