by John Keller | Feb 21, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to an excellent article written by Samantha Oller, Senior Editor of CSPNet.com, January retail fuel margins in 2014 varied widely across the different US geographic regions.
The highest margins in January 2014 could be found in the Midwest at 16.4 cents per gallon. In Texas, the retail fuel margins were lowest at 14.2 cents per gallon. In the Southeast, retail fuel margins were right in the middle at 15.2 cents per gallon.
The article cites Raymond James & Associates as well as OPIS as their source. The Raymond James & Associates research is based on their survey of a select group of c-store chains and fuel distributors: Casey’s General Stores, CST Brands Inc., Murphy USA Inc., The Pantry Inc., Susser Holdings Corp., TravelCenters of America, Susser Petroleum and LeHigh Gas Partners.
According to the 2014 NACS Fuels Report, on average, it costs a retailer about 12 to 16 cents to sell a gallon of gasoline. That means January has allowed retailers to start the year off in positive retail margin territory. Unfortunately, it is typically the month of February when we start seeing downward pressures on retail fuel margins as we head into the spring. Hopefully the c-store retail industry can cling to these margins in the coming months.
by John Keller | Feb 20, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In early February I wrote a blog entry about how retail fuel margins in January 2014 were stronger than in January 2013. I based this conclusion using weekly OPIS reports from this year and last. You can find that blog entry here.
On February 20, Samantha Oller, Sr. Editor of CSPNet.com, wrote an article about a similar conclusion. Her article Fuel Margins Hit 7-Year High for January uses a research note by Raymond James & Associates. The research note shows that retail fuel margins in January 2014 averaged 18.5 cents per gallon (CPG) for regular unleaded, a 39% improvement year over year.
The OPIS weekly retail margin report uses a different approach than Raymond James & Associates. The Raymond James & Associates research is based solely on a survey of a select group of c-store chains and fuel distributors: Casey’s General Stores, CST Brands Inc., Murphy USA Inc., The Pantry Inc., Susser Holdings Corp., TravelCenters of America, Susser Petroleum and LeHigh Gas Partners. The other significant difference between the two reports is that OPIS reports the overall average of all fuels on a weekly basis, while Raymond James & Associates focuses only on regular unleaded and for the entire month of January.
Whether you use the Raymond James & Associates research, or the OPIS weekly reports as a baseline, this information is a good cross check comparison for your January margins.
by John Keller | Feb 3, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Software, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to the OPIS US retail fuel margins data, January 2014 was much stronger than January 2013. And for many retailers, that may mean the difference between making money and losing money on fuels.
The average retail fuel margins for January this year were $0.172 per gallon compared to $0.148 per gallon last year, a difference of $.024 per gallon.
That may not seem like a big difference, but according to the 2014 NACS Fuels Report, on average, it costs a retailer about 12 to 16 cents to sell a gallon of gasoline. That means the difference between retail fuel margin averages in January this year and last year is the difference between profit and loss. Such is the life of the retail fuels manager: always dancing on that fuels margin razor’s edge between making money and losing money on the largest product category in the c-store industry.
The retail fuels business truly is a game of pennies, or even fractions of a penny. But in order to stay in business, it’s not just a game, it’s a war game, requiring the best possible toolsets and processes to squeeze every fraction of a cent out of every gallon, every day, at every store.
Don’t just take our word for it – listen to what NACS has to say: “Over the course of a year, retail profits (or even losses) on fuels can vary wildly. In some cases, a few great weeks can make up for an otherwise dreadful year — or vice versa.”
Does your retail fuels software allow you to quickly compare store and market performance to these national benchmarks? Does your retail fuels software allow you to quickly make adjustments to execute the optimized price at every store, at every location, every hour of every day? If it doesn’t, that’s OK, it simply means you’re not using PriceAdvantage. And if you’re not using PriceAdvantage, you’re not equipping yourself with the best technology available on the market. And that means you’re simply operating at a competitive disadvantage in this game of war.
by John Keller | Jan 3, 2014 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Software, Industry News
The Savannah Morning News awarded The Parker Companies “Entrepreneur of the Year”. The award is based on criteria such as growth and success, as well as philanthropy and community involvement.
Greg Parker, CEO of Parker’s Convenience Stores, attributed the company’s success on the idea that they worship data, and that they use technology in a way that other companies don’t.
A significant part of the data and technology that Mr. Parker is referring is the Parker’s PriceAdvantage implementation that includes PDI, VeriFone POS, GasBuddy OpenStore, and Skyline electronic price signs. “I’m looking for every single gallon of gas I can sell,” he said. “There is no way I’m going to let a competitor get up on me. We’re going to be the low price leader.”
Parker’s plans to open their 35th store next month, with 17 more stores in the pipeline.
The PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate Parker’s on their ongoing success and rapidly accumulating list of awards. We look forward to our ongoing close relationship and our mutual success.
by John Keller | Jan 3, 2014 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Strategy
The PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate Flyers Energy LLC on their recent expansion. Flyers Energy acquired the assets of Allied Washoe Petroleum, based in Reno Nevada.
Flyers Energy has been a PriceAdvantage customer since 2012 as part of their retail fuel software solution that includes PDI and VeriFone as components of their closed loop fuel pricing strategies. Flyers Energy selected PriceAdvantage to improve pricing consistency, communication with stores, and automated price change confirmation.
“PriceAdvantage allows us to automate our fuel pricing process while aligning our pricing strategy and improving communications across our network of sites,” said Tom DiMercurio, Director of Accounting at Flyers Energy. “Our goal is to leverage technology to reduce operating expenses and to provide a means of tracking the implementation of price changes through the whole process. PriceAdvantage is allowing us to accomplish both of these objectives.”
by John Keller | Dec 30, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Software
The PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate Rutter’s for opening their 59th location. Rutter’s has been a long-time Skyline Products customer of both PriceAdvantage and Skyline electronic price signs.
Rutter’s started using PriceAdvantage as a pilot project in 2007, and seeing success there, they rolled out PriceAdvantage to all their stores in 2011. The Rutter’s implementation of PriceAdvantage is a complete closed loop fuel pricing software solution, including NCR Radiant POS systems, Skyline electronic gas price signs, and GasBuddy OpenStore.
Thank you Rutter’s for your great partnership, and congratulations to your successful launch of store #59.
