BP employed a range of innovative fuel and food offerings in 2013 to maintain its strong market share and improve its earnings.
The company operates a network of more than 200 branded sites and finished the year with just under 30 per cent of the total inland fuel market.
BP says 2013 was a challenging year for volumes following the discontinuation of the firm’s discount fuel dockets partnership with Foodstuffs.
But the company maintained its market share and increased its sales of premium fuels with the help of a new BP Ultimate Diesel formula launched toward the end of the period and a reinvigorated AA Smartfuels programme.
BP says the challenge for AA Smartfuels was to make the programme smarter and more cost-effective.
A new 4 c/litre base discount was introduced with extra discounts available for in-store spend, third-party specials and volume fuel purchases. An online `opt-in’ promotion was used to rebuild the customer base.
BP says the 10-week campaign returned $7 for every $1 spent. AA Smartfuel programme operating costs during the period dropped by 35 per cent - a $7 million saving – while in-store spend increased by 6.5 per cent. Total fuel spending increased by 7.4 per cent and resulted in a year-on-year market share improvement of almost 1.2 per cent.
Convenient locations
BP says its core fuel retailing business relies on its convenient locations and the convenience stores and cafes it provides at those sites.
The firm opened a new truckstop in Inglewood last year and two company-operated BP Connect outlets at Bulls and in Marshlands, Christchurch.
Its Wild Bean Café chain – the country’s largest - sponsored TV3’s The Block NZ, while the company also trialled its new `Hungry As’ food offering at three BP 2go dealer sites.
The new offering saw food sales at those outlets increase by between 200 and 400 per cent. Sponsorship of The Block saw Wild Bean loyalty programme registrations almost triple, while coffee sales grew by almost 11.3 per cent – beating the company’s target. Every $1 of sponsorship delivered $3 dollars of extra coffee sales alone.
Wild Bean, already the country’s biggest coffee seller, is a core part of the BP Connect offering. The business sold almost 8 million cups of coffee last year, 236,367 more than in 2012, from 83 sites. Sales increased by 5.7 per cent, while the margin on food increased by 7 per cent.
BP’s site transaction count increased by 2 per cent from 2012. Store transactions increased by 7 per cent while the value of those purchases increased by 4 per cent.
Convenience net profit grew by 17 per cent, while underlying profitability improved by 4 per cent.
The Energy Retailer of the Year category is sponsored by Chapman Tripp