ENOC eyes self service move in early 2010

ENOC said it has been evaluating customer feedback during the past year following a pilot project in August 2008, and the responses have helped the company to "add customer-friendly technical and operational aspects to the new concept".

ENOC has also been looking into several ways to improve the self-service concept and make it more convenient to customers, the company said in a statement. It added that the self-service concept would provide an "option" for customers.

The company recently invested AED50 million to modernise and automate all its service stations, and enhance customer service, operational efficiency and environmental performance. Services at the revamped stations will be managed from a remote facility, saving time and introducing new ‘interactive’ features for customers at the fuel pump. The new systems will be operational in early 2010.

The company added that "new advanced technologies...would help accommodate changing trends in the way fuel is dispensed, and provide more convenience to customers when paying for their fuel using the self-serve".

Last year, ENOC introduced a pilot self service project at 10 service stations in the UAE. At the time, Saeed Abdullah Khoory, group chief executive, said the project had accomplished its target of gauging customer response to self-service and helped the company to evaluate the social, technical and operational aspects of introducing this new concept.

"The pilot showed that acceptance of self-service varies according to specific customer categories. In general, the multinational and cosmopolitan UAE community understands self-service fuel retailing as it is common in many countries abroad," Khoory said in August 2008.