Data is the new oil

Data-driven omnichannel solutions are key to elevating consumer experience and loyalty, unlocking profitable growth during challenging and transformative times for fuel retailers.

When motoring was in its infancy at the beginning of the last century, refuelling a car was not a particularly pleasant or hazard-free experience. It involved pouring gasoline from a can into the vehicle’s fuel tank. Two men changed all that. Charles Gilbert and John Barker, the founders of Gilbarco Veeder-Root, have left a legacy in global mobility that extends far beyond their portmanteau namesake.

More than 100 years ago, Gilbert and Barker were early mobility pioneers, applying their technology to elevate the consumer experience out of all recognition, with news of their success spreading by word of mouth, from one motorist to another.

Today, with increasing competition, the need for fuel retailers to transform their business model is just as great as it was over a century ago. But, if retailers are to prosper – and indeed, in many cases, survive – that change must come swiftly. And in today’s world, rapidly transforming the customer experience, amplifying engagement, cementing loyalty, and ensuring optimum profitability cannot be achieved by word of mouth alone.

Over 150 years of innovating for consumer experience

Having set up business in 1865 to light buildings with gas lamps, by the turn of the century Gilbert and Barker had turned their attention to alternative uses of gasoline, namely the fledgling United States automotive fuel retailing industry. By 1910, Gilbert and Barker had launched the T-1 fuel dispenser. Using push-pull motions to draw gasoline from an underground tank, the T-1 transformed the automotive refuelling experience and was soon followed by the first measuring gas pump, leading to a boom in neighbourhood gas stations. While fuel pump technology steadily evolved, the business model of the gas station, based on offering customers maintenance and repair services as well as fuel, altered little.

That was until the 1960s, a decade which put the ‘convenience’ in fuel and convenience retail. Self-service pumps started to replace traditional garage services. Then came pay-at-pump technology and basic convenience stores. Although ground-breaking at the time, such stores were still a long way from the highly sophisticated food and beverage retail outlets that sit alongside most fuel forecourts today.

Yet despite a century of change, one factor remained constant. The entire business model was based upon oil, and this was still true at the turn of the millennium. But it is no longer the case today.

With challenge comes opportunity

Om Shankar, European Marketing Director for Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a global company that traces its history back more than 155 years to Charles Gilbert and John Barker, explains the challenges fuel retailers face today.

“In 2014, ninety per cent of forecourt revenue came from fuel. But, in 2019, that had fallen to fifty per cent. By 2029 the revenue gained from fuel sales is forecast to drop to just twenty per cent, with retail, food and beverages accounting for forty per cent, adjacent services thirty per cent, and electric charging ten per cent.”

But, as Shankar is quick to acknowledge, with challenge comes opportunity.

“It’s true that fuel and convenience store retailers face a new and demanding road ahead. But it can be an exciting and profitable road for forward-thinking operators with the initiative to diversify and drive returns from both sides of the profit equation.”

Elevating the retail experience to meet consumers’ changing behaviours is key to ensuring optimum profitability. Equally crucial is the ability to attract consumers to the forecourt and into the store, where they can be encouraged to increase their basket size.

Data is the new oil

As EV usage increases, retailers can take nothing for granted, even those with charging facilities. Whereas drivers of ICE vehicles must visit a forecourt to refuel, many EV drivers will have the additional choice of charging their cars at home, at work and on the street.

“Customer loyalty and engagement are therefore paramount. Retailers must adopt an omnichannel approach and engage with their customers through frictionless digital touchpoints before, during and after each visit,” states Shankar. “Oil is no longer the bedrock of the sector…rather, data is the new oil.”

Gilbarco Veeder-Root already harnesses the power of data to enable fuel retailers to optimise profitability. The company’s cloud-based software suite, Insite360, delivers operational efficiencies and achieves cost savings across every aspect of wet stock and asset management, from monitoring pump performance to preventative maintenance across the entire convenient store estate. Meanwhile, Gilbarco Veeder Root’s EVerse system provides a software-based end-to-end solution for hosting and managing electric vehicle charging networks.

Now, Gilbarco Veeder-Root is going further still, introducing new cutting-edge, cloud-based and data-driven technologies that will enable customers to circumnavigate the challenges of rapid digital transformation, meeting changing consumer expectations through the likes of frictionless and mobile payments, and rich multimedia at every touchpoint.

Opportunity in fuel pricing

Shankar believes that one such way to increase the numbers of drivers arriving on - and returning to - the forecourt is dynamic fuel pricing. Using artificial intelligence, there is a world in the not too distant future where customers could be served live fuel prices to their mobile devices, adding further to the seamless consumer experience before, during and after their visit to the forecourt. A driver’s dream that will soon be made a reality thanks to Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s latest cloud-based solution, Insite360 Price.

This industry-disrupting technology will be able to recognise revenue opportunities based on multiple channels of data instantly. Considering factors such as weather, traffic, location, facilities, driver behaviour and competitor pricing, drivers could be notified of price changes through fuel partner apps, alerting them to the best time to fill up, whilst allowing retailers to better manage site throughflow.

Endless data-driven possibilities

Whilst dynamic pricing could be the answer to optimising fuel profitability, Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s new Insite360 Experience technology will transform convenience store retail through a sophisticated yet intuitive-to-use content multimedia system.

Expected to be a game changer for consumer experience, Insite360 Experience will enable retailers to communicate what they want to customers, when they want to. Retailers will be able to display unique, rich, customisable content at multiple touchpoints across the forecourt, enticing customers to venture in-store to increase their basket size.

“From offering consumers a deal on coffee in the morning, presenting a tasty lunch menu at noon to creating a digital coupon for a purchase during lower traffic times, the possibilities for driving increasing levels of consumer engagement are endless. And each message will increase footfall into the store, where consumers can be encouraged to fill a bigger basket,” sums up Shankar.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s latest, cutting-edge, data-driven technologies may be light years ahead of the first fuel dispenser Gilbert and Barker designed more than a century ago. But they serve the same purpose, delivering increased profitability from offering consumers the very possible experience.

For more information on Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s consumer engagement solutions, please visit www.gilbarco.com/eu.

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