Knowing that the c-store industry is, and always will be, extremely competitive, it is as important as ever to know how you, as a retailer, can keep an edge over your competitors.

To provide some guidelines on how to make this a reality, Ipsos recently conducted its annual Petro-Convenience Experience Competitive Benchmark Study to give operators an idea of what consumers are looking for, how operators of recognized brands are currently delivering on those expectations and where any operator can focus their efforts to better deliver an ideal experience moving forward.

The report focused on three key measurements: consumer survey research, mystery shopping and ranking/reporting. To compare results from various chains, Ipsos created a standardized index that weighted scores of various attributes based on consumer expectations of both the forecourt and in-store experience.

Ipsos found that 55% of consumers that make a trip to a gas station end up visiting the on-site c-store, either while they make a fuel purchase or specifically for convenience products. Therefore, it is incredibly important that they can find what they need, want or didn’t know they wanted in a quick, comfortable and safe process.

“The execution and branding of the in-store experience continues to be a key differentiator for many petro-convenience operators, whether that brand owns the c-store or not,” said Brad Christian, head of strategic growth, Ipsos Channel Performance.

Worth noting during this process is customer service, with Ipsos finding that interaction with customer service representatives was the lowest-scoring attribute across all brands.

Another essential point uncovered in the research was clean and well-stocked restrooms. Ipsos found that while most stores have well-stocked restrooms, only 85% of those restrooms are clean and ready to use.

While this may seem like a simple task, labor shortages have presented challenges in terms of hiring dependable and exceptional customer service representatives — a requirement that is no small feat in the industry.

“We see that labor continues to pose a challenge to the retail petroleum industry as in-store team member interaction with the customer was one of the lowest performing attributes that we observed in our study,” mentioned Christian.

However, many chains have risen to the challenge and proven that effective, hands-on management can overcome many labor setbacks.

Growth Through Recommendation

The goal for retailers focusing on customer service-oriented approaches is to increase brand preference and word-of-mouth recommendations, which can meaningfully grow the number of customers coming through the door.

Ipsos outlined five key differentiators of the forecourt experience that drive likelihood to recommend:

1. Cleanliness of pump area
2. Fuel price visibility
3. Ease of payment
4. Availability of working fuel pump
5. Canopy condition

While the forecourt condition did not necessarily prove to be detrimental for chains in the report, the fueling payment process was an area where many brands have room for improvement.

“In terms of the forecourt experience, most brands were firing on all cylinders on consumer expectations, with the lone exception being ease of payment,” added Christian. “Quickly getting from swipe to gas flowing and the availability of receipts was an area of opportunity and a real point of differentiation for the brands doing it well. And ease of payment was one of five key drivers we identified for consumer likelihood to return.”

The report also noted that the most important point for retailers to think about is that consumers are visiting their site(s) for a reason. Therefore, retailers must know that what they are looking for is there, and the process to find it needs to be seamless.

While there were many aspects evaluated in the study in which retailers are thriving, there is always room for improvement.

For more information on the study or to request a copy of the report, contact Connor Simmons — [email protected].