What characteristics do they have? What are the conditions under which they function best? And how can fuel retailers support a pricing analyst's success?
7 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FUEL PRICE CHANGES
To the average consumer, spikes and dips in fuel prices feel personal — like negative consequences and little rewards. The average consumer is unlikely to assess the oil price upstream or know what other factors determine whether or not the change at their favorite station is justified. Instead, they'll pay the price established and move along with their days. As a retailer, you do not have the same option. You need to understand which factors influence change in fuel prices so you can make better pricing decisions based on your pricing power and position.
MARKETS RIPE FOR THE TAKING: WHERE TO CONSIDER EXPANDING IN 2018
4 PREDICTIONS FOR FUEL AND CONVENIENCE RETAIL IN 2018
AFTER MARKET RANKING, WHAT'S NEXT? HOT SPOT ANALYSIS
HOW CAN RETAILERS LEVERAGE PRICING POWER?
ESSENTIAL DATA POINTS TO HELP YOU EVALUATE A SITE RENOVATION
by Marianne Hillhouse, Account Executive and Susan Ertl, Retail Network Planning Consultant
Information is indeed power. For every business, information sells. And for every product at a site — fuel and convenience retail, quick service restaurant or car wash — information leads to sound decisions (and those decisions make money).
PART 2: THE FINAL STEPS IN MARKET RANKING FOR EXPANSION
By Janet Tooke, VP Strategy Group, and Nancy Wheeler, Strategic Consultant
In Part 1 of our series on Market Ranking for Expansion, we explored the first three steps: defining objectives and constraints, selecting markets to be ranked and identifying variables. Now, let’s take a look at the final steps.
PART 3: HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU RELY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN FUEL PRICING?
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.
PART 1: HOW TO RANK MARKETS FOR EXPANSION
By Debbie Miggins, VP Location Services
Your organization has identified that it is the right time to expand into a new market or markets. No doubt, that decision can be an overwhelming task, if for no reason other than the sheer amount of possibilities that your geographic area may present. For example, in the United States alone, there are more than 19,000 cities in which you might find your ideal place. It can also feel overwhelming because of the potential consequences should you choose wrong: financial devastation.
PART 2: HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING FIT INTO YOUR FUEL PRICING STRATEGY
By Anila Siraj, EVP of Research and Applied Data Sciences
As machine learning becomes more accessible for fuel retail teams, pricing strategies and processes will inevitably evolve. But caution is still necessary; you should not blindly entrust your entire strategy to a computer simply because you have access to better data and the means to automate pricing decisions via this intelligence.
PRICING POWER: UNPACKING THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS EVALUATION
7 STEPS TO TAKE BEFORE SITE ACQUISITION
PART 1: HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING HAVE ADVANCED WITH DATA PROLIFERATION
By Anila Siraj, EVP of Research and Applied Data Sciences
The concept of artificial intelligence has gained increasing importance in our daily conversations over the last two decades or so, but it actually existed long before. Forbes begins the timeline of AI at 1308, when "Catalan poet and theologian Ramon Llull publishe(d) Ars generalis ultima (The Ultimate General Art), further perfecting his method of using paper-based mechanical means to create new knowledge from combinations of concepts."
NAVIGATING YOUR SITE TOWARD MARKET MATURITY
By Ian Thompson, Managing Director, Planning
In the past, we have discussed the process and progression of deregulation and how markets shift from stable to volatile as they progress. In this post, we will address how an individual retail site can respond to the level of market maturity its current market displays.
UNDERSTANDING THE INTRINSIC LINK BETWEEN ECONOMIC VALUE AND PRICE
By Ian Thompson, Managing Director, Planning
As Warren Buffet once told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, "If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you’ve got a very good business. And if you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10 percent, then you’ve got a terrible business."
THE DEFINITION OF WORLD-CLASS PRICING
THE POWER OF TRAFFIC DATA: A TALE OF TWO RETAILERS
By Kyle Spinuzzi, TrafficMetrix Account Manager
As a retailer, you are undoubtedly aware that data can power business agility and growth. Information about traffic patterns around your location or proposed location is merely one piece of the data puzzle, but an important one, nonetheless. Let's explore what might transpire should you forego knowledge of this important variable.
WHY SHOULD FUEL AND CONVENIENCE RETAILERS CARE ABOUT MILLENNIALS?
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.
BIG DATA IN THE CONVENIENCE RETAIL INDUSTRY
By Kent Schlesselman, Solutions Consultant
It’s easy to be both impressed and overwhelmed at the same time when you realize the sheer volume of relevant data sets available in the world, waiting to be harvested for meaningful insight. Even information about the sheer amount of information is, itself, big data.