by Ian Thompson, Executive VP, Global Solutions Consultancy
Automated pricing processes can feel like a risk. How will you know if your prices are optimized? Can you really depend on a software solution to boost profit? And how will you feel giving up some control over pricing tactics?
By Ethan Walker, Solutions Consultant
Utter the word "automation" in a room full of people with diverse careers and histories. Some will shudder. Some will ignore. Some will start to get excited at the possibilities. Utter it in a room full of best-in-class fuel pricing analysts, and they're liable to start clapping. While automation is sometimes perceived as threatening, scary or "too difficult," it is absolutely essential from an overall efficiency standpoint. And at the end of the day, it equates to increased revenue, which analysts and executives alike happen to enjoy.
Our high-performance race car is almost complete. We have pulled together a powerful turbo engine, great telemetry, winning powertrain, fantastic crew and the right spoilers and wings. In relation to our convenience store, we are set up for success with great facilities, the right data and analysis of the competition, excellent operations, the right merchandise and world-class pricing.
In Part 1, I introduced the analogy of the convenience retailer as a finely tuned performance car in a challenging race for volume. We explored pricing as the turbo charger, best used in short bursts for growing margin and exploiting daily opportunities, but not the best way to maintain or grow market share. We also looked at how dropping prices across the board to increase volume often results in price wars and minimal volume growth at reduced margins.
You don't always have control over your promotional items, and that means you don't always have a plan to understand their effects on sitewide sales. Your gut instinct on what works and what doesn't is a good start, but is it giving you all the strategic support you need? Access to critical, integrated data can raise your game to the next level.
by Anila Siraj, EVP of Research and Applied Data Sciences
As we mentioned in part two of this series, blindly relying on computational processes and models for pricing, without consideration for your market needs and dynamics, can be dangerous. While your market progresses through the phases of maturity, you must maintain your commitment to keep pace with those phases via your pricing strategy — without sacrificing success due to impatience.
by Elizabeth Kershaw, Client Success Manager for Europe
Millennials represent over 90 million consumers, and by 2020 — just a few short years away — they will account for 30 percent of retail spending in the US. In India, there are more millennials than in the UK and US combined. Demographically, millennials now outnumber baby-boomers. Far from the stereotype of the millennial still living at home, many of these consumers are now in their 20s and 30s with increasing spending power.
by Debbie Miggins, Vice President, Location Services
Retailers have to make a site selection in order to grow their business. With so many available properties and so many factors to consider, how should one go about selecting the best locations?
By Ethan Walker, Solutions Consultant
Utter the word "automation" in a room full of people with diverse careers and histories. Some will shudder. Some will ignore. Some will start to get excited at the possibilities. Utter it in a room full of best-in-class fuel pricing analysts, and they're liable to start clapping. While automation is sometimes perceived as threatening, scary or "too difficult," it is absolutely essential from an overall efficiency standpoint. And at the end of the day, it equates to increased revenue, which analysts and executives alike happen to enjoy.
By Aaron McHugh, Kalibrate Merchandise Group Business Development
John Wanamaker, a U.S. merchant who opened the first department store in Philadelphia in the late 1800s, coined the popular phrase, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” Though referring specifically to advertising dollars, Wanamaker’s statement is every bit as applicable to convenience store retailers trying to measure the effectiveness of their merchandise promotions.
by Elizabeth Kershaw, Client Success Manager for Europe
Emissions scandals, diesel car bans in Europe’s capitals, proposals for changes to tax regimes – what is happening to the once revered diesel fuel in Europe?
Answering that question means looking back to the beginning of the love affair, and why Europe became so enamoured with diesel fuel in the first place.
