by Grant Garrison | Jul 12, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software
The key to an effective fuel price management system is total integration between all channels which gives managers the ability to set optimal prices for each region with maximum ease. To enable this premium level of command and control, retail fuels companies need to follow several strategies for productive price management. As a quick reference guide, the fuel price management experts at PriceAdvantage have compiled a list of 4 strategies for fuel price command and control.
1. Mobile Integration
Relying on outdated technology to keep track of price changes is an unsustainable practice. It’s worth making an investment in new technology considering the degree of additional control and flexibility it provides. Mobile technology, such as Smartphones or tablets, allows fuel managers to enact immediate price changes from anywhere. Mobile integration ensures that fuel managers will receive automatic alerts when surveys are overdue, price changes are late, or whenever any channel interruptions occur. By integrating their fuel pricing software with mobile technology, fuel managers can save time and stay informed of competitor price moves.
2. Tracking with Technology
Using fuel pricing software to manage and optimize fuel pricing is straightforward when managers apply professional software. Technology can provide complex, actionable outputs from records on competitor pricing history, c-store price history, historical fuel costs, and fuel volume history and targets. It’s not enough to make sure software is accessible from anywhere. The right fuel pricing tool will also provide automated tracking for the entire delivery cycle. A fuel price management system should track each and every process from collection of surveys to price changes, showing users where opportunity losses are occurring, and increasing speed-to-the-street.
3. Forecasting trends
Forecasting trends in the fuel pricing market shouldn’t be based on hunches, but on precise economic models developed by industry experts. An efficient model should apply top-notch analytics based on historical fuel prices, and make an educated evaluation of arising patterns from this past competitive landscape. Forecast modeling places control in the hands of those who understand the data best.
4. Pricing Optimization
An integration of the three strategies listed above will lead to total fuel pricing optimization. Continual automated monitoring, notifications of service interruptions, technology integration, well-crafted pricing models and daily confirmation alerts are vital for an efficient fuel price management system. However, these tools become less effective if they do not allow the analyst to obtain results based on a selected period of time. Analysis and optimization economic models must provide results based on varying historical references in order to accommodate market changes caused by seasonal demographics, and varying competitor influences. Always apply the latest technological solutions, with total report customization control, to gain the greatest advantage over the competition.
These are four indispensable strategies available to managers for maximizing fuel pricing command and control. By incorporating this type of approach into your fuel operations and continually seeking new upgrades to internal processes, you can be certain that your fuel price management system is keeping you ahead of the competition.
by John Keller | Jul 5, 2013 | Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to OPIS, retail fuel margins across the USA are now at the highest average levels of the year.
For the third consecutive week, retail fuel margins increased, this time up $0.028 per gallon to an average of $0.302 per gallon. The increase this week bumped the year to date average retail fuel margin to $0.180 per gallon.
For the past six weeks, the average retail fuel margin stands at $0.227 per gallon.
Oil prices have been on the rise however, so it stands to reason that wholesale prices may soon inch up, putting pressure on retail fuel margins. From a fuel management perspective, it makes sense to use profits from these margins to invest in fuel software in order to keep a close watch on the changing market conditions, and optimize fuels prices to balance margins and volumes.
by John Keller | Jun 28, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to the latest OPIS report, retail fuel margins across the USA had a strong recovery this week, increasing $0.075 gallon to an average of $0.274 per gallon. Average retail fuel margins across the USA are now the highest of the year.
The year to date average retail fuel margin now stands at $0.177 per gallon, while the Q2 average retail fuel margin is $0.191 per gallon. The six week average jumped $0.025 per gallon to reach $0.197 per gallon. The month of June finished strong, with an average retail fuel margin of $0.210 per gallon.
From a fuel management perspective, these are critical benchmarks to use as a comparison for your own operations. When analyzing options for fuel management software systems, the question to ask is, “how difficult is it to access this information for my own comparisons?”. PriceAdvantage fuel software provides rich analytics to quickly slice and dice margin information for individual stores, markets, and the overall enterprise, out of the box, with no database expertise required.
by John Keller | Jun 27, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Software, Industry News, PriceAdvantage
More and more we’re seeing PriceAdvantage customers adapt GasBuddy OpenStore as their digital marketing solution. First it was Rutter’s, then it was Parker’s, followed by Family Express. CST Brands, formerly Valero, is the fourth PriceAdvantage customer to use both PriceAdvantage as their fuel software system for managing retail fuel prices, and GasBuddy OpenStore for digital marketing.
The synergy between the two solutions is powerful. When the fuel analyst pushes the optimized prices to the street, and the fuel price changes are completed at the POS, pumps and electronic price signs, the confirmation message is returned back to PriceAdvantage with a time and date stamp audit trail showing the exact time of completion.
Once the price changes are complete, PriceAdvantage through its integration automatically publishes the newest gas prices to GasBuddy OpenStore. From there the prices can be distributed to the various GasBuddy sites, making sure the latest and most accurate prices are on the GasBuddy map. This process also helps make sure every store appears on the GasBuddy map and doesn’t drop off due to a lack of price report updates.
PriceAdvantage offers a similar integration with OPIS, where upon completion and confirmation of the fuel price changes, PriceAdvantage publishes the latest price information to OPIS, from which the prices are distributed to the entire OPIS network including MapQuest, Garmin, and AAA.
Gas price signs have already moved from the old fashioned manual suction cup, to the electronic gas price sign, and are now adding the digital virtual sign seen on the Web. With PriceAdvantage and the integrations to GasBuddy OpenStore and OPIS, the price signs are current across every type, maximizing all marketing and branding efforts.
by John Keller | Jun 27, 2013 | Industry News
One of the biggest concerns of potential buyers of the electric vehicle is the inconvenience of refueling. Electric vehicle charging stations on the road today require an hour or so for a “top-off” recharge.
In their effort to move the electric vehicle recharging experience toward something consumers are more used to when refueling at a convenience store, Tesla is rolling out a network of Super Charger stations that can recharge their Super S vehicle 50% in 30 minutes. What’s even more compelling is that the refueling is free indefinitely for Tesla owners.
But Tesla this week has taken the refueling experience even further by announcing the availability of a 90 second battery swap alternative. The concept here is that the consumer can pay approximately $50 to have an assembly line type machine unscrew bolts that hold the current battery in place, remove the battery, drop in a replacement battery, and tighten the bolts to factory specifications. Not only is this less time than a traditional fill-up, but in many parts of the country it costs less than the current price of a fill-up.
There is one significant downside, however. Drivers who take the replacement battery will eventually have to return to the charging station to get their battery back, where they’ll have to pay for the replacement process again. So in that scenario, the battery swap costs twice what it originally seems. The other options are for the driver to pay for their battery to be shipped to their local service center, or to keep the replacement battery which may not have the same efficiency as their original.
So while barriers to entry still exist for the electric vehicle market, there is no doubt that the gap in convenience between traditional fuel fill-ups and electric charging fill-ups is closing.
by John Keller | Jun 21, 2013 | Fuel Price Optimization, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
OPIS reported today that retail fuel margins across the USA had a slight rebound this week. The average retail fuel margin across the country now stands at $0.199 per gallon, up $0.047 from last week. The increase this week returned the year to date margin to the level of two weeks ago, now at $0.171 per gallon.
The average fuel margins for Q2 also inched up slightly to $0.184 per gallon. The six week average fuel margin is now at $0.172 per gallon, up $0.009 per gallon from last week.
With one week remaining in the quarter, it appears that average fuel margins across the USA for Q2 will be $0.025 higher than the average fuel margins for Q1. That is welcome relief for the retail fuel industry, which needs to operate at approximately $0.15 margins to be at the break-even point.
