The efficiency of gas stations, or how to improve the situation with online service without special investments... How to increase gas station profits by two times or more How to increase sales at gas stations

The efficiency of a gas station depends on a number of factors: fuel quality, its cost, location, list of additional services, and so on. In this article, the magazine “Modern Gas Station” will dwell in detail on such an indicator of the efficiency of a gas station as the quality of service, its relationship with other factors, as well as its potential in increasing business efficiency. In addition, we will look at what tools can be used to measure this indicator, and how to properly respond to the results of a service quality check, and what specific steps will help correct service deficiencies if they are identified...

During inspections of service quality at gas stations in Russia, for example, customer experience research company 4Service, one of the most dynamic and innovative Mystery Shopping service providers in Central Asia and Europe, found out what criteria domestic customers most often use when choosing a gas station. As can be seen from Fig. 1, criteria that in one way or another relate to the quality of service - “Speed ​​of service”, “Politeness and friendliness”, “Activity of staff” - are just as important to customers as the more “tangible” “Quality and cost of services” and “Location of gas station "

Market experts note that the quality of service largely determines other indicators. For example, customer reviews of your fuel are highly dependent on what your employees think and say about it. Loyalty programs and their level of demand again depend on what your employees say about your loyalty program. The sale of additional services - the main margin-generating products - also depends on your staff. That is, the higher the quality of customer service, the more likely it is that customers will prefer your network and work for your reputation and generate greater profits.

How can you understand the state of service at your gas station, objectively assess your strengths and weaknesses, and start working on improving quality?

Net Promoter Score

Every client is different and each has their own priorities and expectations. Despite this, today there is a universal and effective tool for checking customer satisfaction. We are talking about NPS (Net Promoter Score) - an index of customer loyalty. This indicator was invented in 2006 and today it is used by all the most popular companies in the world due to the high quality of service (Apple, Amazon, Zappos).

The essence of the method is that the respondent is asked only one question: “How likely is it that you would recommend this point/network to your friends and acquaintances?” The answer is given on a scale from 1 to 10, where “1” equates to the answer “would never recommend”, and “10” equates to “definitely recommend”.

According to the survey results, clients are divided into three categories:

Promoters are those who rated the probability of recommendation at 9–10 points. Such clients are the main value of the company. They come to gas stations more often, buy more, and participate in all promotions. In addition, they are “traffic generators” - they bring friends and acquaintances and create the image of your brand.

Passives/neutrals - people who gave you 7-8 points. They are not ardent fans, and will leave for competitors as soon as prices creep down on the neighboring stand.

Detractors/critics are those who chose an answer option from 0 to 6 points. These people are also your customers, and they also make a profit by buying fuel and non-fuel products. At the same time, they sow negativity, reduce the flow of customers to your gas station, love to complain, create scandals and spoil the mood of the staff.

The idea behind NPS is that there are good and bad returns. The good ones are the profits received from the promoters in the long term. Tomorrow these customers will come to you again and purchase your product again.

Profits made from detractors and neutrals do not guarantee your future success. There is a risk that when a new competitor appears, your performance will immediately drop.

Now in many companies the NPS level is perceived as second in importance after financial indicators and is always considered by the board of directors.

Maintenance diagnostics

What needs to be done to make NPS grow? First of all, you need to diagnose your service.

There are two main tools that help you manage your service and make your customers happy - mystery shopping and POS audit.

At gas stations, many operators use a program to evaluate and motivate staff - “mystery shopping”, when an agent arrives under the guise of an ordinary customer and evaluates how he was served.

It evaluates the quality of service according to two criteria:

compliance with standards (check the corresponding boxes in the questionnaire);

and subjective perception (liked or disliked the service from the point of view of an ordinary buyer).

If we are talking about standards, then, as a rule, questionnaire forms at gas stations are divided into the following blocks:

assessment of the gas station attendant, cashier;

assessment of operating standards - cleanliness at the gas station, condition of the bathroom.

The tanker is usually assessed on the following points:

did you approach the client?

did you suggest wiping the glass and headlights,

did you fill up the car?

wished you a happy journey.

Refuelers and cashiers are also often subject to very serious requirements regarding active sales - offering a full tank, premium fuel and additional services.

In the subjective assessment, experts note five criteria identified by the clients themselves.

These criteria are rated on a 10-point scale and include:

courtesy of the staff,

staff activity,

speed of service,

personnel competence,

location interior.

Comparing objective and subjective indicators allows specialists or management to assess the situation at a gas station and encourage staff to fulfill certain requirements in order to increase customer satisfaction.

The second project mentioned above is a POS audit (Point-of-Sale Audit). In this case, the inspection takes place openly and suddenly: an auditor arrives who knows exactly what standards at the gas station need to be checked, and the staff is obliged to let him in there. Now, as a rule, this happens in a very technological way - auditors come with tablets, take photographs, immediately attach the photo to the application form and publish it on the Internet. The report on the gas station instantly appears to management, who must respond to it.

Many Russian companies are trying to combine these two projects. They want a mystery shopper to come and see if, for example, a fire extinguisher is hung correctly. But, according to experts, this is a great detriment to both fire safety standards and customers. Firstly, because the “mystery shopper,” in order to remain secret, cannot always thoroughly check all the nuances of the gas station design. Secondly, instead of assessing the quality of service, describing their perceptions and expectations, comparing with competitors, and making recommendations in the context of “what do I need as a client,” the “mystery shopper” is forced to write where the fire extinguisher hangs. Therefore, many companies working in this area recommend dividing these projects.

Feedback

In addition to the two main tools, experts recommend actively using feedback from real clients. A technology called exit polling is used here. At the exit from the gas station, customers are met by an auditor with a tablet and asked to rate the service in a playful way - move emoticons, put a certain number of stars. Such surveys, as a rule, do not take much time from clients, occur very quickly, are interesting for the interviewees themselves, and at the same time provide instant data.

Another option is telephone surveys, where they call a customer who has just filled up. Most chains have their own loyalty cards, and all transactions are tracked. Two things are important here: call quickly and ask clarifying questions. The disadvantage of telephone surveys, according to many experts, is that clients show greater loyalty in conversation than in reality, and the indicators obtained in this way are often slightly inflated.

You can also use feedback in the locations themselves. In some places the traditional “grievance book” still exists, but it is gradually dying out. Now there are “complaint books” in electronic form - for example, there are two buttons at the exit; the client can press green or red and rate his impressions of the visit as positive or negative.

It is also impossible not to mention the ever-increasing role of monitoring reviews about the quality of service on social networks - this is already widely practiced by retail chains. In reviews, customers mention both the quality of the fuel and the type of service provided. There are a lot of programs that allow you to monitor the Internet space automatically: as soon as the program finds a review mentioning your brand, it is immediately sent to the person in charge who will take specific actions regarding this.

Work on mistakes"

After the company has carried out a comprehensive assessment of the quality of its service using the above tools and identified weaknesses, the time will come to work on eliminating them. The ultimate goal of working to improve the quality of service is precisely to increase the NPS index.

Experts note that the “road” to high NPS goes cyclically and consists of several stages. The first thing to do is to align employee behavior standards with customer expectations.

Today, most standards of conduct at gas stations are a serious document with many seals, approved at a high level and very far from real life. At the same time, employees are often not even familiar with this document. In addition, it does not include the customer's wishes regarding service.

Then a period of training for the new standards begins for the staff. Naturally, no network can afford to train all cashiers and gas station attendants in a training format; moreover, it is often difficult to find an opportunity to seriously train gas station directors. Therefore, it is worth concentrating on regional managers. It is important that regional managers clearly understand the benefits of the service and have no doubt that they personally need good service. They are the people who will implement the idea of ​​good service locally.

Implementation of standards

Once you have understood exactly how to serve customers and trained your staff in this, a period of control begins over the implementation of these standards in everyday practice.

Experts say that control for the sake of control brings little benefit. The results of control must be inextricably linked with the employee motivation system. It is important to observe 2 principles:

1. It is not the front staff (refuelers and cashiers) who are responsible for the quality of service, but the managers,
2. motivation must be positive.

When it comes to service, about positive emotions that need to be given to the client, the fear of being punished will only hinder the achievement of results. Unfortunately, not everyone knows about this. Basically, at domestic gas stations there is a system of fines: “Say this, or we will fire you, smile, or we will fine you.” This leads to the fact that certain standards begin to be met, but in such a form that the client does not perceive them. A paradox arises: standards are met, but the number of clients and NPS do not grow.

Therefore, experts often use two indices: an objective assessment of standards and a subjective one - “like/dislike” in order to correctly regulate employee behavior.

The idea behind NPS is to work in a “closed loop.” When you get different customers—satisfied, neutral, and dissatisfied—your job is to make them all happy. They, in turn, will bring new clients with whom the same work will need to be done.

For example, the 4Service company offers its clients such a software solution as an action plan, when after receiving data from any source and finding a detractor among clients, the operator immediately begins to act.

Experts note that we need to learn not to wait for the “report by the end of the quarter” to hand out bonuses or fine someone. It is important to react quickly, without delay. As they say, “a spoon is dear to dinner” - when clients complain, they want solutions to problems “here and now.” It is necessary to establish such a system so that as soon as a detractor is identified, the information is immediately sent to the responsible person - the head of the gas station itself, the region, or the person in charge in the company, and he makes a decision on what to do. Sometimes it is enough to call the person, apologize and say that his problem will be solved. You will thereby transfer the detractor to the category of promoter, because the people whose problem was reacted to tend to talk and write a lot about it on social networks. They are even happier than those who have never been detractors.

When a problem can be solved through one client, this is the so-called customer plan (client level). It happens that the problem is systemic and a solution must be sought either within a specific station, or region, or the entire network - this is the organization plan (company level). Finding solutions to problems at the moment they arise is the main distinguishing feature of a modern gas station.

It happens that a company is afraid not even of monetary costs, but of resource costs for working with quality of service - it takes time and distracts from seemingly more important things. However, companies that do not neglect this can see financial results.

With control and motivation of staff, there is a sharp increase in the frequency of transactions, due to the fact that people choose your gas station rather than competitors, and bring new customers. There is an increase in the average bill due to the offer to fill a full tank, an increase in sales of premium fuel, where it is available, due to the fact that it is recommended by gas stations, and an increase in sales of additional goods - tea, coffee, sandwiches, etc.

As an example, we will give a case that was implemented by 4Service together with Shell. The goal was to increase sales of winter window washer.

The essence of the project was as follows: the company pasted stickers on the washer reservoir for the “mystery shoppers”, which indicated the value of the cash prize that the gas station attendant could win. The gas station attendant who offered to buy and fill the washer to the client received the specified prize.

Mystery shoppers had been checking Shell petrol stations for two years prior to this project and their questionnaires always included the question: “Have you been offered winter washer?” The answer was not always positive. When such a seemingly simple motivational campaign was launched, information about it by word of mouth immediately spread throughout the entire network. Employees enjoyed the game and during this time not a single car left Shell without an offer of winter washer. Everyone wins because Shell increases sales profits, employees are more motivated, and customers are cared for. It was a very positive experience.

Managers and workers

The last item in the service improvement plan is staff surveys. It is very important to think and remember what work issues concern your employees, because very often problems with the quality of service are the result of a gap between managers and employees.

Experts note that it is important to conduct staff surveys on three points:

1. what your staff thinks about your fuel. If the staff believes in it and recommends it, they will buy it. If not, you need to find a way to show employees its benefits, otherwise you will not see an increase in sales volumes.
2. how the staff relates to the employing company. If the staff does not like the employer, then the service at such points will be very low. It is very difficult to achieve good service by force. By investing in staff motivation and loyalty, you are investing in your customers.
3. what the staff thinks about your service standards, which standards they consider useful for the client, which ones they do not. Sometimes the staff independently comes up with something new that is worthy of implementation. People who feel involved in something big and important give more to the common cause.

Specialists working in the field of improving the efficiency of gas stations are confident that if you follow these tips, then without any special investments, literally within a quarter, the situation with the service in the network will improve dramatically.

What factors determine the popularity and profitability of a gas station? Among the first are the location of the gas station, the quality and cost of fuel, the list of related services, and the quality of service.

Let's take a closer look at the last indicator - the operation of the gas station as a whole largely depends on it. Let's try to trace its relationship with these factors, figure out how to measure the quality of service, what to do with the results of your research and how to work with the information received.

Criteria for evaluation

Ask the clients themselves what aspects are decisive when assessing the quality of service, and they will answer: the activity of the staff, their friendliness and speed of service.

These are not entirely measurable values, but they are the ones you need to start from: if your employees are lazy and careless, then no promotions or special offers will save your gas station; customers simply won’t want to come to you.

Any businessman can object to this: people are different, everyone has their own expectations and ideas about what is “good”, “slow”, “friendly”, etc.

Right! But it is possible to work with these perceptions, and a special indicator has even been invented for this - the customer loyalty index, NPS. Today, the most popular companies, including Apple, use it and manage their human resources well based on the results obtained. They ask clients only one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to your friends?”

What to do with the results of these answers?

Clients are asked to rate the probability on a ten-point scale. Based on their answers, they are divided into three groups:

• Loyal – those who gave 9 or 10 points. It is these clients who are the main “promoters” of the organization and its greatest value. They help you create a brand from the gas station, recommending your services to relatives and friends. They are the ones who participate in your promotions, surveys and events, and they are the ones who buy more than others.
• Neutral - those that rate your work 7 or 8 points. They may be your regular customers today, but if tomorrow they get a better offer, they will go to a competing network of gas stations.
• The critical ones are everyone else. Yes, these people may be your regular customers, if they have no choice, they can bring you constant profit, but they also deprive you of other customers by constantly pouring out negativity, making quarrels and bullying staff.

As is clear from this list, the idea of ​​“good” and “bad” profits fits perfectly into the logic of NPS. A good one is one that will bring you other clients in the future. A bad one is one that does not give anything more in favorable circumstances and is destructive in difficult times.

How important are these indicators in general? So much so that many leading companies in a wide range of industries consider NPS to be the next most important factor after financial performance.

How to improve NPS scores?

First of all, soberly evaluate the service. For this there is:

• subjective factors (activity, speed, competence, politeness of staff);
• objective aspects related to internal standards and indicators accepted in the industry: implementation of the operator’s action algorithm, working with additional sales, etc.

To get a detailed assessment of these two criteria, you can use POS audits and mystery shoppers.

• POS audit

An inspection comes to the site, the members of which know exactly how the staff at a gas station should work. They take photos and videos “as is” and immediately send them to the gas station owner.

• Mystery shopper

In this case, each of the subjective criteria is assessed on a ten-point scale, and adherence to corporate service standards is assessed based on the presence or absence of each item.

By comparing the indicators of subjective impressions of the staff’s work and the objective performance of their functions, you can understand how to work to improve the situation at a specific gas station.

Other sources of information and control

If possible, conduct surveys among your customers, including telephone surveys. Constantly study reviews on social networks and specialized services where customers share their impressions. Now they can be collected automatically, using special programs.

Mystery shoppers are great, but no one will give you as much information as you can get from a real client. This can be done with the help of live auditors on site, at gas stations, and by telephone. However, it must be borne in mind that during a telephone survey, customers are usually a little more loyal to the company than they really are and give a slightly overestimated rating.

You can also use feedback in the form of an electronic complaint book. Two buttons are enough: “plus” and “minus”, a smiley face with a smile or a sad one, red or green.

How to eliminate weaknesses?

To begin with, listen to the wishes of clients and try to bring them to life. There may be a gap between the Talmud of staff rules and the real needs of your customers, and the staff still cannot study all this Talmud.

Make standards clear and visible. A few pages are enough to contain all the most important things.

Of course, senior management must be well aware of these standards and understand how customer loyalty and profits depend on them. It is management that must convey to staff the importance of quality service, and it must also share responsibility if something goes wrong.

Consider positive motivation for staff because the stick only works. Unhappy, intimidated employees don't generate profits. Profits come from calm, friendly gas station attendants who, with a smile, offer to refuel a full tank, add new premium fuel and brew delicious coffee while the client has a couple of minutes of free time. You need to work with the staff, listening to their needs, and the reaction to their successes should be mandatory and immediate.

Does this require resources that don’t exist? Think about where you can get the missing time or money. A company that does not neglect customer feedback and balanced work with staff is always in an advantageous position compared to a company that goes with the flow and acts the old fashioned way.

Alexander Nevzorov

Read carefully and analyze in the context of your gas station what you were able to do from the suggestions below and what you weren’t able to do. Select successful gas stations in your area and think about what their secret is. You will be convinced that there is nothing new or unknown to you. All successful gas stations adhere to certain rules and principles, which we have tried to summarize in this article.

As analytical studies of the All-Russian Association of Marketers show, the appearance of a gas station plays a decisive role in the choice of a driver. All other things being equal, when a potential buyer has the choice to refuel a car at “this” or “that” gas station, he will always choose a gas station with an original, new, modern look and design. On a subconscious level, it seems that the old gas station sells poor quality fuel, and there is less trust in old-style fuel pumps when it comes to topping up fuel. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes. You are driving along the highway with an empty tank of gasoline and choose a gas station where you will refuel. Will you pull into an old, run-down gas station with old gas pumps and 10-year-old plastic? What associations will such a gas station evoke in you? First of all, distrust in the quality of fuel.

Step #1

The primary task to increase the turnover and profitability of gas stations is to bring the appearance of the gas station to modern requirements. Moreover, the reconstruction of gas stations should be carried out comprehensively, and not by replacing individual elements. Customers should not be left in any doubt about your intentions to improve the performance of their gas station. It is important to think through everything down to the smallest detail. It is important to use modern materials and technologies in order to keep up with competitors, and even better, to get ahead of them.

You need to start by choosing an original design that will distinguish you from your competitors, select a bright billboard in Makhachkala, the shape of the canopy and price tag, use modern LED indicators and fuel brands. Think through and implement ideas for maximizing comfort for customers: a cash register-shop, possibly a cafe (like tea-coffee-baked goods, like at the BP gas station chain), modern restrooms, a prayer room, convenient entry and exit. It is necessary to carry out landscaping of the territory: green areas with flower beds, painted borders, yellow dividing strips, etc. And in the case of a gas station located on a highway, it seems very important to create all conditions for transit transport (so-called truckers). Organize for them a guarded parking lot, safe conditions for staying in a hotel with all the conditions, an inexpensive cafe with quality food, home-cooked. Don’t forget that 1 trucker visiting your gas station means at least 1 ton of fuel plus additional sales in a cafe, grocery store, or hotel. And if he likes your services, he will advertise you among his friends and acquaintances. It is also important that all truckers communicate via radio (walkie-talkie) on a certain wavelength; they have formed a kind of forum platform where they discuss common problems and solutions.

We have decided on the 1st step to increase turnover - this is comprehensive reconstruction of gas stations, making refueling more comfortable for the client. As practice shows, after a major reconstruction the number of customers wishing to try out a new gas station increases sharply. Fuel sales turnover increases at least 2 times!

Step #2

Next, it is very important to constantly maintain the quality of all types of fuel and service at gas stations. One bad batch of fuel can ruin the entire reputation of your gas station. Needed constantly monitor quality, mention this everywhere (for example, by placing advertising on banners), bring it to the attention of all gas station employees, and conduct constant quality control. Quality should be your calling card, it should be evident in everything. Everything you and your employees do should meet one goal - maintaining the quality of fuel and services at your gas station. Over time, your position will be heard and will be transmitted from mouth to mouth, like through gypsy mail. There is a striking example - this is the VNK gas station network, which sells only high-quality Lukoil brand fuel (Volgograd), and “popular rumor” quickly spread rumors throughout the city about the good gasoline sold in this network. The result is customer trust and constant queues at gas stations of this network.

Please note that if your gas station has related services (hotel, cafe, grocery store), the quality of goods and services must be maintained there too.

Step #3

• promotions for drawing free liters of gasoline;
• promotions for drawing valuable goods;
• creation of a unified payment system for Pit-Stop cards;
• creating the possibility of paying by bank cards;
• creation of a customer loyalty program (discount cards for regular customers);
• PR for your gas station in the media (for this you should contact a good advertising agency in Makhachkala).

Let's look at each point in detail.

Organizing sweepstakes with announcements on the radio and on outdoor advertising billboards always attracts the attention and interest of customers. The nature of people is such that most of us like gifts and freebies. Therefore, such promotions provide a sharp and short-term (at the time of the promotion) increase in customer flow.

When alerting potential clients, you need to think about the media that will bring the information to potential clients as much as possible. Maximum coverage of the driver audience you need is provided by radio advertising and various types of outdoor advertising (billboards in Makhachkala, for example).

Creating a unified Pit-Stop payment system also increases your sales. Organizations that own corporate transport and pay VAT will be interested in it. These cards allow you to solve two problems: allocate VAT in the organization and provide the ability for drivers to refuel and control the amount of fuel they fill using cards without using cash.

The ability to pay with bank cards is especially important for truck drivers who do not have to carry large sums of money with them. And in large populated areas, a fairly large part of the population uses bank cards, on which salaries are calculated or citizens’ personal savings are made.

Creating a customer loyalty program is an integral attribute of any successful business. Discount cards for regular customers bind and retain the most loyal group of regular customers. Not only do these customers become attached to your business, but they also do informal advertising by sharing information about your loyalty to them with their friends and acquaintances.

Marketing and PR are the main success factors in any business. What is PR? This is everything you tell about your business and show to your clients. Your task is to tell and show everything good that is in your business, talk about projects, about the positive results of your activities, about the quality of products, about fuel delivery channels that guarantee that you will not get a surrogate. Talk about ongoing promotions, sponsorships, publish various news in newspapers and the media. In a word, you must constantly remind yourself of yourself with articles in newspapers, radio, television, publish articles on professional topics (for example, about the quality of gasoline, about Euro-3 standards, about diesel fuel, about everything that may be of interest to a potential client) . This PR will create an image of you as a professional, an image of a business that cares about the client, an image of the No. 1 business in its industry, increasing awareness of you and the loyalty of potential clients to you.

Step #4

In no case don't limit yourself to temporary success. You often come across a situation where a business owner invests enormous resources, finances, health and energy in opening a new business (the construction of a gas station, for example), and after six months or a year control weakens and quality indicators deteriorate. This situation can often be observed in the example of restaurants. A new restaurant opens, a magnificent, expensive renovation has been done, everything is beautifully furnished, excellent cooks and service, and six months later... you wait for waiters for half an hour, the dishes are not tasty. The restaurant immediately loses its image and customers, respectively, due to the lack of control on the part of management. And the owner completely forgets about changing outdoor advertising from time to time.

Step #5

Any business owner in Makhachkala and beyond should conduct operational accounting and control of all indicators. Control should not be limited only to accounting, but also take into account marketing indicators. The analysis and accounting of return indicators from various types of promotions, advertising in Makhachkala and events must be constantly carried out. Based on the results of the analysis, appropriate decisions must be made. For example, if the results of the analysis showed that 20% more customers came to you with discounts, and you lost 3% of profit on the discount, but these customers made additional purchases from you in a store, cafe or hotel, you must also calculate the profit from these clients for additional services. Moreover, you must control this moment: how many of your clients have become your regular customers, and how many no longer come to you. It is necessary to analyze the reasons why they did not come to you.

Your employees must maintain a customer database with all their contacts and phone numbers (data can be obtained, for example, by asking them to fill out a form for discount cards). Based on your customer base, you can send SMS messages to various promotions, sweepstakes, or news about the company. For example, about a drawing for 30 liters of gasoline, about the opening of a hotel complex with overnight accommodation for truckers for only 300 rubles, etc.

And in conclusion I would like to emphasize that you should always put yourself in the client's shoes, ask questions: how does a client choose a gas station? What is the client thinking about at this moment? What motivates him? What's bothering him? What is he afraid of? and what does he secretly dream about?

That's all. All that remains is to wish you success in your business and remind you not to forget about charity. After all, the more we sacrifice for the poor in the name of the Almighty, the more He rewards us!

I. Shikhsaidov

Opening a store at a gas station has ceased to be a competitive advantage - it is a business standard all over the world. The sale of related products can bring a gas station up to 70% of its profit, but only under one condition: trade in the store must be properly organized.

What to buy?

Automotive products that must be present at gas stations include:

• motor oils
• coolants and brake fluids
• distilled water
• fuel additives

As for auto chemicals in general, it is the appearance in gas station networks that allows a particular brand to become popular among car enthusiasts, since almost 100% of the target audience is forced to stop by a gas station to refuel a car, and given the limited shelf goods at any gas station, the buyer is forced to take only what's on the shelves

Income from the sale of goods at gas stations depends on drawing up and following a strict product matrix, since a large number of in-demand goods must be offered in a minimum space. Tested: the absence of 30% of product items on the rack reduces profits by 40%!

Where to place the product?

You have decided what to buy, but how to place it in the store with maximum benefit?

Merchandising for gas stations is one of the most important factors in conditions of limited space. Non-essential goods and goods of impulse demand should be where the buyer can notice them: checkout area, . The effectiveness of sales largely depends on the correct use of the listed territories.

Shell marketers suggest using the following zoning for a store at a gas station:

• The red or hot zone is between the entrance and the cash register. Impulse purchases are located along the “road” from the entrance to the cashier or should be clearly visible from it.
• The yellow or warm zone is located on the sales floor away from the “red zone”, but should be visible upon entering the store. Here are the goods of “impulse-forced demand”. The buyer should be able to easily find them and be confident that the product is in stock.
• The blue or cold zone is the farthest zone from the entrance and cash register. There may be essential goods here. Buyers need them and are willing to look for them.

How to choose a supplier?

But it’s not enough to determine where to place which product. Need more . Moreover, in addition to the assortment and terms of cooperation, it is necessary to carefully study such an important marketing element as the packaging of auto products.

Bright packaging quickly attracts the buyer's attention. In conditions of limited time (after all, people are going somewhere, in a hurry), the visibility factor on the shelves becomes decisive.

The second important factor for successful sales is brand awareness. Buying a device or accessory from an unknown company while traveling is always a risk. Conversely, if a buyer is familiar with one product category of a particular brand, then he is more likely to buy a product from another product category, but with the same logo.

Finally, the supplier must be able to quickly supply the required goods. Reliable logistics is a key factor in the success of any point of sale! Having a warehouse nearby is a big plus for a potential supplier.

All of the above factors played a positive role during the negotiations between Krasnoyarsk and the AVTOPROFI Trading House in 2016. Warehouse in Krasnoyarsk, over 2000 SKU in the catalog, proven supply chains (Aggressor, Smeshariki, Autoprofi, St. John's wort), bright, informative packaging - all this had a positive impact on the decision to partner.

How to increase sales at gas stations How to increase the profitability of stores at gas stations? This question gives pause not only to station managers, but also to suppliers. The answer to this is given by the company TD "SOYUZ" - the leader in the number of retail outlets at gas stations in Russia in the category of driver glasses...

Many people have probably seen the video “Achki nnada?” on the Internet, where a Chinese salesman on a bus demonstrates the wonders of increasing sales. Despite the comical nature of the situation, the seller can be praised - he uses merchandising technologies, although, perhaps, he himself is not aware of it.

It is difficult to imagine that any gas station managers would use this technique in sales areas, because many have long ago learned the truth that “not all yoghurts are equally healthy.”

We invite our readers to familiarize themselves with the eight commandments, the observance of which, according to specialists from the company TD SOYUZ, which has one of the best turnovers per square meter at retail outlets at Russian stations, will inevitably lead to an increase in sales of additional goods at gas stations.

Commandments
The first commandment of successful sales at gas stations: expand the range. Specialists from TD "SOYUZ" explain: goods to be introduced into any store must be carefully selected. How to determine that a product will sell? Pay attention to its uniqueness, recognition, demand, marginality and turnover from the area it will occupy. Demand should be determined among the target audience, and recognition should be assessed from the position of the product category and brand. The better these characteristics, the greater the sales, and therefore the profit.

This is especially important in stores at gas stations, where there is a specific target audience of visitors, a small retail space, and the staff is always busy serving refueling customers. For example, let's take the product category driver glasses. Why do they sell so well at stations? Because the coverage of the target audience is 100%, the retail outlet occupies a small area in the hall, and the product margin is extremely high (the markup on Cafa France glasses, for example, is 40–60%, with a retail price of 1100–1400 rubles).

Second commandment: the supplier must stimulate sales. At gas stations, packaging, POS and promotional materials work at full capacity. To this you need to add retail equipment, advertising campaigns in the media, and the product will be sold! Such items involve significant costs, so not all suppliers are willing to bear them. Look for those who will take it, and you will profit.

Third commandment: the product should be located where it will be noticed, there should always be plenty of products. The issue of display in a gas station is one of the most important. Non-essential and impulse items should be where customers can see them. First of all, these are the checkout area and corner shelving.
With placement everything is clear, but why is a good inventory so important? Because otherwise sales will be lower. Market leading companies understand: the absence of only 30% of product positions on the rack can lead to a decrease in profits by up to 40%! Trading House "SOYUZ", for example, solves the problem of inventory quite simply - the company maintains a large staff of sales representatives in each region.

Fourth Commandment: create interest in selling locally . Obviously, already busy gas station workers do not always like to advise customers about additional products. By motivating the station employees, you can get approximately the same Chinese seller from the bus, at least in terms of the degree of desire to sell the goods. It’s interesting that even an ordinary incentive, for example, like a bonus on a phone for a sold pair of glasses, can sometimes increase product sales to record levels.

Fifth Commandment: the total purchase price needs to be increased . This refers to promotions like “Buy a product and get the second one as a gift!” According to SOYUZ Trading House, up to a 30% increase in profits in the regions was achieved by a promotion when, when purchasing driver glasses, the client was given from 3 to 5 liters of fuel. By the way, such promotions can be repeated from month to month with consistently good results.

Sixth Commandment: use loyalty programs . They allow you to increase by 30% not only fuel sales, but also prize goods. Thus, when choosing a prize, drivers give preference to points right after fuel and essential goods (cigarettes, lemonade).

Seventh Commandment: organize competitions and quizzes . Practice shows that competitive, educational promotions and SMS quizzes always attract the attention of consumers. Profit increases by almost 20%!

Eighth Commandment: don't forget about the occasion . This little trick becomes a great motivating factor. Thus, events taking place from November to December are best tied to the New Year, and in late spring and summer, organize “Get the most rest” promotions. In June-July, any attraction of attention to the product leads to an increase in sales.

Yes, the level of sales at gas station stores in Russia is not yet comparable to that in Europe, but volume and turnover, and therefore additional profit, are constantly growing. However, when expanding the range, it is necessary not only to carefully select the product, but also to think through ways to promote it. With the departure of liquor and beer stations, increasing gas station store profitability has become an important goal.