by John Keller | May 17, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
According to the research company IMS Research, the number of electric vehicle charging stations may reach 4.8 million worldwide by 2015. The global number of EV charging stations now stands at 75,000 according to their research. The US Department of Energy says the number of EV charging stations in the US as of this blog entry is 5,894 (a 16% increase over six months ago).
The IMS research discusses the different possible business models for the EV charging stations:
- Monthly subscriptions that drivers pay to have access to a network of EV charging stations
- Free charges for consumers who purchase other goods or services provided at the station location
- Pay-per-use like the current fuel fill-up model at c-stores
For the third business model, the IMS research found that consumers would require a quick charge. Consumers reported they were willing to pay $15-17 for a 30 minute quick charge.
From a fuel management perspective, longer term strategy thinking for the fuels analyst needs to include whether or not to offer EV charging stations. Retailers outside the c-store space are already offering charging stations and have announced plans to expand. Will you be part of this emerging business? Can you afford not to be?
by John Keller | May 17, 2013 | Fuel Software, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
Today’s OPIS report showed retail fuel margins dropped yet again this week. That extends the losing streak to five weeks. Retail fuel margins across the US now stand at $0.123 per gallon, down $0.021 per gallon from last week. Average retail fuel margins have lost a total of $0.145 per gallon since the streak began.
Retail fuel margins are at February levels for the second week in a row. Average retail margins year to date are now at $0.169 per gallon. Quarter to date average retail margins are at $0.186 per gallon.
These are tough times for the c-store fuel managers, especially when they are managing the balance between volumes and margins without fuel software to manage their fuel price management strategies. Every penny, every hour, matters at this point, and investing in a fuel management system is the only way to make the most of the difficult times.
by Grant Garrison | May 16, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Software, Industry News
Managers who want to know the secret to fuel pricing at its best should be aware that the answer has always been right in front of them. Advancements in corporate technology and software, now more affordable than ever before, have made fuel price tracking and implementation a much simpler process. Most market leaders have already begun implementing fuel price management and media marketing solutions. In order to achieve a new level of efficiency, managers must stay ahead of their competitors through advanced fuel pricing technology.
Be it fuel pumps, mobile apps, GasBuddy integration or electronic price signs, fuel pricing technology is what’s driving the industry into the future. In just a few years the game has changed completely. Development and manufacture of electronic pricing solutions has taken off, expanding the products available to retail fuel locations. The potential boost for the c-tore industry is huge, as these tools greatly increase speed-to-the-street and allow fuel managers to make changes through mobile technology from any location. If they happen to hear of a coming shift in demand while out on the road, they can immediately make the change thanks to advances in technology.
The ability to monitor fuel price tracking and centralization of pricing changes has proven invaluable for retail fuel companies. According to Scott Hartman, CEO of Rutter’s Farm stores, new fuel pricing technology has enabled them to make “critical retail fuel pricing decisions while greatly enhancing customers’ access to our fuel prices. Rutter’s can now initiate real-time price synchronization from headquarters to the street and the web in a matter of minutes.” Obtaining fuel pricing in mere moments is now a reality where it had once been a dream.
Pricing software tools give a much better picture of regional fuel prices history than relying on outdated tracking methods. The technology is now designed to increase the effectiveness of the entire fuel pricing process. An efficient fuel pricing solution is the real key! PriceAdvantage software provides this through automation of all processes from collection of competitive surveys, to sophisticated analysis for best price determination, and rapid speed-to-the-street price change execution. This comprehensive digital solution enables synchronized fuel pricing from any location through a branded mobile application, providing two-way communication between owners and their customers using web technologies.
If you’re still holding back on a technology upgrade, for fear of the initial cost, consider this. Retail fuel stations which apply superior pricing technology continually stay ahead of competitors and the industry. By publishing prices to Gasbuddy through PriceAdvantage, c-store owners gain greater specialization while increasing synchronization. The changes are immediate, cost-effective, and a boon to repeat business.
For more examples of how technology improves fuel pricing, review our blog post on Practical “Closed Loop” Fuel Price Management.
by John Keller | May 10, 2013 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In today’s OPIS report, retail fuel margins showed yet another decrease, extending their loses to four consecutive weeks. Retail fuel margins dropped $0.018 per gallon to an average of $0.144 per gallon.
Average retail fuel margins across the US are now at the lowest levels since February of this year. Quarter to date retail fuel margins are down slightly to $0.203 per gallon.
by John Keller | May 8, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Technology, Industry News
On the second day of THE Tech EVENT put on by NACS, Scott Hartman, CEO and president of Rutter’s Farm Stores, and long-time PriceAdvantage customer (and user of the software), spoke about convenience store technology trends.
“Now we can data mine everything that happens in the store,” he said. “I can change my digital gasoline signs from my iPhone or iPad.”
Rutter’s has been using PriceAdvantage to set retail fuel prices at their stores and electronic Skyline signs since 2011. Mr. Hartman uses GasBuddy OpenStore on his mobile device to send prices to PriceAdvantage, leaving PriceAdvantage to take care of the fuel price management change and confirmation processes to the NCR POS and Skyline signs.
PriceAdvantage can then broadcast the latest prices out to GasBuddy and OPIS so that all social media and websites have the latest store price information, and company stores always appear on the map.
Scott Hartman’s ongoing commitment to and success with c-store technology has made him an inductee into the PCATS Hall of Fame. We at the PriceAdvantage team are honored to be associated with such a c-store technology icon and we look forward to our mutual ongoing success.
by John Keller | May 7, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
In another blog article, I wrote about how savvy fuel pricing analysts are optimizing fuel prices and margins by focusing on the other grades besides Unleaded Regular. In a recent Today in Energy article, the US EIA revealed that average pricing spreads between Premium and Unleaded is at an all-time high of $.30 per gallon, first reached at the end of 2012, and maintained so far in 2013.
That may seem startling to the long-time fuel analyst, but when viewed from a percentage of price standpoint, the spread has remained at relatively the same levels since mid-2009. From a fuel price management standpoint, that means if you’re used to maintaining the standard $.20 spread between Premium and Unleaded Regular from years ago, it may be time to revisit your fuel pricing spread strategies and come up to the averages seen across the country.
