by John Keller | Nov 10, 2012 | Fuel Pricing Software, PriceAdvantage
In their quarterly results released today, Susser Holdings announced their retail fuel volumes were up year over year, while retail fuel margins were lower.
Average fuel volumes sold per store per month increased 6.6% to approximately 132,000 gallons per store. But retail fuel gross margins declined from $0.277 per gallon from the same period last year to $0.201 per gallon this quarter.
From a fuel price management perspective, these financial results hit home the point that it’s nearly impossible to make gains in both retail fuel volumes and retail fuel margins. Pull the lever to increase volumes, and fuel margins will have to be sacrificed. Change strategies to improve fuel margins, and fuel volumes will suffer.
Only with a fuel price management optimization solution like PriceAdvantage can the fuel manager keep a close watch on both levers to achieve corporate goals.
by John Keller | Sep 25, 2012 | Fuel Pricing Software, PriceAdvantage
As we build each screen for our PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software, we view it through the eyes of the people who will be interacting with that screen, and focus on what they are trying to accomplish using the information presented to them. As we do this, we apply a concise set of words to describe each user interface we build.
In the broadest categories, PriceAdvantage is made up of the Headquarters interface and the Store interface.
The primary user of the Headquarters interface is the fuel pricing manager. The set of words we use for the overall set of Headquarters screens are these:
- centralized information
- rich analysis
- fast pricing
The primary user of the Store software is the store manager. The set of words we use for the overall set of Store screens are these:
- drop-dead simple
- generate trust
The recurring feedback we receive from our customers and prospects is that PriceAdvantage is very easy to understand and easy to use. As we build new versions of PriceAdvantage, we will continue to build more robust capabilities, but we will apply these best practices to make sure we never allow the user interface to grow confusingly complex.
by John Keller | Sep 20, 2012 | Industry News, PriceAdvantage
Both Valero and Susser have decided to go through a spinoff of part of their business, each with the same goal in mind.
Sam Susser, the CEO of Susser Holdings Corp. said in an earnings call last month that the value of the wholesale division has not been fully recognized, and the intention was to spin it off as a separate division.
Valero in their September 2012 investor presentation said their board had authorized management to pursue a separation of their retail business because investors and analysts have ignored the higher potential value of their retail segment, and to unlock value to their shareholders. This was the same earnings announcement when Valero’s retail segment achieved their highest quarter operating income on record. On a side note, Valero is using PriceAdvantage as their fuel price management solution at all of their company stores.
On September 20, Susser took their spun off wholesale division public at $20 per share, trading as SUSP on the New York Stock Exchange, and as of September 24, the stock is holding steady at $23/share. That successful IPO generated $195 million for the company.
That’s an interesting benchmark to use as we watch Valero’s move to increase their shareholder value as well. Reuters sources reported the retail business spinoff could generate $3.5 billion to Valero.
by John Keller | Aug 22, 2012 | PriceAdvantage
Congratulations to Parker’s for being recognized as one of the country’s Fastest Growing Companies according to Inc. Magazine. Earlier this year the Parker’s President and CEO Greg Parker was named “C-Store Innovator of the Year” by The Griffin Report.
Parker’s uses PriceAdvantage at each of their 27 stores to automate and streamline the process of changing fuel prices at their stores.
Greg Parker was quoted in an earlier press release this year as saying “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,” says Greg Parker, President and CEO of The Parker Companies. “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.”
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to partner with Parker’s and to contribute to their continued success.
by John Keller | Aug 16, 2012 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, PriceAdvantage
In the Q3 financial release from The Pantry, the CEO included a statement regarding how the c-store chain plans to improve their retail fuel margins and volumes. From the press release: “The company is implementing a fuel-pricing technology that will be designed to track and project street postings, to be more responsive to market elasticity, Hatchell said, adding that the software is currently “learning” to do its job by building sales histories and collecting data.”
This statement speaks to a critical component of an effective fuel price optimization strategy: rapid responses to fuel price changes in the retail market. Retail fuel prices in 2012 have been exceptionally dynamic and rapid. The Houston market saw a one day $0.20 price increase this year, something usually only seen once a career. It is easy for stores to be left behind when the first movers in a market make their price change. Lagging behind can result in missed opportunities, lost business, and even negative margins.
One way to maintain quick responses to market changes is to view OPIS Radius report content in your Fuel Price Management software. In PriceAdvantage, it is simple to compare the gasoline pricing reported by OPIS to what is reported by the store managers, in a “survey says vs. OPIS says” user interface. This keeps the store managers honest with their survey reporting, and alerts the Fuel Manager when a price change occurred that the store manager may have missed.
A second way to maintain quick responses is to automate the price change process to the street. This is the basis of what PriceAdvantage was built on from day one, replacing a manual phone call and fax process, with a one-button-click price change push to the store sign, POS and pump. Confirmation messages back complete the closed loop to make sure the price change was successful.
The third way to remain nimble in the retail fuel market is to post the latest store prices to all virtual mapping applications. GasBuddy and OPIS are the two content providers to virtually every gas price mapping application in the market. PriceAdvantage customers such as Valero and Rutter’s have already recognized the benefits of posting their latest gas prices online.
As the competition for retail fuel continues to get tougher, there will be winners and losers. A robust fuel price management software will allow the winners to execute an optimized gasoline pricing strategy, and become dominant winners in each retail fuel market.
by John Keller | May 15, 2012 | Industry News, PriceAdvantage
Partnership with Gilbarco critical to the closed loop fuel price management process
Today’s announcement of the partnership between PriceAdvantage and Gilbarco Veeder-Root is critical for those companies looking for a closed loop fuel price management system that includes the Gilbarco Passport POS.
Using PriceAdvantage at the headquarters office, the fuel manager can analyze store performance, review the latest competitor survey information, choose an optimized price for a store or market, and send out the price changes. And here is the part of the process where this partnership is so strategic – without relying on the store manager, the price changes are deployed to the POS and pump, as well as the electronic price sign, and then a confirmation message is sent back to headquarters notifying the fuel manager that the price change is complete, with a time and date stamp. The fuel manager then has a historical reference of what prices are where and at what time – there is no more second guessing or ambiguity surrounding what price is really at the street, and whether or not the store manager did what I told him to do.
PriceAdvantage is not new to the POS system environment; integrations to Radiant and Verifone are already proven in the field at numerous customer sites. PriceAdvantage customers who are customers of Gilbarco Passport, whether 100% or in a mixed POS environment, can now include the Passport POS in their closed loop fuel price management system.
