"Petrol stations operate in an environment where elements of both retail and restaurant blend together in one space and for this competitive industry focusing on CX is the best strategy"
There is a reason that petrol stations are called convenience stores. They offer us convenience – a place to fill up on fuel and buy snacks, drinks, and confectionary as we head out into town. Petrol stations operate in an environment where elements of both retail and restaurant blend together in one space and for this competitive industry, where there are several factors in the consumer's mind when choosing between stations, it is essential that petrol station owners implement innovative strategized to increase revenue. As many managers begin to look for ideas to increase sales in petrol, it's only right that they should turn to customer experience.
Petro-convenience stores are already competitive in terms of speed and value, so focusing on improving customer experience (CX) is the best way to stay competitive and increase sales. Like many industries, "fuel retail was severely affected by the global pandemic in the first half of 2020, with fuel volumes in some months more than 50 percent down from the previous year"- McKinsey & Company.
Quick, friendly service and clean facilities are a baseline standard, but many petrol stations often miss these marks and fail to embrace some of the more innovative strategies customers have come to expect. In a recent study, "74% of customers say creating a seamless customer journey across assisted and self-service channels is very important to them" - McKinsey & Company.
Creating a convenience store customer experience that is somewhat innovative comes with its own unique operating challenges. It’s hard to imagine making a convenience store more convenient and while there are differences, what every customer wants, regardless of whether they are just getting gas, buying some snacks, or an entire meal, is an experience that doesn't just meet their needs – it exceeds them.
Check out 5 CX ideas to increase sales in petrol stations:
1. Use tech to create breakthrough customer experiences
The voice of the customer is more important than ever in the competitive petro-convenience industry. Understanding how consumers feel about your brand, your offering, and their experience is paramount to success. Utilizing innovative customer engagement technology, that allows customers to voice their opinions using multiple channels is essential.
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Tools like mobile app integration, SMS text, NFC (Tap), and interactive Voice Response (IVR) are simple to use, convenient for customers, and can easily be deployed at any petrol station owner's convenience. Learn more about our customer engagement technology solutions.
2. Embrace an omnichannel mindset
The days of using a desktop computer to interact with a brand are long gone. With more than 50% of internet traffic now coming from mobile devices, multi-device digital journeys have become the benchmark.
Modern customers use multiple channels to communicate, ask questions, and share feedback. When they reach out to you, how do they feel about the way you respond? Monitoring online, social, chat, messaging, apps, email, and inbound calls can a challenging task. Using a multichannel automated case management solution and customer care team can help you simplify support, reduce costs, and keep customers smiling.
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Market Force offers a turn-key solution to solve omnichannel support once and for all. Find out how to develop an omnichannel approach.
3. Consistently monitor brand standards across multiple locations
Any organization with numerous locations spread out geographically, such as multi-location petrol brands, needs a monitoring system that allows them to evaluate the customer experience across all touchpoints with data drive insights. Inconsistent experiences across locations can cost your brand its reputation and revenue.
With objective, first-person feedback provided in real-time, on-the-go managers can identify opportunities to improve customer experience and resolve issues before they escalate.
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You can't always be there to ensure your brand standards and customer expectations are met. With our mystery shops, you can ensure that every location is providing the type of experience you want your customers to have.
4. Execute to perfection, at every location.
A petro station is also a retail store, which means looking your best in-store and on-shelf should be a priority. The in-store experience isn't just selling products; it's creating a brand experience that is part of consumers' daily lives. Even the most loyal customer can’t buy their favorite product if it’s out of stock (OOS) or in the wrong location. C-stores can improve on this by integrating their CX and merchandising strategy. With an integrated strategy, brands can easily optimize inventory logistics, understand the customer experience, and increase sales.
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Improve on this by leveraging site audits and third-party retail merchandising services. With a third-party merchandising partner, brands can easily optimize inventory logistics, understand the customer experience, and increase sales. Learn more about the role of merchandising in the customer experience.
5. Focus on your employee experience
Through our time in this industry, we have learned what makes these brands successful, the health and wellness of their employee experience. There’s an important connection between happy employees and happy customers. Research shows that employee experience (EX) is the leading driver of customer satisfaction. EX is a continuously evolving trend shaped by rising innovations alongside ever-changing employee needs. With a holistic perspective of employee experience, your organization can pinpoint key drivers of engagement and attract, cultivate, and retain top talent.
Take action:
Investing in the employee experience (EX) is foundational to business success. For an organization to master employee experience they have to understand the needs, expectations, and fears of the employee. Understanding the employee journey, collecting actionable feedback, and providing omnichannel support capabilities can help you build and maintain a culture where the employee experience is valued and your employees want to come to work.
Improving the customer experience (CX) is the best idea to increase sales for petro stations. In fact, a slight increase in customer experience generates an average revenue increase of $823 million over three years for a company with $1 billion in annual revenues, according to the Temkin Group. An investment in CX can also decrease operational expenses and increase customer loyalty.
Petrol stations are a vital part of our daily lives, and the customer experience varies greatly from location to location. If you want your locations to be successful, it is important that they have a holistic approach to CX including monitoring brand standards across multiple locations, consistently executing perfect service at every location, optimizing inventory logistics with merchandising services among other things.
To see how our CX services can help your stores increase sales schedule a demo with our industry experts!
