National Petroleum News (NPN) has been the independent voice of the petroleum industry since 1909 as the opposition to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. So, motor fuels marketing and retail is not just a sideline for us, it’s our core competency.
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RETAIL OPERATIONS Advantages of Electronic Price Signage: • • • • • • Electronic gas price displays look better LED gas price displays allow employees more time with customers LED technology saves money on energy Electronic price signs are safer Electronic price signs update instantly LED gas displays protect the fuel profit margin price signage, reliability and durability of the signs were paramount. In addition, the issues the Spinx Company faced were local sign ordinances that restrict or resist signage that 'looks like Las Vegas.' So what results has Spinx experienced since making the change to electronic signage? "We can move very quickly as costs change," Spinks says. "Some suppliers do multi-day chang- es. Central cost monitoring and speed of price changes can 'signal the street' of our desire to pass on increases or decreases to the market. If competitors don't react within two hours, Spinx can react expediently. Furthermore, the staff does not have to stop serving customers to physically go 'post the prices.'" FULL THROTTLE AHEAD Many savvy petroleum marketers have been replacing outdated technology with electronic price signs and message centers for years. "These companies have focused their attention to improving profitability, maximizing margin capture, managing price control and monitoring employee efficiency—making them prime candidates for electronic price signage systems," Wenner says. What's more, the time that employees previ- ously spent changing static price displays can now be focused on serving the customer and building customer loyalty, a key ingredient to profitability in the retail world today. "In addition, safety con- cerns, including the risk of injury to employees, are eliminated and required equipment, such as exten- sion ladders, pole changers and inventory of static price panels, is reduced," Schmeichel says. One of the biggest advantages of jumping on the proverbial electronic signage bandwagon is speed to the street. Price changes can now be made within 16 MARCH 2012 seconds instead of hours and these prices are far more likely to be accurate as well. "With diminishing fuel margins and constant competitive pressure, our customers realize that if they do not take fuel pricing, margins, and volume seriously, the competitors will," Stadjuhar says. "And it will put them at a giant disadvantage. Lost margin or lost volume can add up to hundreds of dollars a week. Multiply that by months and years and the return on investment for electronic signs as part of their fuel strategy is remarkably fast." Electronic price signs also allow marketers to truly measure in matrix what fuel pricing does for their volume and margin as well the volume inside the store. "With this ability to have true real-time data our marketers can start to manage their fuel pricing," Stadjuhar says. Spinks agrees. "The ability to constantly monitor our store volumes and competitor pricing remotely from wherever I am allows me to instantly be very proactive with our stores in a constantly changing market," Spinx says. "The electronic price signs also look great with our company image, are easy to read from a distance, and we can price our gas quickly and competitively for our customers." KEY CONSIDERATIONS Industry experts agree that the days of manually changing gas prices and store promotions with suction cups and ladders are long gone. "Owners and marketers are able to instantly update fuel prices, promotions, sales and even community events from inside the store at a moment's notice and this is what consumers have come to expect," Schmeichel says. "Store owners are experiencing first hand that using reliable LED technology to update fuel prices and marketing initiatives saves NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com