Sheetz is now approaching 200 as the number of their stores fully automated with PriceAdvantage and Radiant Systems POS. With PriceAdvantage, Sheetz is now controlling prices at the sign, POS and pump, freeing up Store Manager time to be more available for customer service, and providing lower costs in sign operations.
Valero Energy Corporation announced in their financial results for 2010 that US retail fuel margins for the year were $.140 per gallon, higher than 2009 by $.014. Retail fuel margins for Q4 were at $.086 per gallon, lower by $.026 per gallon than last year’s Q4.
Across their 990 company-operated sites in the US, Valero sold 154,699 gallons per store per month, less than 2009 by just 3132 gallons per month.
Valero is one of the largest retail operators with approximately 5,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar and Beacon brands. Based in San Antonio, Valero is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 20,000 employees.
Read the entire financial report here.
Royal Farms is now using PriceAdvantage as their exclusive fuel price management solution at all 95 stores. With PriceAdvantage, Royal Farms has fully automated their fuel price management system, giving them complete command and control over the Skyline electronic price sign, POS, and pump for all retail fuel price changes. Fuel price optimization now happens in minutes, as Royal Farms headquarters sends the price of the day each morning via PriceAdvantage, and receives a confirmation date and time stamp when the price change is complete.
CEFCO C-Stores has completed their rollout of PriceAdvantage to 100% of their stores as of September 10, 2010. CEFCO is now using PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software to optimize fuel prices at each of their 124 stores throughout Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. Total time for the rollout with field training was under three months, including configuration to automatically push prices from Headquarters to stores which use the VeriFone POS. Next up for CEFCO is configuring PriceAdvantage to automatically push prices to those stores which use the Gilbarco Passport POS.
Convenience Store News reported Casey’s General Stores fiscal year 2011 first quarter results. Included in these results are interesting benchmarks for fuel price management comparisons:
How do your fuel price management results compare to Casey’s?
On August 19, 2010 I wrote a blog article discussing how critical it is for Fuel Managers to be diligent about adapting their fuel price management strategy in order to quickly react to the constant changes in their fuel markets. One example I gave is how fuel retailers are adapting fuel rewards programs, allowing them to gain market share without having to adjust their fuel price management strategy.
Today Kroger announced the expansion of their fuel and grocery reward program to 48 Shell stations in the Roanoake Valley and Lynchburg areas of Virginia. Customers accumulate points on their Kroger loyalty cards when they purchase groceries, and points can be used for cash discounts at the pump.
Carl York, a spokesman for Kroger’s mid-Atlantic region office in Roanoke said “Fuel is definitely important to us. We’ve learned that it’s a nice fit with the grocery business. We can drive grocery sales by providing fuel centers. This partnership with Shell allows us to have a bigger footprint to make our fuel promotion more impactful”.
This is another example of the volatility in the fuel market. Fuel Price Managers who compete against Kroger need to carefully monitor the impact this reward strategy has on the market. As we all know, consumers love a fuel bargain, and they will travel out of their way to cash in their discounts. Competing c-stores may need to adjust their fuel prices down to minimize any loss of market share.