CHICAGO — Earlier this year, independent retailer Sanjiv Patel was bent on ramping up the fueling experience at his convenience stores. The owner and founder of Newark, Calif.-based National Petroleum Co. understood that most customers don’t relish the forecourt experience, compounded by soaring gas prices throughout 2022 that added to the stress.
Knowing it would move the needle in a positive direction, Patel implemented contactless fuel payment technology at several of his 14 northern California c-stores, all to allow customers to pay for fuel in quick and painless fashion
“Customers can wave their cellphones at the dispenser touchscreen and transactions are processed. It allows them to avoid swiping a credit or debit card into the card reader—not only a convenience factor but a safety factor as well,” Patel told CSP.
Investing in Gilbarco Encore 700S Series dispensers, Patel and his team make it ultra-simple for customers to enroll in mobile fuel payments, supported by Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay and more. The result for National Petroleum: Cycle time per fill up was slashed by 40 seconds, avoiding fuel island bottlenecks and allowing more cars to buy gas per hour. It all helps build and sustain loyalty, says Patel.
Forecourt Fortunes
With much at stake to secure and sustain loyalty, retailers are considering a host of ways to enhance the forecourt experience. A future-forward forecourt is now a necessity, not a luxury, most agree.
“People have become spoiled by technology to drive the retail experience. You see it when they walk into a ‘micro’ c-store or Amazon Go store, buy groceries and walk out,” said Tooraj Agahi, owner of a Shell- and Chevron-branded c-store in rural Pollock Pines, Calif. “With [multiple-pump dispenser (MPD)] technology, it’s all part of that expectation, as technology is now so ubiquitous.”
In one tried-and-true technique, Agahi offers disposable gloves mounted at fuel islands to promote safety and cleanliness, a heightened demand since the pandemic. On the more advanced side, he performed a proprietary software upgrade in 2021 to support and then activate a Chevron-branded app to allow customers to complete fuel transactions while sitting inside their car—and not standing at the MPD.
“They pull up to a pump, indicate the pump number while sitting in their car, select how much fuel they want, and the sale is authorized with receipt sent to a cellphone,” said Agahi. “This mode of payment means you don’t need to pull out your wallet or phone outside your car. It has a safety aspect too, because at night when people have safety more on their mind, they essentially can leave their credit card at home.”
Agahi says Chevron is encouraging all its networked retailers to get up to date on implementing this type of contactless technology because those who don’t might bear liability in the future.
Ease and Ergonomics
New features embedded in today’s MPDs, and arriving at market regularly, promote customer-based ease and ergonomics; ability of operators to fluidly and flexibly switch out in-store promotions; and offer simple but effective “experiential” advantages.
Consumer ease is at the heart of Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s recently unveiled 15.6-inch touchscreen built into its Encore 700S Series dispenser line to eliminate the need for customers to use old-school buttons. Historically, fueling customers have a tendency to strike a wrong password, forcing them to start over, the pump manufacturer says. The upgrade fosters a modern experience with a screen offering one-third more screen space, allowing retailers to design proprietary branding and promotional offers.
To keep fueling customers engaged and informed, Agahi found success with GSTV—benefiting both customers and staff.
Detroit-based GSTV, a data-driven, national video network, provides content to 25,000 locations across the United States, reaching more than 40% of American adults monthly via full sight, sound and motion video, it says.
“This mode of payment means you don’t need to pull out your wallet or phone outside your car.”
“We customize GSTV content every month, typically to activate specials on food and beverages,” Agahi said. “It’s rotated based on daypart, so around midafternoon we upload a clip to promote a sale on gallons of milk. What’s the one thing a guy’s wife might ask him not to forget to buy when he leaves work? It’s often milk.”
Agahi says customers at fuel islands are plagued with multimedia “promotions fatigue” for being held captive listening and watching content, says Agahi, who’s retiring from c-store retailing at the end of the year. In response, his staff has clearly labeled the MPDs, instructing customers how to mute the sound. “We think it’s important for them to have the flexibility to tune it out if they want,” he said. “All MPDs have a mute button, but many people are simply unaware of it.”
Other content management platforms have arrived to market during the pandemic. In summer 2021, Austin, Texas-based Dover Fueling Solutions launched DX Promote to offer locally targeted advertising at each fueling point. Driven by Microsoft Azure and part of the DFS DX connected solutions platform, DX Promote supports both Wayne Ovation and Wayne Helix fuel dispensers. (DX Promote wonCSP’s Retailer Choice Best New Product Award in the forecourt category in 2021.)
Leveraging the daypart feature of DX Promote, Franklin, Ky.-based Key Oil Co., customized delivery of breakfast sandwich advertisements during morning commute hours and experienced solid results at its 18 stores, it says. The ad appeared for four months with an average breakfast-sandwich revenue increase of more than 30%. When extended to nine months, that increase grew to 50%, driving new customers to the foodservice business, says Dan Seymour, part of the marketing communications team for Dover Fueling Systems.
Meantime, Triple Play Mobil, Attleboro, Mass., upgraded to Dover’s Anthem UX platform. Delivering customized video promotions with DX Promote, the chain increased sales by 10% in both oil changes and monthly car-wash memberships, according to Seymour.
Even more effective was the success in driving premium car-wash memberships, he says. Running videos explaining the benefits of the four tiers of car-wash memberships, the Triple Play Mobile drove a 35% increase in high-end car washes.
Tech Time
Other types of advanced technology, such as geofencing and license-plate recognition, are also being adopted by retailers, while a continued push to embrace electric-vehicle (EV) charging adds both challenges and opportunities for retailers at the forecourt footprint.
The EV universe represents a small sliver of overall U.S. vehicles, but retail investments in 2022 reached a point where “they no longer view it with fear but are strategizing on how to implement it,” said John Eichberger, executive director of The Fuels Institute, Alexandria, Va. “Many are eager to implement it now but are frustrated when they’re told about the barriers to entry.”
Eichberger says interest in EV education and equipment was “incredibly high” at the 2022 NACS Show in October. To get started on their due diligence, Eichberger says retailers are tasked with ironing out several wrinkles, starting with following local-market EV trends rather that what’s occurring nationally.
Geo-fencing technology, meanwhile, allows retailers to deliver real-time promotions for food and fuel while patrons are in-store, fueling, or in transit—essentially building a “fence” around a geographic area to alert would-be purchasers of fuel deals and more.
Geofencing is underpinned by several pillars, including a concept called “micro-moments,” or a process of smartphones facilitating customer buying decisions. Consumers while in-store receive real-time alerts about deals, for example. At the fuel island, they are alerted to in-store promotions. Within the forecourt engagement, fueling customers might not have planned to enter a store but once the phone pings about the promotion, many are compelled to extend the visit.
“If I was staying in this business, I’d invest in geofencing as soon as possible. It’s very beneficial,” said Agahi. “With travelers, no matter how many billboard signs populate the interstate highway, many aren’t looking at signs; they’re looking at phones. A geofence alert sent to a cellphone captures their attention. We know most people need to stop to use the restroom. … A geofence assists, and once they use your facilities, they tend to buy something.”
License to Pay
Another cutting-edge option coming to market is license-plate recognition technology supported by artificial intelligence, which allows for frictionless payment at the pump, for example.
Alimentation Couche-Tard, Laval, Quebec, brought the technology to its Circle K stores in Sweden in 2021, allowing customers to automatically pay for fuel via their linked Circle K Easy Fuel mobile app. Couche-Tard dubbed the technology Pay by Plate and announced plans to roll out the function to the wider chain network in the future.
“At Circle K, we know the forecourt of today is not the forecourt of tomorrow, and we are committed to evolving the forecourt experience for our customers through innovation,” said Deb Hall Lefevre, chief information officer of Circle K.
Fueling data makes it clear why innovation at the forecourt is important. Fuel is the most common item purchased from c-stores; 80% of consumers reported purchasing gasoline during a typical visit, according to customer-experience solutions company Intouch Insight. Gasoline boasts a significant lead over the second-most purchased item: soft drinks, at 57%, according to the Ontario, Canada-based researcher.
Summing up the way forecourt technology will continue unabated as a necessity, Agahi says most consumers have become accustomed to accessing the latest bells and whistles as they shop, and they expect it at the forecourt too. “With MPD technology, it’s all part of that expectation since technology is now so ubiquitous,” he said.