by John Keller | Apr 17, 2013 | Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Software
The most effective way to cut delays and interference out of the fuel pricing process is through the application of automated fuel pricing software. A lack of structure within the pricing system will lead to miscommunication and late changes. Automating your strategy with a fuel price management system allows you to adjust fuel prices with greater speed and stay ahead of your competitors. Streamlining the fuel pricing process paves the way for maximizing fuel profits. Retail fuels managers need only realize the potential of modern technology.
Fuel pricing software is now leagues ahead of where it stood even a decade ago. Modern advances have increased speed-to-the-street and enabled one-click price control of POS, fuel pump, and electronic price signs. In the past, managers and headquarters had to continually interact to keep things running. Communication had to be maintained to ensure that price changes were enacted. Now price changes can be made centralized from headquarters so that employees can focus on site responsibilities. This eliminates execution delays and effectively makes regional price changes as easy as a click of a mouse.
Another process simplified by implementation of this technology is competitor analysis. Rather than have agents in the field visit the locations or collect field intelligence through other disparate means, managers can now track the information on every competitor move through one centralized UI. All recent fuel cost history can be viewed and taken into consideration when making changes and managers can instantly adjust store prices in reaction to competitor moves. Modern software can also be set-up to send notifications to headquarters in response to any industry price changes. Technology has freed fuel managers from reacting, and now they can act based on up-to-the-minute data.
Maybe one of the most attractive facets of fuel pricing software is its ability to present users a complete picture of the industry. By analyzing price movements, fuel volume sales, and competitive surveys, fuel analysts can view both real-time and historical price change information allowing for better decision making abilities. Leveraging this technology improves processes and reduces operating expenses. There are no interruptions in the price change channel, as it’s all taken care of via the same tool. Technology provides a method for tracking price change implementation throughout the entire process. These fast pricing reactions, coupled with reductions in delivery delay, show the value of modern fuel pricing solutions.
So stop wasting time calling every location in an effort to coordinate fuel price changes. Instead, utilize specialized fuel pricing software to streamline, automate, and maximize profitability in your retail fuel operations.
by John Keller | Apr 16, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
In anticipation of growth in the emerging liquid natural gas market, TravelCenters of America announced an agreement with Shell where TA will provide LNG truck stations at up to 100 locations along US interstate highways.
These natural gas stations will be specifically for large over the road trucks. Shell will construct at least two natural gas fueling lanes at each location and bear the burden of the cost at each location. Shell will then provide the natural gas at each location. Both Shell and TA will market the natural gas fuel to their customers.
The two companies are hopeful that the first locations may be operational within one year’s time.
From a fuel price management perspective, this is another market indicator that natural gas, specifically LNG for large trucks, may soon be taking away noticeable market share from traditional fuels volumes. According to the US Department of Energy Alternative Fueling Station Indicator, there are approximately 28 public LNG stations in the US currently.
by John Keller | Apr 12, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to the latest OPIS report, retail fuels margins across the US had their largest weekly increase in over a month. The average retail margin today stands at $0.268 per gallon, an increase of $0.093 per gallon over last week. The last time margins were at this level was November 9, 2012.
Fuel margins averaged $0.159 per gallon for the entire Q1 of 2013. It is still early in Q2, but fuel margins are off to a good start with an average so far of $0.222 per gallon. For the past six weeks, retail fuel margins have averaged $0.223 per gallon.
This is only the second time this year when the retail fuel margin weekly increase was over $0.09 per gallon.
by John Keller | Apr 12, 2013 | Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In the NACS State of the Industry Summit, OPIS Chief Oil Analyst Tom Kloza predicted wide and volatile fuel price swings in 2013. Mr. Kloza said smart fuel marketers will be able to take advantage of these cost swings by buying low and selling high.
The PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software solution from Skyline Products can play an important role in aiding with the timing of these buying decisions. The Daily Rack Cost Summary report in PriceAdvantage displays supplier cost provided by OPIS, making it easy for fuel analysts to review different supplier options for a rolling five day period, and compare to what the competition is paying. Not only does this report aid in deciding where to buy from, it also shows the fuel analyst whether he is at a competitive advantage or disadvantage in each of his markets. By consolidating this OPIS information feed into the PriceAdvantage fuel price management solution, fuel analysts can find answers to their critical pricing decisions in one centralized location, and reduce time to conclusion.
The Profit Actual Cost report in PriceAdvantage allows the fuel analyst to quickly see in-ground margins based on past purchases. When taken in conjunction with the replacement cost information presented in the PriceAdvantage fuel pricing screens, the fuel analyst has a complete picture of store performance and margins.
The Margin Analysis views in PriceAdvantage present by market and by store the weighted actual margin, weighted actual cost, and average replacement margin. These views make it easy to slice and dice the information by commodity, market, and date range. Heat maps display relative performance of regions to one another, and stores to each other.
PriceAdvantage provides the complete breadth of information and rich analysis you need to quickly make the most of your fuel buying and fuel pricing opportunities and to optimize the balance between margins and volumes. We can expect the volatility of 2013 to continue for years to come, so savvy fuel analysts will need to decide not if they should embrace the best fuel price management solution, but when.
by John Keller | Apr 11, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News
Kroger announced they will increase their number of electric vehicle charging stations, in partnership with ECOtality, Inc. This expansion project will bring the total number of Kroger EV charging stations to almost 300. Kroger already operates 60 EV charging stations in Oregon and Washington, and 14 EV charging stations in Texas. The announced expansion will bring Kroger EV stations to Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles.
The 225 new charging stations include 200 level 2 (quick charge) stations, and 25 DC Fast Chargers. DC Fast Chargers enable customers to charge an electric vehicle battery up to 80 percent capacity in less than 30 minutes. ECOtality has 144 DC Fast Chargers across the US.
This Kroger partnership is one of ECOtality’s largest in terms of single retail company station networks. Earlier this year ECOtality announced an expanded partnership with Sears, where 17 additional charging stations were added.
ECOtality has over 3300 combined public and private charging stations throughout the US, including over 800 in California, 750 in Oregon, and 670 in Tennessee.
The number of gasoline stations stands at 160,000 and thus still dwarfs the total number of EV charging stations. Nonetheless, fuel analysts would be wise to keep a watchful eye on their markets and anticipate when it may make sense to add electricity to their product portfolio. Spinx store #149 at 1619 Decker Blvd in Columbia SC is an example of a c-store that has added an EV charging station to its location.
by John Keller | Apr 10, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Technology, Industry News
Congratulations to Greg Parker for winning the Convenience Store News Top Tech Executive award. The PriceAdvantage team is proud to have Greg Parker, CEO, and all the staff of Parker Companies as a business partner.
Parker’s has been using PriceAdvantage as their fuel pricing software system since 2011. Soon after implementing PriceAdvantage with the VeriFone POS systems and Skyline electronic price signs at all their stores, Parker’s extended the implementation to GasBuddy OpenStore.
The Parker Companies implementation of PriceAdvantage was listed by Convenience Store News as one of the reasons why Greg Parker won the award. And that makes sense, as this implementation includes all four quadrants of the fuel price management process including:
- collection of cost information from PDI and competitor survey prices from store managers
- rich analytics in PriceAdvantage reports and analysis views
- price changes to the store signs, POS and pumps, and GasBuddy
- confirmation from PriceAdvantage that all price changes have completed
We in the PriceAdvantage division of Skyline Products appreciate the opportunity to work with Greg Parker and the Parker Companies, and we look forward to a long time partnership for years to come.
