by Grant Garrison | May 16, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Software, Industry News
Managers who want to know the secret to fuel pricing at its best should be aware that the answer has always been right in front of them. Advancements in corporate technology and software, now more affordable than ever before, have made fuel price tracking and implementation a much simpler process. Most market leaders have already begun implementing fuel price management and media marketing solutions. In order to achieve a new level of efficiency, managers must stay ahead of their competitors through advanced fuel pricing technology.
Be it fuel pumps, mobile apps, GasBuddy integration or electronic price signs, fuel pricing technology is what’s driving the industry into the future. In just a few years the game has changed completely. Development and manufacture of electronic pricing solutions has taken off, expanding the products available to retail fuel locations. The potential boost for the c-tore industry is huge, as these tools greatly increase speed-to-the-street and allow fuel managers to make changes through mobile technology from any location. If they happen to hear of a coming shift in demand while out on the road, they can immediately make the change thanks to advances in technology.
The ability to monitor fuel price tracking and centralization of pricing changes has proven invaluable for retail fuel companies. According to Scott Hartman, CEO of Rutter’s Farm stores, new fuel pricing technology has enabled them to make “critical retail fuel pricing decisions while greatly enhancing customers’ access to our fuel prices. Rutter’s can now initiate real-time price synchronization from headquarters to the street and the web in a matter of minutes.” Obtaining fuel pricing in mere moments is now a reality where it had once been a dream.
Pricing software tools give a much better picture of regional fuel prices history than relying on outdated tracking methods. The technology is now designed to increase the effectiveness of the entire fuel pricing process. An efficient fuel pricing solution is the real key! PriceAdvantage software provides this through automation of all processes from collection of competitive surveys, to sophisticated analysis for best price determination, and rapid speed-to-the-street price change execution. This comprehensive digital solution enables synchronized fuel pricing from any location through a branded mobile application, providing two-way communication between owners and their customers using web technologies.
If you’re still holding back on a technology upgrade, for fear of the initial cost, consider this. Retail fuel stations which apply superior pricing technology continually stay ahead of competitors and the industry. By publishing prices to Gasbuddy through PriceAdvantage, c-store owners gain greater specialization while increasing synchronization. The changes are immediate, cost-effective, and a boon to repeat business.
For more examples of how technology improves fuel pricing, review our blog post on Practical “Closed Loop” Fuel Price Management.
by John Keller | Apr 30, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
Today Valero announced financial results for Q1 of this year, and it exceeded Wall Street expectations. From a fuel price management perspective, we’ll focus here on the retail division, now known as the company CST Brands.
The US Division of CST Brands had an operating income increase from $11 million in the first quarter of 2012 to $18 million in the first quarter of 2013, mainly due to higher fuel margins. Fuel margins per gallon increased from $.05 per gallon in 2012 to $0.08 per gallon in 2013. The gallons per day per site measurement held steady year over year, up slightly from 5,046 gallons per day per site in 2012 to 5,048 gallons per day per site in 2013.
The US Division of CST Brands has been using PriceAdvantage as their fuel price management system for all their retail stores since the fall of 2012. The average number of company-operated fuel sites for the quarter was 1033.
The Canadian division of CST Brands does not use PriceAdvantage as their fuel price management system. Fuel margins in Canada were the same year over year at $0.26 per gallon, but the total fuel volumes were down from 3.097 million gallons per day in 2012 to 2.987 gallons per day in 2013.
by John Keller | Apr 12, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In the NACS State of the Industry Summit, OPIS Chief Oil Analyst Tom Kloza predicted wide and volatile fuel price swings in 2013. Mr. Kloza said smart fuel marketers will be able to take advantage of these cost swings by buying low and selling high.
The PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software solution from Skyline Products can play an important role in aiding with the timing of these buying decisions. The Daily Rack Cost Summary report in PriceAdvantage displays supplier cost provided by OPIS, making it easy for fuel analysts to review different supplier options for a rolling five day period, and compare to what the competition is paying. Not only does this report aid in deciding where to buy from, it also shows the fuel analyst whether he is at a competitive advantage or disadvantage in each of his markets. By consolidating this OPIS information feed into the PriceAdvantage fuel price management solution, fuel analysts can find answers to their critical pricing decisions in one centralized location, and reduce time to conclusion.
The Profit Actual Cost report in PriceAdvantage allows the fuel analyst to quickly see in-ground margins based on past purchases. When taken in conjunction with the replacement cost information presented in the PriceAdvantage fuel pricing screens, the fuel analyst has a complete picture of store performance and margins.
The Margin Analysis views in PriceAdvantage present by market and by store the weighted actual margin, weighted actual cost, and average replacement margin. These views make it easy to slice and dice the information by commodity, market, and date range. Heat maps display relative performance of regions to one another, and stores to each other.
PriceAdvantage provides the complete breadth of information and rich analysis you need to quickly make the most of your fuel buying and fuel pricing opportunities and to optimize the balance between margins and volumes. We can expect the volatility of 2013 to continue for years to come, so savvy fuel analysts will need to decide not if they should embrace the best fuel price management solution, but when.
by John Keller | Apr 10, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Technology, Industry News
Congratulations to Greg Parker for winning the Convenience Store News Top Tech Executive award. The PriceAdvantage team is proud to have Greg Parker, CEO, and all the staff of Parker Companies as a business partner.
Parker’s has been using PriceAdvantage as their fuel pricing software system since 2011. Soon after implementing PriceAdvantage with the VeriFone POS systems and Skyline electronic price signs at all their stores, Parker’s extended the implementation to GasBuddy OpenStore.
The Parker Companies implementation of PriceAdvantage was listed by Convenience Store News as one of the reasons why Greg Parker won the award. And that makes sense, as this implementation includes all four quadrants of the fuel price management process including:
- collection of cost information from PDI and competitor survey prices from store managers
- rich analytics in PriceAdvantage reports and analysis views
- price changes to the store signs, POS and pumps, and GasBuddy
- confirmation from PriceAdvantage that all price changes have completed
We in the PriceAdvantage division of Skyline Products appreciate the opportunity to work with Greg Parker and the Parker Companies, and we look forward to a long time partnership for years to come.
by John Keller | Apr 5, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
Convenience Store News released their list of the “Top 20 Growth Chains” and three PriceAdvantage customers made the list.
Fikes Wholesale, the parent company of CEFCO Convenience Stores, made the list for the second straight time. They improved on their 10th place ranking in 2012 to a fifth place ranking in 2013. CEFCO added 61 new stores last year, a 31% increase year over year, bringing their total count to 255 stores as of December 2012. CEFCO has been using PriceAdvantage as their complete fuel price management solution for over three years.
Valero Corner Stores has also made the list for two straight years, ranking eighth in both 2012 and in 2013. In 2013, Valero Corner Stores added 34 stores, bringing their total company owned store count in the US to 1030 as of December 2012. Valero rolled out PriceAdvantage to all their stores in 2012.
Sheetz is another repeat c-store chain on the list with a 2013 ranking of 12th, an improvement from their ranking of 17th in 2012. Sheetz added 23 stores last year, bringing their total store count to 434 as of December 2012. Sheetz has been using PriceAdvantage for their fuel pricing since 2009.
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to have such strong partnerships with CEFCO, Valero, and Sheetz, and we are proud to share in their success.
by John Keller | Apr 5, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
The wait is over, as the remaining hurdles for spinning off the retail division of Valero have been cleared, and the common stock for the Corner Store company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CST.
The IRS has issued a private letter to Valero acknowledging that the distribution of CST Brands’ common stock will be treated as a tax-free distribution to Valero shareholders. That was one of the remaining hurdles. The last hurdle was for the Valero Energy Board of Directors to approve the spin-off, and that happened on April 4.
Valero share holders will receive one share of the new CST stock for every nine shares of Valero stock.
According to Convenience Store News, Valero was ranked eighth in the Top 20 Growth Chains of c-stores in 2012, when they added 34 stores across the US. Total store count is now 1030.
The Corner Stores chain uses PriceAdvantage for their Fuel Price Management needs across all their US stores.