With numerous variables, there is no simple answer to recharging speed.
If you aren’t harnessing and optimizing data, you’re leaving money on the table.
This year’s top fuels innovators are Yesway and Weigel’s.
Leaders from Yesway and Weigel’s discussed how fuel integrates with other offers for site success.
We held our third-annual Fuel Innovator of the Year awards presentation on October 9 at the NACS Show in Las Vegas and as with the previous events, it was an outstanding success. The turnout was standing-room only with 167 attendees—a great result for 8:00 a.m. in Las Vegas. But it wasn’t the turnout that made the session excellent. The award was developed not just to celebrate convenience retail leaders but to allow those leaders to share insights and best practices with their peers.
Accepting the award were Doug Yawberry, Weigel’s president, and Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer for Yesway. An active discussion followed on how these companies integrate the fueling offer with other operations to drive customer engagement. Both individuals were extremely forthcoming and generous with their participation. Much of that discussion is covered in this issue.
This session reflects what I have observed over the years at the NACS Show and other industry meetings— a thirst for knowledge. From the senior leadership to the operational staff and category managers, people go out of their way to advance their knowledge. And they should.
This is a dynamic industry. Regulation and legislation are a constant fact of life. There are wins and losses, and when a loss occurs smart people figure out how to best make lemonade out of the lemons. That knowledge is then passed along and the industry moves on to the inevitable next challenge.
On the customer front, new generations have new ways they prefer to do business (most often now these preferences seem attached to a mobile device). The convenience channel is not excluded from this shift, and aggressive operators figure out how to leverage this change and turn it into an opportunity.
On the fueling and energy front, with the push for zero carbon there are more uncertainties today than certainties. There are opportunities and challenges, and as is often the case, these shift regionally and even locally. Once again, the industry comes together, starts digging through the early explorations and builds data to try and make sense of the shortterm and long-term dynamics. These insights are, again, generously shared.
Be sure to take advantage of industry education. There might be a cost in registering for the event, perhaps even the occasional fee for certain sessions at some events. But you should appreciate the bang for the buck you get in return. See you next year at our award session when the 2025 NACS Show moves to Chicago.
Keith Reid is the editor-in-chief of Fuels Market News. He can be reached at kreid@fmnweb.com.
Keith Reid Editor-in-Chief (847) 630-4760; kreid@fmnweb.com
Ben Nussbaum Editorial Director (703) 518-4248; bnussbaum@convenience.org
Leah Ash Editor/Writer (703) 518-4281; lash@convenience.org
CONTRIBUTORS John Eichberger Scott Guillet
DESIGN MX www.themxgroup.com
Ted Asprooth (847) 222-3006; tasprooth@convenience.org
Stephanie Sikorski Publisher (703) 518-4231; ssikorski@convenience.org
Nancy Pappas Marketing Director (703) 518-4290; npappas@convenience.org
Logan Dion Digital Ad and Media Trafficker (703) 864-3600; production@convenience.org
RETAILER/MARKETER MEMBERS
Mark Fitz, president, Star Oilco; Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer, Yesway; Brian Renaud, director of retail fuel pricing and analytics, Sheetz; Scott Minton, director of business development, OnCue Marketing
VENDOR/SUPPLIER MEMBERS
Regina Balistreri, director of marketing, ADD Systems; Joe O’Brien, vice president of marketing, Source North America Corporation; Kaylie Scoles, marketing director, RDM Industrial Electronics Inc.; Ed Kammerer, director of marketing and global product strategy, OPW Retail Fueling Fuels Market News Magazine is published quarterly by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fuels Market News Magazine, 1600 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314-2792 USA.
Contents © 2024 by the National Association of Convenience Stores. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, VA, and additional mailing offices. 1600 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314-2792
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With numerous variables, there is no simple answer to recharging speed.
BY JOHN EICHBERGER
Akey question asked when evaluating the growth potential for battery electric vehicles (BEV) is “How fast can you charge a BEV?”
Range on a full charge may be less important if drivers know they can recharge with meaningful range in a short amount of time. Most knowledgeable market observers expect recharge times to improve and eventually get to a point where drivers can get a meaningful range in less than 10 minutes—in some cases, that is possible now. But there is so much more involved than simply deploying higher capacity chargers: The vehicles themselves must be properly equipped and in an appropriate condition when charging.
In this article, we look at data relative to the state of fast charging in the United States. Some of this may surprise you.
To understand charging time capabilities, we must understand the role of the vehicle—the vehicle determines how much power it can absorb at any given time, therefore limiting its highest charging rates.
First, we need to understand the maximum power for which a vehicle is engineered to receive electricity. According to an article in Autoblog. com, which ranked the top 30 fastest charging BEVs in the United States in 2024, there are only eight models engineered to accept a peak charge of 300 kW or higher based on a range of variables.
Vehicles were ranked by their peak charging capability, listed in kilowatts (kW). As the number of fast-charging EVs is increasing rapidly, Autoblog.com used 200 kW as the cutoff for this list.
The article noted that there are a few variables that affect the practical realities of fast charging that can specifically slow things down. For example:
• EVs don’t maintain peak charging rate over the course of the charging session. The rate will dip significantly when a battery gets to 80%—then plummet to a trickle once approaching 100%.
• EVs also have different size batteries and a bigger battery will take longer to top off.
• A lighter, slower vehicle can go more miles on the same amount of electricity than a heavy, fast vehicle like the GMC Hummer EV, so while two vehicles could charge at the same rate, the actual miles being given back to the battery will be different based on that car’s efficiency.
• The age and the temperature of the battery can affect charging speeds. With that explanation in mind, Fig. 1 is a graph that shows the peak charging capacity of the fastest 30 BEVs per this
article along with the total number of each vehicle sold during the first six months of 2024 in the United States as reported by Wards Intelligence. The chart shows that of the eight models with a peak charge capacity of at least 300 kW, only five recorded any U.S. sales during the first half of the year. They combined for 13,322 units sold, or 2.48% of the 536,382 BEVs sold during that time frame. There are another nine models with a peak charge capacity of at least 250 kW, of which six recorded sales in the amount of 30,977, or 5.78% of the BEV market.
Businesses considering installing BEV chargers often wonder how much power their chargers should be equipped to dispense. Some advocate for installing the fastest chargers possible to be prepared for the expansion of vehicles that can benefit from that capability. But the more power a charging station offers, the higher the cost of installation. These costs are
contingent upon a variety of factors but also apply to only one charger—businesses will want to install more than one unit, so the costs will be multiples of those estimated.
Given that only a small percentage of currently sold BEVs are capable of charging on greater than 200 kW, businesses need to think about the demand they may expect to determine if the additional investment is necessary. Let’s look at actual use data.
TEI operates the Charging Analytics Program (CAP), which analyzes monthly data derived from more than two million charging events each month. From that data, we can extract the following insights:
Most chargers are 100-299 kW. Of approximately 10,000 chargers in the data set, around 40% have a kW rating between 100-299. About 25% are rated higher than 300 kW and about 30% are between 50-99 kW.
Most charging sessions are 50-99 kW chargers. Chargers ranked 50-99 kW generated approximately
Given that only a small percentage of currently sold BEVs are capable of charging on greater than 200 kW, businesses need to think about the demand they may expect to determine if the additional investment is necessary.
43% of all sessions included in our data. Chargers 100-299 kW represented 34% of sessions and those 300 kW and higher represented 23% of sessions.
Chargers 300 kW and higher have the highest use percentage. Charger use in our data is expressed as a percentage and relates to the amount of time a charger is being used to charge a vehicle relative to the amount of time it is operational each day. Under this definition, 300 kW and higher chargers recorded the highest average usage at 23%. Chargers 100299 kW were used about 18% of the time and those 50-99 kW were used about 11% of the time.
kW, typically charges at a maximum rate of 50 kW because he has not adjusted his vehicle settings to enable fast charging. An EV driver who is not aware of this factor might become frustrated with the slower than expected charge time.
John Eichberger is the executive director of the Transportation Energy Institute.
Faster chargers recorded the longest charger sessions. Charger session duration is related to the amount of time a vehicle is connected and receiving power from the charger. The general assumption is that higher powered chargers would require less time to recharge a vehicle, however, effective charge rate is mostly dependent upon the vehicle. It is not as surprising to note that 300 kW and higher chargers were used the most, but we were somewhat surprised that they also recorded the longest charging session duration. This could be attributed to a variety of factors. Our data shows that drivers using 300 kW and higher chargers spent more than 34 minutes connected to the charger, whereas those using lower powered chargers spent a couple of minutes less charging their vehicles.
There are a few possible reasons for this, but one that immediately comes to mind is that the vehicle cannot accept, or is not set up to accept, the maximum charge available from these high-powered chargers. For example, a person affiliated with TEI reported that his BEV, which is capable of charging on more than 250
Another potential reason for these longer charging sessions is that most of these chargers are located along highway corridors, which have a different use case than those located within communities. Drivers are traveling longer distances and looking to recharge their vehicle from an overall lower state of charge. In addition, many of the vehicles traveling long distances may be equipped with larger batteries, which take longer to charge. Our data does not contain this level of granularity to enable us to determine the causal factors, but these are some that were suggested by the TEI Electric Vehicle Council as possible contributors.
There are a variety of other ways we can analyze the charging market, and the CAP is providing us with incredible insights. Understanding which chargers are available and how drivers use them is essential to reaching sound business decisions relative to equipment installation and satisfying consumer demand.
Do we build for today’s demand, or do we invest further and build out of future demand?
According to a survey conducted for TEI earlier this year, we learned that on average drivers are willing to wait up to 34 minutes to recharge their vehicle. Comparing consumer insights with charger usage data helps us determine if we are meeting customer expectations with our existing infrastructure. Based upon the data presented in this article, the speed of today’s infrastructure is meeting the average tolerance of drivers, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
Optimize
If you aren’t harnessing and optimizing data, you’re leaving money on the table.
BY SCOTT GUILLET
In today’s tech-centric environment, data collection and analysis are table stakes for successful convenience and fuel retailers. Consider the goldmine of information c-stores have available through the proliferation of new software and data collection points, such as smart devices and endpoint sensors and applications. While this wealth of sources does increase complexity, it also provides more opportunities for c-stores to use data to drive traffic and boost their bottom lines. For instance, c-stores can use predictive analytics across various use cases and build better, more personalized loyalty programs.
Additionally, c-stores today have to make decisions about what data is processed in the cloud and what data is being processed at the edge, as well as if they have the right technology platform.
Let’s explore how managing data effectively can transform a c-store.
Predictive analytics uses data, statistical algorithms and machine learning to forecast and recommend what’s ahead. This technology can help c-stores plan for future customer needs, drive operational efficiency and improve the
overall experience. C-stores are using predictive analytics in many interesting ways, including:
• Inventory and supply chain management. Processing data in real-time helps c-stores manage stock control efficiently, ease cash flow concerns, maximize product positioning and plan for seasonal demand trends.
• Point-of-sale (POS)/self-checkout (SCO) data analytics. Having a bird’s-eye view of fuel consumption patterns or consumer behavior at the POS or SCO enables managers to make swift, data-driven decisions that have a tangible effect on the bottom line.
• Fuel performance analytics. This type of data helps c-store managers optimize fuel transportation routes, minimize fuel theft and losses and improve maintenance schedules for fuel dispensing equipment.
• Space optimization. Dynamic, data-driven space optimization capabilities are a critical component in the convenience fuel retail technology stack. The technology stack must focus on delivering the right range in the right space, along with managing the change required to address shopper needs more fluidly.
• Staffing. Analyzing transactional data helps identify peak hours, plan staff scheduling and reduce customer wait times.
• Store and online traffic flow. By integrating traffic flow data into e-commerce platforms, c-stores can better meet customer needs. Peopletracking technology helps retailers find ways of analyzing in-store or online food and beverage order behavior and assess the impact of merchandising efforts. This includes information from apps like Google Maps, Waze, governmental transportation organizations and even mobile carriers.
• Targeted marketing. Data analysis can be used to craft future marketing campaign strategies. After all, the more c-stores know about their customers, the more targeted their messaging and the more focused their ad spend.
Globally, convenience fuel retailers have a declining fuel market as vehicles become more efficient, EV adoption grows and even as smoking cigarettes declines Therefore, the pressure to win customer loyalty is even more important.
For instance, the Starbucks Rewards program has become a hallmark of customer loyalty. But tread carefully: We have seen customers analyze loyalty ROI, only to find that many already loyal customers maintain their purchasing habits, buying the same products in the same quantities. As a result, the business’s margins are reduced. C-stores must use their loyalty programs to influence a buying decision before a customer reaches the counter. The shopping experience in a c-store is typically short, of course, so once a customer is ready to pay, you’ve lost them.
Beyond fuel loyalty cards, collecting and analyzing data from consumer purchases can help c-stores offer more personalized loyalty programs.
Personalizing experience in a noninvasive way across the entire customer journey—online and offline—is the way forward. For instance, when a loyalty member arrives, c-stores could send a notification to their mobile phone or at the pump advertising their favorite snack or drink.
By harnessing the growing penetration of mobile apps, c-stores can pave the way for a new generation of offerings that use geolocation and proximity identification to deliver the right communication to the right person at the right time. However, every app wants a customer’s data. The challenge is to get customers to sign up for your loyalty program and then incentivize them to provide more information about themselves.
Research shows consumers are more likely to stick with a brand with a robust loyalty program. If the rewards a retailer offers provide value, they’ll gain more referrals, greater customer satisfaction and repeat business.
The global loyalty management market size was valued at $11.71 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $41.21 billion by 2032. Further, a Deloitte report found the two most important loyalty program attributes are simplicity, including the ability to earn and redeem rewards, and the financial value it provides.
Successfully using data requires the right mix of cloud and edge technology. It’s no secret that more and more data is being processed at the edge in stores. C-stores need data available in real time, and edge technology fulfills that need. Applications such as POS, SCO and analytics are popular use cases for edge technology, particularly with the industry’s emphasis on agility, shrink reduction and staff productivity.
While cloud solutions are often designed to manage a few large locations, edge technology is designed to fill in the gaps the cloud cannot
Predictive analytics uses data, statistical algorithms and machine learning to forecast and recommend what’s ahead.
Scott Guillet is the VP convenience fuel retail at NCR Voyix, a leading global provider of digital commerce solutions for the retail, restaurant and digital banking industries.
NCR Voyix transforms retail stores, restaurant systems and digital banking experiences with comprehensive, platform-led SaaS and services capabilities.
accommodate, often running tens of thousands of smaller, sometimes poorly connected locations across a large, distributed store estate. You need both cloud and edge in your tech stack, and ultimately, the challenge for both is:
• Ensuring the data received is accurate, particularly when AI is being used
• Optimizing the data created, both at the cloud and edge
• Using that data as a competitive advantage
When considering the technology to achieve this, most major retailers don’t want vendor lock-in. Rather, they want a platform that will enable multiple applications to integrate seamlessly, ensuring the data output is both efficient and accurate. Having an edge-native infrastructure with open
API capabilities that is hardware and software agnostic makes this possible.
Savvy c-stores are taking a close look at how to evolve their existing technology stack to jointly manage their data in the cloud and at the edge. While they continue to harness all this data and find ways to interpret it, they are also challenging the data. It’s important to keep testing and refining data output so c-stores know they can trust it.
Many are successfully exploring how to use data to plan their staffing, marketing campaigns, store layouts and stock control and to personalize their loyalty programs. Clearly, choosing the right data strategy can have a significant impact on c-stores’ operations, the customer and associate experience and, ultimately, their bottom line.
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FUELS INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Established in 2015 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Yesway is one of the fastest-growing convenience store networks in the United States. It owns and operates more than 400 convenience stores, with locations in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska, including the Allsup’s Convenience Stores brand.
Yesway was founded on the principles of quality, service, cleanliness and value. Yesway is dedicated and committed to its communities; provides jobs with competitive wages, great benefits and solid career paths; and supports local charities, civic organizations, schools and fundraising events.
Yesway is known for its foodservice offerings, diverse grocery selections and private label products—including the famous Allsup’s deep-fried burrito.
On the fuels front, the company offers traditional gasolines, E85, E0 and EV charging. It makes a special effort to support its fleet customers. This includes a strong rewards program to provide fleets and professional drivers with fuel savings and free food or beverages.
Its diesel fuel is domestically sourced from reliable U.S. suppliers. Then, it is transported, stored and dispensed to the most stringent EPA regulations. The fuel is monitored throughout the entire process using high-tech equipment and reporting that alerts to any issues.
Weigel’s history began when Carl Augustus Weigel emigrated from Saxony, Germany, in 1847. He bought a 470-acre farm for $1,000 in Wartburg, Tennessee, and moved there with his wife and two children.
Carl’s grandsons purchased a farm in 1918 in Powell Station. In 1931, the farm was turned into Broadacre Dairy, which began to grow rapidly. The red Weigel’s Broadacre Dairy barn that was built at that time is still standing (and being used) today.
The dairy continued to expand as the years passed. By 1951, Broadacre Dairy had become a state-of-the-art modern dairy and farm. Soon, the concept for “Weigel’s Farm Store” was created.
By 1979, Weigel’s had grown to a 30-store count, all in the Knoxville area. Billy Weigel, running the operation at the time, knew that the east Tennessee community needed more.
In 1985, the Summit Hill location was opened, bringing with it the first introduction to food in the Weigel’s stores. In 1995, the Middlebrook Pike store was completed and brought with it the concept of deli food that was prepared on-site to order.
Weigel’s created a new corporate identity in 1997 and with it emerged its iconic Circle W and stores on every corner of Knoxville.
In 2016, the Clinton location was remodeled to become the first official Weigel’s Truck Stop. Four wide diesel bays, made for trucks, as well as DEF at the pumps were put in place. The store received a full remodel, with upgraded interior and payment options for all the local and over-the-road truck drivers.
Weigel’s offers a range of fuel options including E0, E15, DEF at the pump and two diesel offering
The forecourt pulls its own weight, but it maximizes its potential as part of a unified customer offer.
Fuels Market News was excited to present the 2024 Fuels Innovator of the Year awards to Weigel’s, for a retailer with fewer than 100 sites, and Yesway, for a retailer with 100 or more sites, at the NACS Show on October 9. Accepting the award were Doug Yawberry, Weigel’s president, and Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer for Yesway. An active discussion followed on how these companies integrate the fueling offer to drive customer engagement. Offered below is a Q&A combining both moderator and audience questions.
CONVENIENCE OPERATIONS PROVIDE NUMEROUS OFFERS IN A RANGE OF CATEGORIES. WHAT ROLE DOES FUEL AND THE FORECOURT PLAY IN THE SOLUTION MIX THAT YOU OFFER YOUR CUSTOMERS?
Gaskins: Fuel clearly plays a traffic-driving role. It is something that we are customer-centric about, not unlike other products and services that we sell. As we start to segment our customer base we can look at those roles, often leading to a certain store prototype. We look at fuel in the same lens we would a private label. It’s an extension of our brand. It’s a promise. So, we want to make sure that the integrity is there. For example, incorporating high-flow diesel and DEF in-lane for the commercial customer can have a correlation to increased inside food sales or expanded snacking and general merchandise and such.
Over the last three or four years, loyalty has probably been one of the most beneficial things that we do to drive business. But you must work at it. We have a lot of active members, and you have got to give them that reason to pull out their phone or their card or put in their number.
—Doug Yawberry, Weigel’s
Yawberry: We put a lot of effort into the forecourt. We treat it no differently than we do the store itself. And we do a lot with that space. We make it open; we make it easy to drive through with a lot of extra lighting and we put as much effort as we do the interior of the store. To Derek’s point, fuel is our driver and will be for some time yet. We have foodservice, fresh baked products and things of that sort, but we’ve got to get them in the door first. And we truly believe that that exterior image is what drives that interior volume and brings new people into our environment.
YOU BOTH SERVE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THOSE OPERATIONS AND HOW DO YOU SERVE THAT CUSTOMER GROUP, BOTH THE DRIVER AND THE FLEET OPERATOR?
Gaskins: The differentiation between the company and the driver is one that we all should really focus on. When you look at the driver, their needs can be like other consumer segments, whereas the company may want cents per gallon (CPG) savings.
We’ll leverage the CPG, which clearly has an irrational perceived value that is much greater than for savings on other things. So that can motivate both an everyday consumer as well as a fleet company. And I am saying company purposely. CPG savings is not motivational to the employee driver. A fleet driver can be motivated by other things. And if we reward them, which we do with our loyalty program, we capture the professional driver too. For every gallon of diesel fuel, they can earn points that then can be redeemed for such things as foodservice. And the other way holds
true too. We have stack-and-save rewards, which we give to folks who are buying foodservice or are buying vendor-funded offerings from Monster, Red Bull, Pepsi, KDP or Coke, etc.
Yawberry: We got into the fleet business and you learn as you go. We built our first [commercial site] and we were standing there kind of waiting in that “build it and they will come” thing. A couple of learnings—bathrooms are important, as well as different types of products, bigger pack sizes. And we basically run fuel stops, not fullscale truck stops, but you still have to offer those items, and you must find that blend. And over the years we have been able to do that.
Also, we partnered with AMBEST [a member-owned, nationwide network of independent truck stops and service centers] and they have been a great partner for us. Everything that we do on the diesel side is partnered with them, and they’ve helped us greatly in capturing those fleet gallons.
Gaskins: Our head of fuels would say that basic operation technologies are now table stakes. He embraces our marketing and merchandising philosophy about enabling easier transactions and removing friction.
Of course, we do take advantage of operational technology. We have the most dynamic pricing data that we have ever had, and we know the cost, distribution and what the net markups are and we’re able to then refine all of that. We can use AI or machine learning or big data—all the catchy buzz words that people are using—but it’s really about analytical data and having an adroit team
that’s able to process that in rapid order and then take action that hits the street.
We also partner with AMBEST, but there are all these new emerging mobile groups like Mudflap for truckers and they are all tablet app driven. As marketers we must figure out a way to make that seamless within our ecosystem and challenge our internal teams, whether they be IT or accounting or price book or fuel or merchandising.
Yawberry: If you look at our business, technology is ramping up so fast in the last few years, but it goes back to easier transactions, as Derek said. The input of technology to manage those things is becoming important because to keep it seamless to the customer, you’ve got to keep it simple, and you have got to keep it easy and seamless for your team members as well. When we talk about all the new stuff, you end up with six tablets and your team members are trying to figure it out. It’s very important you don’t lose sight of what’s happening on your internal processes to continue to make it seamless for your customers.
HOW DO YOU FIND A WAY TO SIMPLIFY HAVING ALL THESE APPS, POS SYSTEMS AND OTHER STAND-ALONE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE PART OF DAILY BUSINESS TODAY?
Yawberry: I think there’s some technology in the works that’s going to help us wrap that together. But until then, it’s a challenge. By the time we give our store teams a tablet to run their business, to run their food, to run Mudflap, to run Relay, etc., they have six tablets—and I don’t know how they do it. We’ve got color-coded charging cords for them to try and keep track of what’s going on. We’re working hard to try and get there and if anybody’s got any answers today, I’d love to hear it.
Gaskins: Conexxus can certainly help us. And I think it’s a mess, right? But you know, we are really looking hard at bringing all that together. I think having three, four, five tablets is insane. So, we must leverage where technology has gone. Everything is now hosted in the cloud. You can get above the site level in theory with the virtual POS that Verifone and Gilbarco and some of our partners are now offering. We need to be able to unify that. And for us, we grow by acquisition. We try to unify the sites with a standard POS and back office.
HOW DO YOU LEVERAGE LOYALTY AND FUEL TO MAXIMIZE SITE PERFORMANCE?
Yawberry: We drive it very heavily from a loyalty standpoint. About 13 years ago we began our
club card, which was an ACH card that offered a 7- to 10-cent fuel discount. We managed that for some time. We had a club-based, in-house loyalty program that we did for a long time as well. We have gone way past that at this point, and we now drive a lot of loyalty throughout our operations.
We even leverage that with our employee loyalty program, which gets them engaged in the program, helps them understand it and explain and promote it to our customers. We continue that 7- to 10-cent discount if they use our club card or loyalty card as an ACH. On top of that, we offer another 10 cents per gallon based on points, and we offer them 10 cents per gallon off one fill-up per week. To generate more excitement, for the last two years we have given a car to our store manager with the highest loyalty penetration rate.
Over the last three or four years, loyalty has probably been one of the most beneficial things that we do to drive business. But you must work at it. We have a lot of active members, and you have got to give them that reason to pull out their phone or their card or put in their number. That’s what we have found to be the key. And fuel points were also a very dramatic program driver. From a volume standpoint, that fuel club base accounts for 39% of our loyalty volume.
Gaskins: I couldn’t say it better. For us, loyalty is one of the three strategic drivers of our brand. We talk about foodservice, private label and rewards/loyalty. It’s top of the funnel. It’s a trip driver. If you can better understand what [customers] value, you become a better merchant. The customer becomes more satisfied and more loyal to us over long-term equity or lifetime value. That is where we invest tremendous resources because every consumer wants to be treated special. That personalization is where we all need to get to, so it’s not just predictive, it’s prescriptive. Finally, there’s a bifurcation that’s happened. Loyalty means we have data about our customers, and we can then monetize that data through sharing it. It’s worth literally millions of dollars, but you must have loyalty to be able to share that.
Gaskins: What are the customers asking for? Because as marketers, we must be cognizant and focused, because a lot of these things that are being pushed are not customer driven. I’m not sitting here as a dinosaur with my head buried
in the proverbial sand, but customers are frankly not asking for a lot of that. They are asking for savings, they are asking for lower prices, better value on the fuels that we sell. And so, when we can do biodiesel and ethanol blends and achieve that, then that is something that we’ll go after.
People who own EVs take pride in that, but they don’t have to go to convenience stores—they can charge at home, they can charge at work. And right now, most of us can’t make money on it. We have several dozen charging stations and none of them are making money. This is a business that is entrepreneurial. We aim to make more money so we will sell anything. When that transition from leaded fuel to unleaded fuel happened, it was seamless because we were able to monetize it and make more money. Is it driving some inside transactions or some extra trips? We have not seen that tipping point yet. Of course, we’re in middle America and EVs are not as prevalent as you find on the coasts.
Yawberry: I think Derek’s on target. You must have what your customers desire. I don’t think any of us know exactly where we’re going to land and we’re heading in a bunch of different directions. Is it hybrids? EVs? Where does it go from here? A lot of that remains to be seen.
We’re based out of east Tennessee, so from an EV standpoint if we don’t have the lowest adoption rate in the nation, we’re pretty darn close. We are currently putting in our first two EV charging stations, and they are interstate-based and we’ll see what happens. But, when you look at the adoption rate in east Tennessee, it’s just not there. Why would you build something that your customers do not desire or need? However, that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare new sites for future needs.
We do not sell a lot of biofuels and they don’t have a ton of advantages like they do in the Midwest [for product]. We are heavily looking into Unleaded 88 (E15) as an option at this point and figuring out what that investment would look like and if that makes sense for us.
I’LL FLIP IT AROUND. I BELIEVE YOU BOTH OFFER E0.
Gaskins: It is one of our top products—consumers love that.
Yawberry: That goes back to geography for us. In east Tennessee, they don’t want to “put any of that corn in my car.” But 100% gasoline, that is a different story. And that caters to a lot of landscapers, and we are in a recreational area so we
have a lot of boaters and needs of that sort. So, E0 has been a terrific addition.
YOU BOTH SELF-BRAND YOUR FUEL. WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES THIS OFFER AND ARE THEIR TRADE-OFFS?
Gaskins: We have been transitioning stores, but we still have some major brand partners and we do work closely with them and we derive value. But, over time most people now realize fuel is a commodity. I think that the past 20 years have shown that the gap in oil company brand value has become less and less. For us as merchants, some of the things that we would get in terms of image upgrades or being able to leverage their credit card network to save on swipe fees and transaction fees and things of that nature have eroded as well. As we built our store brands, what used to be known as unbranded should now be called branded because it’s reaffirming what our stores are. We have Allsup’s branded stores and Allsup’s branded canopies or Yesway branded stores and canopies and that’s our preferred way to go to market.
Yawberry: We want to drive our brand. When you look at our heritage going back to 1931, we started as a dairy and we have carried our heritage forward driving that brand all the way through these years in everything we adopted into our business. And it is all about quality. And we’ve created a very strong brand in our market we continue to drive that. We post that circle W logo everywhere.
COMPLIANCE AND REGULATIONS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING. HOW DO YOU ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES?
Yawberry: A few years back you had one or two people working on that. Now you have a whole team. So, the regulatory stuff has ramped up drastically over the last few years. It’s a real thing and you’ve got to manage it—you’ve got to comply. We take pride in what we do. We want to be the best at what we do, whether it is serving our customers or on the regulatory side. That’s a challenge at this point.
Gaskins: Much as Doug answered, we started with one or two people that we felt could handle it and keep up. And as we’ve grown and entered more states, it’s a department now. Environmental compliance continues to be a big challenge—licenses, permits, everything. You know, when we’re looking to raze and rebuild and reinvest in a community that’s sometimes even
We can use AI or machine learning or big data—all the catchy buzz words that people are using—but it’s really about analytical data and having an adroit team that’s able to process that in rapid order and then take action that hits the street.
—Derek Gaskins, Yesway
more difficult than just building a new store. But it’s absolutely worth going after because when you reinvest in those sites and you can show that your environmental compliance meets or exceeds whatever the standards are, I think you build that confidence.
We have communities in the markets that we serve that are literally begging us to come and reinvest and to rebuild and to institute our razeand-rebuild program or to grow and come into a new area. For me it’s this notion of brand love. People are clamoring to get our burritos or to get our dairy products and to get our fuel and our new stations, we know that that is sustainable. That’s the runway and the path that we’re on that has fueled our growth.
COULD YOU GIVE US ONE OR TWO TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING YOUR OPERATIONS?
Gaskins: The big tip from me would be people— it’s a people-driven business. Having teams that are committed to excellence cannot be questioned and then smart folk in their roles can then take it down to the consumer level so that they receive that value.
In our fuels marketing group, we have two talented gentlemen who can price at the street level and we give them the tools so they can leverage technology effectively.
And as much as we talk about fuel as that driver, we like to have healthy internal competition. Scott Stanfield, who runs our foodservice program, always says food is our driver, and that food brings people here more than fuel. We work to drive people into our stores, but also to drive them to our pumps.
Yawberry: An internal team is definitely important. You’ve got to have the talent to drive the business. But I think the biggest thing—and we really try hard to do this—is you have to look at tomorrow. I think sometimes we can get caught up so much in the day to day that we are just out there beating the bushes. That is great, and we must do that, but we must understand tomorrow too. You can’t wait for it to get here and then try and catch up.
We are starting to put a lot of investment into media at the pump and figure out what we’re doing there. We make sure we have the technology or the ability to adopt that technology, whether that’s payment systems or whatever the case may be at the pump.
With potential uncertainty at the forecourt, we have to make money in the store, and we have put a big driver there. We know we must increase the percentage of food that we sell to get to that point. That’s a tomorrow problem that we’re looking at today. It’s a what-if problem that we’re trying to solve now. It is going to make us a better operator today and tomorrow because we have optimized a portion of our business to say, now we’re profitable without fuel.
Keith Reid is editor-in-chief of Fuels Market News. He can be reached at kreid@fmnweb. com
Fuels Market News would like to thank the sponsors who helped support the 2024 FMN Fuel Innovator of the Year Award.
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CHAINS UNDER 100 STORES
CHAINS OVER 100 STORES Congratulations on being named the Fuels Market News 2024 Fuels Innovator of the Year. Your excellence in the convenience store industry sets the standard for others to follow.
