Digital transformation has changed the experience at service stations: more speed, agility, and a new range of convenience services.
Industries are adopting technology and data management to generate even more value in their business models, and the oil and gas industry – especially service stations – is not immune to this phenomenon.
On one hand, various technological tools – like ERP systems, for example – provide a more holistic view of business operations, allowing for optimized resource management, cost reduction, and maximized profits through efficient handling of customer management, sales, administration and accounting, resources, material and product control, etc.
On the other hand, the days of an employee manually filling fuel and charging the customer with physical receipts and lengthy processes are over. Today, payment management systems allow station managers to control the entire process from a computer or mobile device with just a few clicks, resulting in less time and more efficiency. Automation, in fact, optimizes station management and achieves higher levels of customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, as part of comprehensive digital transformation, one can now think of a “connected station” that provides a fully personalized service through data integration.
Service stations can now use various data capture systems to analyze customers (schedules, habits, preferences) and personalize the experience not only at the stations but also with associated services. The end result? A change leading to customer loyalty and, consequently, increased profitability.
It’s about leveraging the advantages of digital technologies to offer drivers the services they need, not just related to cars or fuel. Today, the organized and systematized use of data aims to provide customers with the best possible experience during their visit to the service station.
The Internet of Things (IoT), for example, allows for remote monitoring of everything from car wash tunnels to lighting, refrigerators, or fuel tanks, thus improving maintenance. Additionally, this technology helps make service stations more sustainable and efficient by generating energy savings.
At times, digital technologies serve to achieve simple improvements that provide direct benefits: service centers at stations increasingly elevate their food offerings for customers, so AI, for example, can cross-reference data to develop a predictive model based on attendance schedules to determine the best time to have certain food items (burgers, baked goods, etc.) ready for customers to pick up quickly, providing the express experience they seek in this type of purchase.
Digital transformation also extends to a new range of services for stations. Many oil companies already have apps allowing customers to pay for fuel, make online purchases, use stations as pick-up points for orders, or even serve as key points for shared mobility services.
From these apps, customers can also order lunch or dinner or other store products that can be pre-ordered from mobile apps and picked up in minutes without leaving the car or waiting in line, just with a QR code. Even, there are plans to install license plate readers, which will allow for various commercial actions with the customer’s prior authorization, thus raising the quality of service offered today.
This is the present and future of service stations. A whole range of services that, thanks to new technologies and digitalization, will continue to grow to make life easier for people.
By Julio Cesar Blanco – March 3, 2023
