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.
by John Keller | Dec 20, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, PriceAdvantage, Retail Fuel Margins
OPIS reported that the average retail fuel margin across the US improved $0.03 per gallon this week. The national US average retail fuel margin now stands at $0.221 per gallon, the highest margin since November 15. The year to date average retail fuel margin is at $0.191 per gallon, the Q4 average is $0.205 per gallon, and the six week average is $0.186 per gallon.
The average retail fuel margin this week is slightly less than this time last year, when the average was $0.247. Last year the average retail fuel margin dropped $0.115 per gallon the week of December 28. Unless some unforeseen circumstances should occur, it’s unlikely we’ll see a drop like that again this year.
by John Keller | Dec 13, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software
The PriceAdvantage team is excited to announce the successful implementation of Telapoint SmartReplenish with PriceAdvantage, where fuel volumes are pushed from SmartReplenish to PriceAdvantage, allowing fuel analysts to quickly adjust fuel pricing strategies based on near real-time fuel sales.
With access to near real-time fuel inventories, fuel managers are using PriceAdvantage to adjust pricing strategies mid-way through the day based on how many gallons have been sold through a milestone period in the day such as the morning commute. If volume sales for the day are low at the noon hour, the fuel manager may decide to adjust fuel prices lower to be more aggressive during the evening commute and recover the lost volumes. Or if sales are robust and inventories are low, the fuel manager may decide to raise prices in order to make sure there is enough inventory to meet demand until the next fuel delivery. Instead of waiting for fuel volume sales information to be updated the day following the close of business, this integration makes the information available the same day.
This integration comes at the specific request of several mutual customers of PriceAdvantage and SmartReplenish who need to optimize fuel prices more and more rapidly in response to the ever increasing volatility and pace at which things change in fuels price management. This integration is already in production at customer sites and is available immediately for any fuels business with both PriceAdvantage and SmartReplenish.
by John Keller | Dec 6, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software
According to the Wall Street Journal, the private-equity owners of BJ’s Wholesale have inquired about purchasing the chain of Hess c-stores and pairing them with the BJ’s Wholesale clubs. Hess had 1361 stations at the end of last year.
BJ’s Wholesale uses PriceAdvantage as their retail fuel software solution across all their clubs. The BJ’s implementation includes price changes with their POS system and electronic price signs. Says Scott Margherio, Vice President, Manager of Fuel & Automotive Operations of BJ’s Wholesale Club, “We used to spend a good part of the morning collecting surveys, inputting data into a spreadsheet and then submitting prices to the clubs. Now we are able to make price changes in under an hour, instantly receiving a confirmation that it has been completed, correctly.”
BJ’s reports the PriceAdvantage system saves roughly 3-4 hours per day in time management as well as costly pricing errors.
by John Keller | Nov 26, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
According to the San Antonio Alamo City Beat, CST Brands plans to build 30 new stores in 2014. CST Brands opened 11 new stores in the past four months.
Additionally, CST Brands will ring the opening bell on Wall Street on December 3.
CST Brands has been rewarded favorably by financial analysts such as J.P. Morgan for their successful strategy of focusing on in-store margins by opening large c-stores. CST Brands has been quite successful at improving their fuel margins since being spun off from the Valero refinery parent.
CST Brands has been using PriceAdvantage as their exclusive retail fuel software since 2012.
by John Keller | Nov 21, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Technology, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
Today Ford announced that the first 2014 model F-150 that can run on either CNG or LPG is now rolling off the assembly line. With the combined gasoline and CNG, the range of the F-150 will be up to 750 miles, with an estimated mileage rating of 23 mpg highway and 19 mpg city. Ford is now the first manufacturer to offer a CNG / LPG capable half-ton pickup.
Natural gas upfits can range from $6000 to $9500 depending on tank capacity. At the time of this posting, the national average for unleaded fuel is $3.29 while the average for CNG is $2.10. Nearly 20 states in the US offer tax incentives or rebates for CNG converted vehicles. These vehicles are being targeted toward the business and fleet buyer. For example, in Florida, the fleet buyer can take advantage of $25,000 in rebates starting next year.
Ford also announced that by summer of 2014, they will be offering eight commercial vehicles with a natural gas prep option, more than any other full-line manufacturer.
Besides the advantage of a lower cost per gallon, natural gas also burns more cleanly and 85% of natural gas is produced in the US.
Add this all up for the convenience store fuel retailer, and it’s yet another indicator that natural gas is gaining momentum as an alternative fuel option. Is it time to consider adding it to your fuels portfolio?
