Bi-Lo, founded in 1964, is privately held and based in Mauldin, S.C. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The [image-nocss] chain operates 207 supermarkets in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
The company launched the fuelperks! Program in Augusta, Metter, Millen, Sylvania, Thomson, Vidalia, Washington, Waynesboro, Aiken, Beaufort, Columbia, Conway, Darlington, Dillon, Edgefield, Florence, Hampton, Hilton Head Island, Kingstree, Lake City, Batesburg, Lexington, Manning, Myrtle Beach, Newberry, Orangeburg, Sumter, Winnsboro and select surrounding areas of South Carolina last November.
It has now expanded the program to the Charlotte area. Locally, 37 BP gas stations are participating, said the newspaper.
With the fuelperks! Program, for every $50 a shopper spends at Bi-Lo, he or she receive a five-cents-per-gallon reward applied to his or her My Bi-Lo Bonuscard that is used at the pump. The $50 threshold can be achieved through multiple visits to Bi-Lo and it is tracked automatically and immediately in real time.
There is no limit to the amount of fuelperks rewards a customer can earn. So, if a shopper and his or her family spend $200 over the course of several weeks or in a single visit, they accumulate a 20-cents-per-gallon reward. Customers are able to redeem their fuelperks! Rewards by swiping their full-size My Bi-Lo Bonuscard in the card reader at any of the participating BP, Shell, Spinx or Sunoco stations. The price per gallon on all grades of gasoline will automatically roll down by the amount of fuelperks! Rewards earned and the customer can pump up to 20 gallons of gasoline per visit.
Bi-Lo is offering the program though Excentus Corp., Irving, Texas.
The program arrives at a time when, because of the economy, midrange chains are working more than ever to give shoppers a reason to choose them over discount stores and other mainstream grocers, said the Observer.
The fuel discount is one way to encourage that, John Conroy, Bi-Lo's senior manager of consumer marketing, told the paper. In focus groups and surveys, he said, customers repeatedly said they wanted to save money on gasoline.
Bi-Lo previously tried a promotion in which customers earned tokens to put toward a gasoline gift card, but that proved too complicated to make much impact, he said.
When it began testing fuelperks in Charleston in late 2008, Conroy said, customers responded far more favorably. Existing shoppers began shifting more of their spending to Bi-Lo, he said, and the chain has attracted new shoppers, too. He said fuelperks is more straightforward.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.