bp’s new earnify app, which is replacing its BPme Rewards program, offers customers the expanded ability to use points on both fuel and in-store purchases.
Now that bp has TravelCenters of America locations on highways, there are more cases and needs that customers want to be served, said Greg Franks, senior vice president, mobility and convenience, Americas at bp. Eventually, the program will offer customers chain-specific deals.
“The needs of professional truck drivers coming to a TA are going to be different than a family going to Thornton’s," Franks said. They might want truck service, showers or a meal, but the family going to Thornton’s may want a frozen drink, a slice of pizza or a private-branded product.”
It will give bp flexibility to meet consumers where they are and show that it understands what their needs are, he said.
“It's going to be very important for us to be able to allow consumers to come into one ecosystem and interact with all the bp goods and services in one seamless manner,” said Franks. “We have the ability to bring convenience, travel centers, EV charging, fueling, high-quality premium fuel… we can bring energy vectors and variety of offerings we think offers a differentiated experience.”
bp is No. 7 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by total number of company-owned stores.
“The app has been revamped, it’s super smooth,” said Mukta Tandon, vice president of U.S. mobility marketing, marketing and convenience Americas at bp. “How long it takes to enroll in the app has been brought down to less than 20 seconds.”
earnify users can earn points on every dollar spent at bp and Amoco locations, both on fuel and in-store items.
“We’re giving them more ownership and empowering them to get the loyalty rewards [they want],” said Tandon.
Users earn one point per $1 spent on fuel and two points per $1 spent on other in-store items, along with an always-on 5-cents-per-gallon (CPG) savings on fuel purchases. Points can be redeemed for various rewards, including additional fuel savings, in-store purchases or special promotional offers.
The app was developed internally and is currently available at most bp and Amoco sites, including TravelCenters of America, Petro and TA Express sites with bp or Amoco forecourts. It will be available at select ampm sites in 2024 and across the Thorntons network in 2025, the company said.
The app is now available to most of bp’s eastern markets, and by the end of October it will be available to some of its western markets, Tandon said.
“We’re finding that stores that have already moved into the earnify world are already seeing 1.7 times the reception by the consumers of the new app compared to the stores that still have the old app,” said Tandon. “The appetite from the consumers who have a more updated, more savvy app which allows them flexibility is certainly there.”
bp also plans to add a stacking capability, she said, and with more data, personalization will play a role in customer offers.
“Once we start understanding the actions of how they spend their money, we’ll be able to work with our vendors to make sure we’ve got the right kind of offers for them that personalizes and customizes,” Tandon said.
The app will also soon feature a digital wallet, order-ahead capability along with marketing and analytics. In the future, bp is also aiming to connect loyalty to its EV charging stations so that customers can use offers on charging as well, he said.
“We know in the future that coming generations are going to communicate and transact digitally, and we know that if we can't hear them, we can't serve them, so this is really an effort for us to dial in and connect with our consumers in a way that is differentiated, and I think it'll surprise and delight them,” said Franks.
bp is offering exclusive introductory benefits to celebrate the launch of the earnify app, it said. For the first 90 days, users will earn double points on all transactions, giving them a head start on building their rewards. Additionally, new users will receive 250 welcome points after registering in the app.
Globally, bp is aiming to increase customer touchpoints from 12 million to more than 15 million per day by 2025 and double its convenience gross margin by 2030, the company said.
Global energy company bp, which has U.S. headquarters in Chicago, owns convenience-store brands ampm, Thorntons and TravelCenters of America in the United States.
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