ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Gasoline prices may be relatively low, but consumers still want the best deal.
That’s according to a recent NACS survey, which found that 64% of consumers consider price the biggest factor in deciding where they purchase gasoline. This compares to 20% who believe location is the most important.
At the same time, 64% of consumers were willing to drive an extra 5 minutes to save 5 cents per gallon (CPG). Men were much more likely than women (52% to 25%) to say that the distance they drove was dependent on the price of gas.
Most consumers still rely on the corner price sign to find the cheapest gas. According to the NACS survey, 63% said they shopped for price using the sign. Visiting a store where they participated in a loyalty program was a distant second at 16%. Ten percent said they used an online gas price aggregator or website.
Of those consumers participating in a loyalty program, 41% said they used it to get a discount on gasoline. Twenty-two percent paid cash to get a discount.
To earn a 5-CPG discount, 73% were willing to use a debit card instead of a credit card. Seventy-two percent--which is 4 points higher than last year's survey--would pay with cash if they could earn that same discount.
Consumers seem realistic about the fact that low gas prices won’t last forever, and they expect prices to increase to $2.68 per gallon at year’s end. Nearly 70% agreed with the statement that increased demand makes prices rise in the spring, and 47% agreed that environmental regulations requiring special summer fuel blends was a cause for the increase.
More than 40% of gas customers said they go into the store to make an additional purchase, with the most popular options being beverages (42%) and snacks (31%).
“As retailers wait to see how the spring transition to summer-blend fuel plays out, they also are addressing consumer trends and preferences by offering more prepared food and healthy options inside the store,” said Jeff Lenard, NACS' vice president of strategic industry initiatives. “As a result, 2016 may turn out to be a good year for convenience and fuels retailers regardless of the price of fuel.”
These consumer insights come from a larger survey of 1,101 consumers conducted Jan. 7-11, 2016, by Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates LLC. Click here for more findings.
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