SAN ANTONIO -- Valero Retail Holdings Inc. has announced that its Corner Store locations are now in the world of social media communication. The first splash was created with the website CornerStore4U.com. This launch enabled more than 100,000 consumers to participate in the Free Music & Movies promotion during the summer. Next, through text and e-mail opt-ins, it gave consumers exclusive offers.
And now, Corner Store mobile app offers just-in-time fuel prices, Corner Store locator and the ability check on deals and share thoughts.
"This gives us more flexibility in marketing and the ability to engage with our loyal customers," said Hal Adams, Valero's vice president of retail merchandising. "It is one of our key strategic plans for marketing."
Corner Store partnered with Brooklyn Park, Minn.-based OpenStore by GasBuddy to create the different social media platforms.
"Corner Store continues to be an industry leader by making smart advances and building strong connections with customers via social media and mobile technology. The possibilities are endless," said Jason Toews, CEO of GasBuddy.
OpenStore by GasBuddy is a solution that increases customer loyalty by providing two-way communication between convenience store owners and customers using leading-edge web technologies and custom branded mobile applications. The OpenStore dashboard makes it easy to collect customer feedback, manage social media, deliver mobile coupons and text message campaigns all from a single location.
"OpenStore makes a brand and a c-store stronger and more aligned with social media in a 'new-fashioned' way, by gaining loyalty from customers in an old fashioned way," the company said.
San Antonio-based Valero, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. Valero subsidiaries employ approximately 22,000 people, and assets include 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately three million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per year and a 50-megawatt wind farm. Approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets carry the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock and Beacon brands in the United States and the Caribbean; Ultramar in Canada; and Texaco in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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