by John Keller | Nov 5, 2018 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Software
The PriceAdvantage team is excited to announce the general availability of PriceAdvantage version 2018.4 on November 5. With this release, PriceAdvantage added finer granularity of control over store access, made it easier to time market restorations, and increased performance in a number of key areas. At the time of this post we have scheduled five customers to be upgraded, with many more scheduled to upgrade in the coming weeks.
This is our fourth major release this year, and also the second release in two months. The PriceAdvantage team uses Agile software development best practices to rapidly build and deliver iterative releases throughout the year, always staying in close contact with the latest needs of our customers.
Please contact your Account Representative, or anyone on our Support team, to learn more about this new release, to schedule a demonstration, and to arrange for an upgrade. Upgrades typically take less than one hour.
by John Keller | Sep 17, 2018 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software, Industry News
The PriceAdvantage team is excited to announce the general availability of PriceAdvantage version 2018.3 on September 14. With this release, PriceAdvantage adds Retalix to our list of supported POS systems, and brings the total count of our out-of-the-box POS’s to 11. We have also included a long list of usability improvements, all of which directly came from customer feedback. At the time of this post we have scheduled seven customers to be upgraded, with many more scheduled to upgrade in the coming weeks.
This is our third major release this year, and also the third release in four months. The PriceAdvantage team uses Agile software development best practices to rapidly build and deliver iterative releases throughout the year, always staying in close contact with the latest needs of our customers.
Please contact your Account Representative, or anyone on our Support team, to learn more about this new release, to schedule a demonstration, and to arrange for an upgrade. Upgrades typically take less than one hour.
by John Keller | Jun 21, 2018 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software, Industry News
The PriceAdvantage team is excited to announce the general availability of PriceAdvantage version 2018.2 on June 21. Once again, this new release includes enhanced capabilities to business strategies. There are also improvements to the maps user interface, and there is richer information about competitors. All the new features in this release came from customer feedback. At the time of this post we have scheduled seven customers to be upgraded, with many more scheduled to upgrade in July.
One of our customers recently told us, “We really enjoy working with you and your team on product improvements. You are delivering big time for us!”. Feedback like that is what motivates us even more.
This is our second major release this year, and also the second release in two months. The PriceAdvantage team uses Agile software development best practices to rapidly build and deliver iterative releases throughout the year, always staying in close contact with the latest needs of our customers.
Please contact your Account Representative, or anyone on our Support team, to learn more about this new release, to schedule a demonstration, and to arrange for an upgrade. Upgrades typically take an hour or less.
by John Keller | Apr 7, 2017 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software, Industry News
CSP Magazine in their April 2017 issue recognized nine PriceAdvantage customers in the inaugural CSP “Fuels 50” list, with five PriceAdvantage customers in the top 15. The Fuels 50 spotlights the most effective fuel brands, and calls the retailers on the list “the magicians of the fueling industry”.
The Fuels 50 ranks fuel brands with 15 or more stores by market efficiency, which is defined as market share divided by outlet share. Here are the PriceAdvantage customers who made the list, along with their ranking:
Sheetz #4
Royal Farms #7
Maverik #8
Spinx #10
Rutter’s #13
Parker’s #22
Family Express #32
CEFCO #37
High’s Dairy #38
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to offer our customers the retail fuel pricing solution they need to be fueling industry magicians!
by John Keller | Jun 15, 2016 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
According to the latest report from the US Energy Information Administration, US weekly gasoline demand continues its steady growth from 2015. For the week ending June 10, 2016, supplied finished motor gasoline hit 9,762 thousand barrels per day. That number ties the all time high set August 17, 2007. The third all time high was a month ago on May 13, 2016 when gasoline demand reached 9755 thousand barrels per day. These recorded volumes go back to February 1991.
Year to date, these numbers are 4% above 2015.
What does this mean from a fuel price management perspective? Business may be a little easier to come by right now, as long as you watch margins carefully. During this time of revenue gains on the fuel side, now is the time to make investments in retail fuel management software like PriceAdvantage so that when profits turn more lean, you’ll be better prepared to maximize overall store profitability.
by John Keller | Jun 9, 2016 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Fuel Pricing Technology, Fuel Software, Retail Fuel Margins
Convenience Store Decisions published the results of a study from Market Force that identifies the key factors that drive customers to select their favorite fuel retailers. Over 10,000 consumers were surveyed. Approximately 73% were women and 27% were men.
The results were split into two categories: Convenience Stores and Big Box (including grocery stores). When asked where did they last visit for their most recent trip to refuel, 71% visited a c-store, and 28% visited a big-box retailer.
The key determining factors for selecting a fuel retailer were
- Price
- Payment Options
- Fuel Quality
- Ease of Entering and Exiting
“The brands are tightly clustered in nearly every category, which shows just how fiercely competitive this industry is,” said Cheryl Flink, chief strategy officer for Market Force Information. “With drivers having so many options to choose from, gas stations and convenience stores must excel in areas beyond price, such as offering multiple payment options or specialty foods to attract loyal, repeat customers.”
What does this mean from a fuel price management perspective? When determining fuel pricing strategies, the strategy of gaining volumes simply by offering low prices may not be the best way to optimize overall store profits. Take into account the competitive strengths and weaknesses of each location in terms of the consumer determining factors listed above, and see if the market will bear higher margins based on what the store has to offer. Use fuel pricing software like PriceAdvantage to experiment with different strategies. Execute the fuel pricing strategies so you can be sure every store is always priced where you want it to be all the time. And monitor store results with fuel volume and margin analysis, the correlation between forecourt and in-store transactions, and competitor behavior such as which competitor is first to lead and which typically follows.
PriceAdvantage allows you to deliver retail fuel excellence, and develop loyal customers who are delighted to recommend your stores to others.
