The fuel and convenience (F+C) industry is on the move as consumers change their mobility concepts and shopping behaviors. This drives new levels of customer-oriented business models for service stations and the need for innovative technology solutions that fuel the consumer experience. On the other side, those solutions need to be highly flexible as there are still several uncertainties in the market.
The ongoing energy transformation and the growing number of electric vehicles, which make charging at the service station optional instead of mandatory, drive the evolution of new mobility concepts and let F+C retailers rethink their business models. We are in the middle of a significant transformation, and there’s still a lot of orientation needed to define the right way of attracting customers in the future. We already see many innovators out there and we see their demand for innovative technology solutions that support them in realizing their ideas but also keep them flexible for future requirements.
New Customer-Centric Approaches Reflect Modern Shopping Journeys in Fuel and Convenience Retail
Fuel retailers know that they have to convince their customers to stay loyal, especially as they feel the pressure of a new competitive situation, for example, when quick-service restaurants (QSRs), supermarkets or convenience shops install electric vehicle (EV) chargers in their parking lots. They know that their customers expect more than just a quick shopping or snacking experience. Longer dwell times of customers require creative thinking on what to offer in addition to the traditional service. Today, there are already great concepts out there combining convenience stores, QSRs and fuel stations, which are blending more and more. Additionally, C-stores are already becoming a supply hub for many time-sensitive and demanding consumers, as they get fresh food, top-up groceries and other everyday items, as well as picking up ordered medicines or parcel deliveries. This requires an effective way to connect and streamline all forecourt, convenience store and QSR processes to make consumer journeys as smooth as possible – ideally with one touchpoint for everything on site, combined with a mobile offering. To make this task easier, F+C retailers should choose flexible, adaptive, and scale-as-you-go cloud software platforms like
Vynamic® FCx, a highly configurable checkout solution dedicated to fuel and convenience.
Benefits of Self-Service Solutions in Fuel Retail
There are several good reasons for self-service solutions in service stations and the attached convenience stores and QSRs. The most important is the desire of many consumers for more flexibility and convenience when shopping for items or ordering meals. If consumers know they can fill up and shop faster at a petrol station A than at a station B, they will tend to go to the station A more often in the future, irrespective of factors such as the current price of fuel. Additionally, self-ordering kiosks are driving revenue. Customers are more relaxed as they have more time to order, while F+C retailers can better visualize their products and make additional offerings, as experienced by Tank & Rast
1 after implementing self-ordering kiosk systems last year. Studies have revealed that self-ordering kiosks can increase the average consumer basket size by up to 30%.
Another reason to count on
self-service solutions is that employees can be assigned to more valuable tasks. Instead of being tied up behind the service counter the whole time, they can take care of numerous other service tasks or look after several consumers at the same time, for example, if they can manage several self-checkout lanes via their individual attendant stations. Consumer service can thus be significantly improved as the role of employees changes more towards consumer manager, away from the traditional, pure "cashier."
Enhancing Consumer Journeys with AI in Fuel Retail
Even when implementing great F+C concepts and connecting all areas for a seamless consumer experience, there still might be a few friction points to tackle during the shopping journey. That’s why we’ll see more and more AI solutions deployed by F+C retailers. Age verification transactions, for example, typically take up to two minutes to clear depending on attendant availability. Today, we can reduce the number of these interventions by 80-90% and enable shoppers to prove their age in less than 10 seconds by using a camera placed on top of the self-service device. It initiates
automated age verification when an age-restricted item is scanned. An algorithm estimates the consumer’s age in real time, without storing any consumer information in the system. Staff members only need to check shoppers who score below the age threshold or those who do not wish to opt in.
Choosing the Right Technology for Fuel and Convenience
A thorough analysis with a view to factors such as size, location, current as well as future service offerings and, of course, consumer structure and frequency should always be the first step. Clearly it is no easy task, but it is achievable with the right set-up – especially when expert support is provided, for example, by DN Storevolution™ Advisory Services from Diebold Nixdorf.
Let’s Fuel the Industry Transformation with Innovative Solutions
F+C retailers know they must evolve their business and are eagerly looking for ways to create new, appealing environments that offer more than just fueling up and buying a snack. The good news is that there are many of them out there already creating seamless, self-service-driven experiences for fueling, charging, shopping, eating and more with solutions that connect all segments, enabling flexible deployments. They are shaping the future of an entire industry and we at Diebold Nixdorf are more than happy to ensure that they are not short of the right tools.
If you’d like to learn more about how Diebold Nixdorf is shaping the future of retail,
click here.
Originally published in
Mobility Plaza
Sources:
1.
https://www.mobilityplaza.org/news/33036
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