by John Keller | Nov 4, 2013 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
OPIS reported a $0.055 jump in retail fuel margins across the US this week. Retail fuels margins across the US now stand at an average of $0.249 per gallon. That increase brought the retail fuels margin year to date average to $0.190 per gallon and the Q4 average to $0.223 per gallon. The six week average is holding steady at $0.233 per gallon.
Average retail fuel margins are nearly back to levels last seen at the beginning of October.
This same week in 2012, retail fuel margins were at an astounding $0.368 per gallon. But that didn’t last. Over the course of November 2012, average retail fuel margin levels dropped four straight weeks from $0.368 to $0.167 per gallon.
Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself and retail fuel margins can hold steady at current levels.
by John Keller | Oct 31, 2013 | Industry News
A recent Wall Street Journal article describes how another set of truck fleets are accelerating a shift to natural gas vehicles. The article specifically lists Lowe’s, Proctor & Gamble, United Parcel Service, and FedEx. New natural gas engines by Cummins Westport and Volvo AB are helping spur this shift.
Up until now, higher initial cost of vehicles, lack of natural gas vehicle suppliers, and the lack of a natural gas fuel station infrastructure has hindered the adoption of natural gas vehicles. But companies like ENN Group have announced plans to build a network of natural gas stations targeting long haul trucking companies. ENN Group is one of China’s largest private companies, and has already built natural gas stations in China. In addition, Clean Energy Fuels, founded by T. Boone Pickens, has a network of 400 natural gas fueling stations and is expanding across the US.
From a fuel pricing standpoint, this is yet another indicator that natural gas is on the horizon as a viable fuels product. It’s critical to monitor the progress of natural gas in each of your markets and decide when it makes sense to add natural gas to your product portfolio.
by John Keller | Oct 30, 2013 | Industry News
The US states of Washington, California, Oregon, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia are now part of a climate pact that is intended to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.
What is the impact on retail fuel pricing? Part of the pact includes encouraging the use of electric vehicles in that geographical area. And that means two things: continued trending toward lower fuel volumes sold in those markets, and opportunities for c-stores to add electric charging to their product line.
Forward thinking c-stores like PriceAdvantage customer Spinx have been early adapters adding electric vehicle charging stations to their product portfolio back in 2010. The Spinx Company is focused on making life easier for their customers, and electric charging stations are part of that vision.
Retail fuel marketers in this area can either wring their hands as they see their fuel market continue to shrink, or they can embrace the change and offer electric charging stations to gain some of these new customers.
by John Keller | Oct 30, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions
The PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate Parker’s on the grand opening of their 32nd store.
According to Convenience Store News, Parker’s celebrated the official grand opening of their new state-of-the-art location in Statesboro, Georgia. The 3,200-square-foot retail store is the third Parker’s location in Bulloch County.
Parker’s features its 1-Cent Wednesday Fueling the Community program at the Statesboro location. On the first Wednesday of every month, Parker’s sets aside one cent of every gallon of gas purchased to donate back to local schools.
Parker’s has been using PriceAdvantage for retail fuel pricing across all their stores since November 2011. Parker’s has added seven stores since then. The Parker’s PriceAdvantage implementation incorporates their Skyline electronic price signs, as well as their VeriFone POS system, PDI back office system, and GasBuddy OpenStore.
by John Keller | Oct 28, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Technology
Greg Parker can now add “Entrepreneur of the Year” to his growing list of awards and industry recognitions. The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce has just named Mr. Parker the 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year. The Griffin Report named Greg Parker C-store Innovator of the Year earlier this year. Convenience Store News named him the 2013 Tech Executive of the year in April. In August this year Parker’s was named one of the fastest growing companies by Inc. Magazine. Greg is the President and CEO of The Parker Companies, and a loyal PriceAdvantage partner and customer.
Parker’s selected PriceAdvantage as their enterprise fuel software in November 2011. Since then, Parker’s has successfully been using PriceAdvantage in conjunction with PDI, VeriFone, and GasBuddy OpenStore to manage their entire retail fuel pricing lifecycle. “We are always looking for innovative solutions to increase our efficiencies in the store, allowing our store employees to focus on customers and enhancing their shopping experience,” Greg Parker said. “PriceAdvantage Enterprise does exactly that by giving us control over fuel pricing from headquarters, or from the field, streamlining our overall fuel pricing process, helping to maximize profits and grow our business. Parker’s stores strive to be recognized for quality products at competitive prices and now we can communicate our fuel prices faster and easier in a matter of minutes through PriceAdvantage and OpenStore, both at the store and online,” Mr. Parker said.
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to work closely with Greg Parker and The Parker Companies as each of us plays a key role in our mutual success.
by John Keller | Oct 25, 2013 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to the latest OPIS report, the average US retail fuel margin ticked up $0.011 per gallon to $0.194 per gallon. That reverses a three week trend of consecutive declines.
The year to date average remains at $0.189 per gallon, but the quarter to date average dipped to $0.217 per gallon. The six week average is $0.232 per gallon.
The average margins this week are a solid $0.12 per gallon lower than this week last year, when average retail fuel margins stood at $0.357 per gallon.
There are only nine weeks remaining in the year. Average retail fuel margins for calendar year 2013 are likely to stand at current levels given the short time left. In 2012, the retail fuel margin for Q4 ended at $0.230 per gallon. But Q4 this year is off to a much slower start than last year, so unless we see a dramatic turnaround in the next few weeks, we’re likely to see a lower average margin for the quarter than last year.
