Why data will be the key to your success in 2023

During the last 24 months, the fuel and convenience retail industry has had to be much more reactive than in previous years. The primary culprit has been the COVID-19 pandemic, but increased competition, global consolidation, and rising inflation rates have also added to this industry-wide challenge.

The sheer amount of disruption in an already dynamic marketplace means operators must scrutinize their business with more proactive decision making to navigate an uncertain macroeconomic climate. Yet, at the same time, the industry has never been more closely intertwined due to consolidation and globalization, forcing everyone to strike the right balance of caution and investment.

However, it’s clear that 2023 will require an even higher level of connectivity — connecting with your customers, connecting your customers with the products they want, and connecting across your extended supply chain. If we’ve learned anything during the pandemic era, the lesson is that connecting convenience involves using data as a common thread to tie everything together.

Even with recessionary fears looming, 2023 presents a clear opportunity for growth if you understand how and where to make data a core part of your business strategy. In fact, data should be at the forefront of every decision you make in 2023.

Why? Because it helps you understand what matters most — to your customers and to your bottom line. That’s especially true as you attempt to navigate volatility in everything from capital markets and supply chains to workforce challenges.

Make data your priority in 2023

The more data you have about your customers — and consumers in general — the more you can anticipate their behaviors and deliver exactly what they want, when they want it. But how do you best leverage data?

To start, think about investing in the right tools and services to collect, manage, and analyze data. As the barriers around cloud-based marketing solutions disappear, it’s becoming easier (and more affordable) to access and refine data for a variety of purposes. But first you need to identify where you can turn meaningful data into actions that make your business more attractive to today’s consumers — including some of the areas highlighted below.

Personalize your loyalty programs

With the possibility of a global recession, how do you maintain customer loyalty when many shoppers are focusing solely on price? Increasing personalization is a key factor in delivering a richer customer experience while keeping costs down. Innovative approaches to relationship management driven by data can help make your marketing efforts more personal and automated — exactly what your customers expect.

Add sustainable options

In addition to using personalization, you can attract a growing segment of consumers searching for sustainable options in their shopping experience. Integrating an element of sustainability into your loyalty programs will give these consumers a choice in selecting greener options — such as carbon offsetting when they make a fuel purchase. Sustainability can also be a critical investment area for long-term brand differentiation and scalable growth.

Elevate your foodservice operations

With increased competition from quick-service restaurants, it might be time to re-evaluate your foodservice strategy. When used correctly, data can make foodservice highly profitable while drawing more shoppers inside your store to help increase basket spend. Lean into data-driven technology to automate your foodservice operations while reducing overhead and waste. This approach can help you become less reliant on fuel profits — an ongoing industry need.

Optimize fuel pricing

Leveraging industry data to optimize fuel pricing is extremely valuable during periods of unpredictable supply and demand, as well as rapidly fluctuating market dynamics. When consumers increasingly scrutinize their fuel purchases, you must identify the optimal price to ensure a profit. Establishing the right pricing can attract new customers and potentially lead to more in-store traffic, which can improve your profit margins. Having real-time data about your competition also helps you make faster and more effective pricing decisions.

Streamline your logistics

Speaking of fuel supply and demand, it’s important to note the value of optimized fuel logistics. Data plays a major role in helping you make informed decisions on how to get fuel in the right place to meet demand at the right time. For instance, you can use data from your tank sensors and sales data to ensure your pumps never run dry. That lowers your risk of frustrating or losing potential customers. Reducing your fuel transportation costs can also improve your profit margins, making it easier to finance loyalty campaigns related to fuel sales.

Turn your POS into a data hub

With all the industry and consumer data needed to support these strategic activities, you need a reliable way to access and leverage data. Everything starts at the point of sale (POS), especially when it’s integrated tightly with your back- and front-office systems. Your POS becomes the central hub of data that enables the rest of your business to thrive.

Because all purchasing transactions run through the POS, the ability to capture valuable customer data and feed that into your loyalty programs and analytics tools is vital to ensuring a competitive business model. In this way, your POS system becomes:

The common hub of connectivity for your business
The key to integrating across the convenience technology ecosystem
The enabler of data for loyalty, offers, insights, logistics, fuel pricing, and many other strategic functions

It might be easier to think of data as the new oil —in its raw form, data is useful. But with the right level of refinement, it becomes so much more valuable in opening a wide array of new business opportunities. And it all starts with a flexible POS system that can help make your business more resilient, regardless of any economic outlook.

PDI offers proven POS solutions and works with thousands of fuel and convenience retailers around the globe to collect valuable data and turn it into actionable insights that give you a competitive advantage. To learn how PDI can help your business, visit pditechnologies.com/trends or contact us today.