Refuel overhauled its loyalty program in January to launch a version with simplicity at its core. In an approach to make loyalty more seamless and personable for customers, fuel savings are automatic, members receive targeted offers and interactive challenges engage members in a new way.
Customers who migrated from the old program to the new program would have noticed the greater ease and transparency of the newly launched version, noted Carissa Cardy, director of marketing for Refuel.
With over 240 stores in five Southern states, Refuel is making it easier than ever for customers to shop at its stores.
Ease and Transparency
One of Refuel’s top priorities with its enhanced program was simplifying signup.
“We wanted joining to be as easy as filling up,” said Cardy. “Now guests just enter their phone number at the pump or register, and they’re in. No app, no forms, just savings from day one.”
Refuel partnered with PAR to support the experience it wanted for its customers, who can access rewards through a mobile app, web app or short message service (SMS).
“We wanted a program that fits the way our guests actually live because people are busy; they don’t want another app on their phone where they’re constantly having to go through a complicated sign-up process. So, we wanted to make joining and using our rewards program simple and flexible,” said Cardy.
Once a customer enrolls, everything bought in-store, excluding age-restricted items, works toward a stacking fuel discount where every $25 spent saves 10 cents per gallon. Between in-store purchases and special promotional offers, members can stack their discounts up to a maximum savings of $1 per gallon.
Rewards members can view their current savings down to the cent in the app.
“I think the biggest motivation when we were redesigning the program is that people are extremely price sensitive to fuel, and I don’t think that’s changing any time. And because of that, we wanted to reward our guests for shopping in-store, and then having those in-store purchases tying to saving at the pump was crucial,” said Cardy.
When compared to the previous program, the new Refuel Rewards is simple and easy to understand, she continued. Members shop in the store, save at the pump and all that’s needed is a phone number.
Refuel’s revamped program also offers increased personalization; members can receive offers once they opt in to texting, such as bonus fuel savings or targeted food offerings.
“It’s super flexible,” said Ben Albright, loyalty and user experience lead for Refuel. “Once you use loyalty, we’re able to really tailor your experience.”
Additionally, Rewards members can engage in interactive challenges.
Refuel is building multiple “buckets” for customer journeys, such as reaching a certain number of gallons and then saving 25 cents on the next fill-up.
Now that Refuel has tied its loyalty program around in-store purchases, it still wants to take those fuel-only customers and give them an interactive journey, Cardy said. Including this type of increased personalization is one the chain’s biggest successes. “… Things like that help make sure we’re not excluding any type of customer who wants to join our program.”
Year One
For the first year of the relaunch, Refuel is focusing on scan rate and making sure team members are buying into the program. The chain had multiple calls with team members to ensure they understood the program, knew crucial information and possible what-if scenarios with customers.
“We spent six months before the program launched really thinking of the customer, thinking of the ease for the team members and making sure now that since launch, we’re encouraging signups, but still focusing on the whole member journey is really important,” said Cardy.
Once a customer provides a phone number, that’s when Refuel likes to say it’s in the driver’s seat, texting the customer about next steps.
The chain is also continuing to make team members aware of new promotional campaigns.
When Refuel wants to highlight a certain category, they can do so through text or the mobile app.
“A big one is we pride ourselves in having great offers available in tobacco, where tobacco customers know that every visit they come in, if they use loyalty, they’re going to get the best deal possible. And that brings them into the app to get even better visibility to those offers, where we update them every time new promotions roll out, and they can always see that day exactly what they need to pay in-store,” said Albright.
Refuel has built the foundation of the new program this year, and it’s focusing now on deepening personalization efforts. With purchase history data now available, the chain can send rewards members more relevant offers across SMS and push notifications.
“Our goal is to keep the program effortless for guests, and they get to choose how they want to engage with us from there,” said Cardy.
