Digital Ranking Profile: Kwik Trip (March 2020)

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Kwik Trip recently improved its standing in Stuzo’s digital ranking by adding mobile pay-in-store capability to its app.

“At Kwik Trip, we want to provide our guests with choices in how they transact and interact with our brand,” said David Jackson, digital marketing and loyalty manager for Kwik Trip. “That’s why we're excited to now enable our customers with the ability to pay using the Kwik Rewards app. With our new mobile payment capability, we are able to tap into more customer segments and unlock new business opportunities.” Kwik Trip’s mobile pay in-store capability is currently in pilot and available only at select locations.

• Click here to see Stuzo’s complete online ranking.

The ranking covers 100 convenience-store chains, measuring each chain’s digital presence, including mobile commerce, connected car, website and social media. Stuzo ranks each company on a points-based system with a score of zero to 5 for each metric. While this article examines the details behind the Kwik Trip ranking, it is meant more as a profile than an attempt to compare it to competitors.

Click through for more on Kwik Trip’s spot in Stuzo’s c-store digital ranking …

App Performance: 4.91

Mobile Payment: 2.17

Loyalty Program: 4.38

Mobile Ordering: 0

With Kwik Trip’s Kwik Rewards loyalty program, customers have the opportunity to get cents off gas when buying qualifying c-store items or to earn free food and merchandise for every 15th visit. Offers are personalized based on the customer’s purchase behavior. Customers also have access to exclusive coupons that are added to their digital rewards card and are automatically applied after a transaction is completed. Customers accumulate visits as they shop at Kwik Trip and are then able to use those visits to enter sweepstakes for chances to win tickets to sports games or other events.

UX/UI: 4.33

Loyalty Program Promotion: 3.33

Personalization: 4.5

App Promotion: 2.5

Ordering: 0

Kwik Trip's site is brightly colored, easy to navigate and offers valuable information such as daily deals, special promos and fuel discounts. Customers may sign in to apply for a credit card, purchase a gift card or car-wash card or check their points balance. The Kwik Rewards program is heavily promoted on the site, making it easy for customers to sign up and begin saving; however, customers must have a physical card to sign up. This may be simplified by enabling customers to sign up for the Kwik Rewards program via the web.

Brand Responsiveness: 5

Frequency of Posts: 5

Creativity of Content: 3.5

Level of Engagement: 5

Kwik Trip has a strong presence across all social-media verticals, including Snapchat, where it gives its customers an inside look into product offerings and the chance to enter Kwik Trip sweepstakes. It engages its customers with content, such as gifs, customer quotes and limited-time offers. Kwik Trip responds to nearly all customer questions and concerns on social media and keeps them involved through contests. In return, Kwik Trip’s customers are highly engaged with its content by liking, sharing and retweeting.

Kwik Trip 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.

La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip is No. 13on the Top 40 update to CSP’s 2019 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by number of retail outlets. CSP will release the complete 2020 list in June.