Digital Ranking Profile: Wawa (May 2019)
By Jackson Lewis on May 29, 2019WAWA, Pa. — Wawa has earned high marks from Stuzo for being a leader in mobile order-ahead capabilities despite technical issues some customers have voiced in app reviews.
“We congratulate Wawa for being an innovator and early adopter of mobile capabilities. Wawa’s mobile order ahead, in-store mobile payment capabilities and mobile rewards program combined make Wawa one of the leaders in mobile across North America,'' said Mark Budreski, vice president of sales and business development for Stuzo. The iconic chain’s digital leadership has earned it a current overall score of 2.48, marking a 0.12 decrease in its score in 2019.
- Click here to see Stuzo’s complete online ranking.
The ranking covers 100 c-stores chains, measuring each chain’s digital presence, including mobile commerce, connected car, website and social media. Each company is ranked on a points-based system with a score of zero to five for each metric. Each metric is calculated using four more specific metrics. While this article examines the details behind the Wawa ranking, it is meant more as a profile than an attempt to compare it to competitors.
Click through for details on where Wawa stands in Stuzo’s c-store digital ranking and information on the brand’s digital capabilities …
Mobile Commerce: 1.89
App Performance: 3.4
Mobile Payment: 0.67
Loyalty Program: 1.5
Order Ahead: 2
Wawa's app enables consumers to earn rewards on qualifying items. Consumers receive bonus rewards throughout the year for simply belonging to the rewards program. The Wawa app also offers mobile order-ahead capabilities for made-to-order food and in-store mobile payment capabilities with stored-value gift cards, which consumers can reload within the app.
“Wawa belongs to the 9% of convenience and fuel retail brands on the C-Store Digital Ranking that enables consumers to order ahead using their mobile app,” Budreski said. Wawa is also one of 23% of brands on Stuzo’s digital ranking that offer in-store mobile payment capabilities.
Consumers have voiced concerns in the iTunes and GooglePlay stores regarding their inability to sign into the app or to sign up for an account. Customers also commented on the inconvenience of being limited to paying via only a gift card when using the mobile order-ahead capability and long load times when pulling up the gift card or loyalty card within the app during checkout.
Website: 3.53
UX/UI: 4.67
Loyalty Program Promotion: 4
Personalization: 4
App Promotion: 5
Ordering: 0
Budreski and the team at Stuzo found Wawa’s website easy to use, with plenty of information on menu items, rewards, fuel and more. It promotes the app in multiple locations on the site, which then leads consumers to more information on the app, links to the iTunes and GooglePlay store and the rewards program. Consumers are also able to log into their account to check their gift card balance and rewards.
However, Budreski and those behind the digital ranking pointed out that consumers cannot order via the website, and they suggest adding this capability to make the site more convenient.
Social: 4.5
Brand Responsiveness: 5
Frequency of Posts: 5
Creativity of Content: 3
Level of Engagement: 5
Wawa frequently posts content across all its social-media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Its posts include images of food and beverages, polls and its consumers. The brand is responsive to comments and concerns from consumers, which keeps its consumers engaged and builds a strong online community for the brand.
Connected Car: 0
Wawa did not score in the connected-car metric, although this score is not unusual for c-store chains on Stuzo’s list. The metric is largely focused on the future. Stuzo predicts chains will put more resources into such initiatives as the industry evolves.
The connected-car metric measures the chain’s use of a car’s “infotainment” system on the dashboard, which will become more common as the capabilities of car platforms expand further.
- Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa is No. 9 in the Top 40 update to CSP’s 2018 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of retail outlets.
A chain of more than 840 c-stores, with more than 600 offering fuel, Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as custom-prepared hoagies, freshly brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, specialty beverages and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks.