In the old days, you had a few fuel brands to choose from, all major oil. You had one fuel to buy: regular unleaded. And there was only one place to buy fuel in town: the local gas station.
It was a simpler time. The choices were all made for you.
But today’s fuel game is built around consumer choice—the where, how, what and when of filling up, with technology making those decisions faster and more informed.
Take the issue of price. It is common wisdom that price is a top driver in fueling-location choice. In fact, 66% of all consumers told Technomic that they seek out c-stores or gas stations with the lowest gas prices. And in most age brackets, women are driven more by price than men.
Do you have other ways—besides the street sign—to get your pricing data in front of drivers? Mobile apps, price websites, social media—they all are a means to an end.
Then there is brand. Common wisdom says brand is not as important as it used to be (especially as price reigns). But just less than half of consumers say it is a strong factor in deciding which gas station or c-store to visit, especially for women in most age brackets.
Does that mean you should hoist that major-oil flag to capture the loyalty of those consumers? Maybe you just need to rethink the meaning of brand.
“My question is: Is it really clear to folks today what a branded fuel is?” says Steve Loehr, vice president of operations support for Kwik Trip Inc., LaCrosse, Wis., a privately owned chain with more than 400 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. “We feel we are not unbranded, but rather our name is our brand.
Click here to view the supporting data for this analysis.
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.