INDIANAPOLIS -- Big-box retailer Meijer Inc. has launched a new gasoline marketing technique in the Indianapolis area by giving customers advanced notice of upcoming fuel price increases, said the IPCA Insider Report, the newsletter of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association.
The company promises that by registering your cell number into the Meijer Gas Alert program, you agree to receive text messages from us that will notify you in advance when Meijer gas prices are going to increase, according to its website. The program [image-nocss] is only available for a limited time in the Indianapolis area.
Last Thursday at approximately 11 a.m., subscribers received the following text message: Meijer Gas Prices will increase after 1:30 pm EST 6/22/96! Fill up at Meijer before prices go up. A check of the Noblesville, Ind., location showed regular gasoline selling at $2.64 a gallon and the fuel islands were reportedly quite active. On Friday, regular gasoline at that location was selling for $2.77, the newsletter said.
The IPCA has serious concerns about the legality of a program that telegraphs future price increases. Such communication between retailers is something that is strictly forbidden by anti-trust laws, said the association.
Meijer declined to comment to CSP Daily News concerning the program. Click here for program details.
The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer's website is also touting a promotion to give a $1 Fuel Rewards coupon to customers who purchase 50 or more same-day or 75 or more next-day digital photo prints through its photo service.
In related news, Detroit-based Fuelgo.com recently launched a service designed to compare and find the cheapest gasoline prices with a text message. A motorists sends a text message of his or her zip code to gas@fuelgo.com and they receive information on the lowest-priced stations in that local area for free.
Fuelgo.com was developed by Chad Priest, who said he built the computer program because he decided that people needed easier access to information on gasoline prices. I really like the online services to look up gas but realized that the information was never readily available when I needed it most.
The prices are provided by hundreds of thousands of volunteers nationwide, he claimed. Fuelgo.com relies on local area residents to input pricing information. The prices are updated throughout the day. If the information in the selected area is more than 24 hours old, the prices will not be sent to the phone.
We are trying to create a service that not only benefits people by saving them money at the pumps, but by also creating gas price wars between the stations themselves. If more people use the fuelgo.com mobile service and go to the stations listed as being the lowest price, then the gas stations will be forced to take notice and try to lower their prices to be the cheapest station listed, said Priest.
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