Gulf Oil has switched its loyalty program to Stuzo to grow the number of consumers using Gulf Pay, its mobile payment and rewards program, which currently represents a small fraction of its business.
As an early adopter of mobile-payment technology, Gulf Pay has attracted tech-savvy consumers who tend to be loyal. Once they download the Gulf Pay mobile app, they’re less likely to switch to another fuel brand, said Nikki Fales, vice president of marketing and payment at Gulf Oil, based in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Many mobile payers are younger adults who are starting families and driving more, she said. “We’re really trying to get in front of those consumers before they choose to connect their digital wallet to another brand,” Fales told CSP Daily News. Most Gulf Pay members use Google Pay or Apple Pay, she said. “It’s unlikely a user changes that payment method,” and that helps Gulf Pay’s retention, Fales said.
Gulf Pay members are likely to receive more relevant offers now that it has revamped its loyalty program with Stuzo as of March 1. In the first six weeks, Gulf Pay successfully migrated 90% of its members to the new app, Fales said. “We’ve been seeing double new users in the first two months, so the initial numbers are super promising,” she said.
Gulf Oil, with a dealer network of 1,400 branded stations in 36 states and Puerto Rico, has added branded locations on the West Coast in recent years because a rights agreement with Chevron is no longer in effect, Fales said. “We weren’t able to be on the West Coast until the past couple of years,” she said.
Big Media Splash
It has launched a big media splash that includes digital advertising through streaming TV and streaming-device companies, a partnership with the Boston Celtics involving arena ads and marketing programs with GoogleMaps and GasBuddy, Fales said.
Gulf Pay launched its loyalty program in 2017 with P97 Networks and offers occasional bonuses like 15 cents off the per-gallon price on top of everyday savings of 3 cents per gallon to “surprise and delight” members, Fales said. Those fuel savings programs are staying, she said.
In the future, Gulf Pay hopes to work with its dealer retailers’ rewards programs to drive larger savings to its loyalty members. Stuzo’s Open Commerce Transact is a mobile payment processing applications allowing consumers to pay for gasoline and other products an app or internet-connected smartphone, said Aaron McLean, chief marketing officer at Philadelphia-based Stuzo.
Its Wallet Steering application gathers information on a member’s total transactions in a product category to determine the “wallet capacity” or the consumers’ total spending on the product and then calculate the “wallet opportunity” or the incremental amount it could steer to its partner, McLean said.
If Stuzo determined a Gulf Pay member is purchasing half its gas down the street, it creates incentives to bring those sales to Gulf, McLean said.
With Stuzo’s analytics engine, Gulf plans to improve the program with personalized offers. Gulf connects to its retailer-dealers’ point-of-sale systems so it can see what fuel grades the station offers and whether the location offers a car wash to make its offers relevant.
Many of Gulf’s convenience partners, such as Global Partner’sAlltown Fresh and Yatco, offer their own rewards programs to bring consumers into their stores. “We’re not trying to compete with our customers. We’re trying to do our best to work with our partners. We’re heavily on the fuel side. We can work with them to cross-promote products,” Fales said.
Retailer Capabilities
The retailers potentially will be able to incorporate their own offers in the loyalty program, Fales said. “Our distributors have the ability to log in and see what their activity looks like, what their loyalty looks like,” she said. They’ll be able to set their own goals and add their own offers to provide larger savings. “We just didn’t have the capability to do it before. We were limited in our capabilities. Stuzo has opened up that door for us,” Fales said.
Gulf talked to four five providers before switching to Stuzo March 1 because of its focus on simplicity, Fales said. Gulf wanted to keep Gulf Pay seamless for consumers to use, instead of adding more disclaimers to wade through. “There are no extra hoops to jump through. That’s one thing we do that competitors don’t do,” Fales said.
Stuzo has the tech capability of providing both mobile pay and a strategic loyalty program based on analytics, so Gulf didn’t have to hire two providers, Fales said.
“We have the ability to target with more personalized offers that really make you feel we as a brand are listening to you,” Fales said. “We’re not treating everyone the same. Everyone is buying differently and wants to be spoken to differently.”
Customers who use the car wash might get a car wash offer,” Fales said. “We’re not just blasting you with different offers.”
The program generates highly relevant offers communicated the way members prefer to receive them. “The more you tell us, the more those offers could change to fit your behavior. It could be that someone prefers not to be emailed, so we send them push notifications or text them,” Fales said.
Based on member feedback, consumers appreciate it when retailers deliver offers the way the member likes. “Don’t ask us how you want to be communicated with if you’re not going to use it,” is what Gulf heard from various members, Fales said.
The goal, she said, is to gain consumers’ trust by carefully using the information they provide and avoiding sending offers they won’t be interested in.