by John Keller | Aug 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
According to the AAA/IHS Global Insight 2012 Labor Day Holiday Travel Forecast, there will be 2.9% more people traveling 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day weekend this year than last year. The Labor Day holiday is defined as Thursday, August 30 to Monday, September 3. This is a new post-recession high number of travelers, according to AAA.
From a fuel price optimization strategy perspective, it is important to make note of this prediction and possibly project more fuel volumes this next holiday weekend compared to previous years.
by John Keller | Jun 29, 2012 | Uncategorized
I write this blog from the PriceAdvantage office in Colorado Springs, on the Friday of the week where our city suffered the worst fire in its history. Over 300 homes were destroyed as well as many businesses. At the time of this writing there are reports of one human life lost, and fewer than 10 people missing. Thankfully, of the 1000 firefighters engaged there are no reports of injury or fatality. Considering the magnitude of the fire, those numbers are remarkable.
Beyond the personal side of this story, there is a business side as well. We have PriceAdvantage customers who operate c-stores in the impacted areas, where their streets were evacuated, and who serve customers living in the evacuated areas. Needless to say, in Colorado Springs this week will go down in history as one like no other.
From a fuel price management perspective, it is critical moving forward to record the specifics of where and when fuel volumes were impacted by this event. That way next year and in the years to follow, when store and market performance is measured, the fuel manager can quickly remember the specifics of this week.
In PriceAdvantage, we make it easy to annotate details of a specific date in time, and we display those notes when viewing volume performance. Hover over the volume chart for a specific date and see the note mentioning the impact of the fire, for example.
As the city of Colorado Springs recovers, and our customers return to business as usual, PriceAdvantage will allow fuel managers to make sense of the business impact of this natural disaster.
by John Keller | Mar 1, 2012 | Uncategorized
High’s of Baltimore has been a loyal PriceAdvantage customer for several years, controlling their fuel price management process from headquarters and successfully providing a closed loop process for their retail fuel pricing business. Ben Jatlow was the original champion of the initiative and has been rewarded for his vision.
Ben will be the Vice President of Retail Operations for the company who just acquired the High’s of Baltimore c-store chain, The Carroll Independent Fuel Company.
The Carroll Independent Fuel Company selected High’s of Baltimore as their entrance into the company-operated retail fuel market. The Carroll Independent Fuel Company has grown to become one of the largest petroleum marketing companies in the US, distributing fuels to retail and commercial customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. In the announcement of the acquisition, Carroll’s announced plans to grow the High’s brand throughout the mid-Atlantic.
We in the PriceAdvantage division of Skyline Products are proud to have High’s of Baltimore in our customer family, and we look forward to being a part of the bright future at High’s.
by John Keller | Aug 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
In the August 3 Convenience Store News Web event “State of C-store Technology: Facts, Trends and the Future”, attendees of the CSN and Gilbarco Veeder-Root event reported that their 2011 technology budgets are expected to be higher than 2010. And technology investments are moving beyond PCI Compliance.
Among the technology projects c-stores are investigating are marketing-oriented investments such as electronic price signs. Other projects are focused on improving operational efficiencies, including dashboards for exception reporting. Upgrading POS systems is yet another technology focus.
PriceAdvantage Fuel Pricing software fits nicely into the categories of what c-stores are focused on in the coming year. PriceAdvantage works closely with Skyline electronic price signs to proactively diagnose possible problems with a sign display, potentially fix those problems via software, and display critical information about parts at the sign to reduce field service costs by making sure the field trucks arrive with the right parts the first time. And PriceAdvantage goes beyond sign operations to address the needs of the Fuel Manager, by accelerating speed to the street, and getting the optimized fuel price to the right store at the right time. The Fuel Price Management dashboard in PriceAdvantage provides the exception reporting needed to course correct fuel pricing strategies at each store, and to maximize volume and profits. If upgrading POS systems is on the project list, PriceAdvantage has included Gilbarco to its list of supported POS systems that already includes VeriFone and Radiant.
Whether your technology plans include moving to a PCI compliant POS system, improving the fuel price displays at the store, or growing fuel volume and profits, PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software belongs on your short list.
