More Phillips 66 fuel stations will offer personalized cash-back promotions through tech firm Upside’s location-based app this year, giving them a leg up on the competition, Upside said Monday.
Upside said it boosts the effectiveness of promotions delivered from its mobile app by limiting market saturation to 30% of stations in a given area.
The Washington, D.C.-based retail-tech company draws exclusivity zones around stations that prevent competing fuel stations from joining Upside, a spokesperson said. When customers open the app, they see the participating station, but not others in the area. This approach gives participating retailers a better shot at drawing traffic to their sites, but it also blocks consumers from seeing all the fuel stations in an area. Consumers using the free app to find a nearby fuel station pay full price at the pump but earn cash back in their Upside accounts.
To increase sales and convert consumers to its loyalty programs, Phillips 66 is using Upside’s platform and database of 30 million consumers, the company said.
“We are always looking for new ways to provide options to our consumers,” said Ryan Ebright, manager of branded sales at Phillips 66. “Upside’s approach is focused on driving incremental transactions to our customers’ stations. We look forward to continuing to offer Upside for our branded retailers who value the platform.”
The two companies hope a new push this year will build on last year’s success, when participating Phillips 66 branded sites achieved a return on investment of about 82% on average, or about $1.82 for every $1 they provided to Upside, the tech company said. Upside said its business model involves profit sharing with participating retailers. Neither Upside nor Phillips 66 disclosed details on the profit-sharing split.
The platform is so popular with retailers in some areas, Upside said it uses a waitlist system to add partners in more than 40% of its markets, which are at capacity. It works with convenience-store chains such as Casey’sand many branded fuel stations, including Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 branded fuel stations. About 7,200 branded outlets in the United States carry Phillips 66-branded fuels. Upside’s platform generated about 4% of all gallons sold at 1,500 participating gas stations in 2022, the retail tech company said.
By bringing new customers to branded fuel stations, Upside gives retailers more opportunities to convert consumers to their own loyalty programs. Consumers can continue to use Upside along with a branded app, and those who do visit the branded fuel stations 187% more than usual, Upside said.
Upside said its technology also works with existing branded apps. The Upside platform works with other mobile apps, including GasBuddy, Uber Driver App, Lyft Driver App, Payfare’s Dasher Direct App, Checkout 51, AtoB Drivers App, Microsoft Start and Bing app, the tech company said. Its own strategy is to target offers specifically to consumers when they want them to encourage them to make a detour to a specific Phillips 66 location.
Venture-capital-backed Upside said the Phillips relationship is designed to help Phillips 66 stations increase the “capacity utilization” of their pumps by luring customers to its locations who otherwise might have purchased gas elsewhere. Capacity utilization represents the potential use per pump hour if the pump was providing gasoline to customers at all available hours.
“It’s clear that Phillips 66 is deeply committed to creating the best possible experience for its station owners and customers,” said Alex Kinnier, Upside’s co-founder and CEO. “We’re thrilled to continue supporting Phillips 66, its stations and customers in a way that’s measurable and proven.”
Phillips 66 is a diversified energy company that manufactures, transports and markets petroleum-based products. The global company’s portfolio includes midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing and specialties businesses. In the United States, Phillips 66 markets gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel through approximately 7,550 independently owned retail outlets in 48 states. It installed FreeWire ultrafast electric-vehicle chargers near its Houston headquarters in October 2022.