Picafuel celebrates 5 years of fuel retail innovation!

Picafuel celebrates its 5th anniversary with innovations that help energy retailers prepare for the future by digitizing their entire retail experience and ensuring their position as industry leaders. Picafuel is taking a trip down memory lane and paving the way for the future of fuel retail.

Picafuel was born in 2017 as the brainchild of Zion Ginat, an expert in the oil and gas industry.

During his tenure as the CEO of Delek Europe, a fuel stations retail company with a network of approximately 1,300 stations and 950 convenience stores in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Zion noticed the industry was undergoing a major shift.

After carefully observing the industry’s changes over time, Zion decided to seize the opportunity and set out to establish a new solution for fuel retailers. One that was adapted to the changes the industry was going through. The goal was to help them serve their customers better while adding on additional revenue streams. Until 2017, no such holistic solution existed.

From start-up to star player: Why Picafuel is leading the way

That realization is what prompted Zion to start Picafuel, a platform that helps fuel retailers revolutionize the way drivers consume services, enabling fuel retailers to diversify their business, with the technology they were missing.

The vision was to provide a converged, holistic solution that answers the unique challenges of the B2B fueling industry in one, single platform. This includes basic systems for running the fueling business, like dedicated CRM specialized and tailored to the industry needs fully integrated with financial management, through fraud management and all the way to customer engagement solutions for advanced and personalized marketing.

“Having been in the industry myself, I understand the needs of fuel retailers. I know that it isn’t easy to adapt just any system to fueling. We build our solutions solely for the purpose of making fuel retailers more efficient and better able to serve their customers. We know what they need, both now and in the future, so we can meet their specific needs.” Zion Ginat, Picafuel’s founder & CEO

Down the Road: Gearing up for the future

“As we look to the future, we know that simply acknowledging today’s trends isn’t enough – we’re preparing the groundwork for tomorrow’s fuel retail now!” Zion Ginat, Picafuel’s founder & CEO

In the past few years, three trends in the retail fuel industry stood out, and retailers must prepare for them accordingly if they haven’t already:

Evolving customer expectations

As customers’ behavior changes and customers place value on digitalization and fuel stations with complementary products and services, fuel retailers must grab customers’ attention to make up for slimming profit margins from fuel sales. Fuel retailers that want to acquire new customers, retain them, and maintain a competitive advantage should reinvent the customer journey and offerings.

Rise of EV

The upsurge of EV sales are reshaping the automotive and mobility industries. By 2040 electric vehicles could outsell gasoline and diesel. More electric vehicles on the roads mean a burgeoning demand for charging points. In other words, there has never been a better time to invest in EVs. EMSPs must lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s e-mobility and ensure that their charging infrastructures meet the growing demand. CPOs need to ensure that their chargers network is operational, available and stable, round the clock. Fuel retailers should plan and prepare for changes that will transform their industry.

Digitalization & AI

To facilitate the enhancements to the customer journey and augment operations efficiencies, retailers must avoid wasting their time and resources on multiple legacy platforms that impede their business efforts. Digital technologies are a boon to retailers' operational performance and understanding of customers’ changing needs. AI and big-data analytics help capitalize on customer data in new ways.

Looking to future-proof your retail business?
Contact a Picafuel representative to learn more!