This past weekend marked the unofficial start of summer. Barbecues, baseball games, outdoor activities and summer travel are probably on the agenda for most of us, which means a lot of time in the car is in our future.

In fact, an estimated 33 million Americans traveled by car to their destination over the Memorial Day holiday, according to AAA, and many more are expected to hit the road over the course of the summer. With that in mind, is your store ready for the summer travel season?
According to a 2013 Boston Consulting Group study, the No. 1 attribute driving customer satisfaction and retail brand performance is a clean store. The survey goes on to point out that overall store cleanliness is highly valued, but it’s also perceived as rare. Is this perception true of your store? For convenience retailers, prioritizing sanitation and cleanliness methods, such as offering a hand-hygiene program at the gas pump, can be a point of differentiation.
Additionally, recent GOJO-sponsored research showed that one of the locations with the highest levels of illness-causing germs is at the gas pump—on the gas-pump handle and the keypad in particular. As a store owner, offering hand sanitizer at the pump can help your patrons stay healthy as they head to their favorite summer destination.
Hand hygiene, which includes using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of illness-causing germs and the risk of getting sick. This is why GOJO offers its convenience-store customers its Purell at the Pump program. Having an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, such as Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer, at the pump not only demonstrates to your customers that you care about their health and well-being, but it also gives them the opportunity to sanitize their hands before heading into the store to purchase their favorite snacks so they can hit the road.
While you’re planning ahead for summer travelers to come into your store, remember to keep their health in mind and consider implementing a hand-hygiene program right at the gas pump.
This post is sponsored by GOJO Industries, the inventors of the PURELL brand