Boost Sales and Reward Customers with Loyalty Programs at Your Truckstop

Repeat customers are extremely valuable to businesses, and when done right, loyalty programs can draw in shoppers while also boosting sales for the location. That creates a win/win situation for customers as well as the businesses they frequent.

Local customers tend to be interested in discounts on both merchandise and fuel, but Schulte said there is a difference between a fuel card or fuel discount program and a loyalty program. “It is one thing to say, ‘We’ll give you a six-cent discount when you fuel with us,’ and another to use a loyalty program to get them to go inside and spend their money,” he said.

Rewarding the Locals
Center Point Travel Plaza in Center Point, Iowa, has worked with Points to Partners, which is owned by Ambest, to create a loyalty program for local customers. It offers 1 percent cash back on anything customers buy in the store. Plus every time customers swipe their cards, they are eligible for random prizes, such as a $20 gift card, free pizza or double points on that transaction.

The location also sends monthly mailers that highlight store promotions. “We usually promote two kitchen items or some of the fried food might be on special, and we usually have a beer promotion and then a store promotion,” said Seth Habeger, assistant manager at Center Point Travel Plaza. “It is just a couple items we want the customers and others around us to know about. We want them to understand that it is such a great deal they need to come here.”

The local customers like to use it because they rack up points and receive valuable discounts. “It is a way of saying thank you,” Habeger said, adding that professional drivers receive loyalty rewards through the Ambest loyalty program.

Boosting Store Traffic
Mike McCarville, president of Ambest’s Points to Partners, said the idea behind a loyalty program is to drive sales and revenue. “Just by doing a loyalty program you should get more dollars out of your existing customer, get a customer that doesn’t shop with you as frequently to do more with you and get some new customers. It won’t be just because you started aloyalty program, but because of the attributes of the program,” he said.

As part of Roady’s loyalty program, professional drivers get free cards and earn one point for every gallon of fuel purchased. The points turn into dollars that drivers can redeem for merchandise. “Our stops benefit because it increases their foot traffic and their gallons sold,” said Trisha Harris, program manager for Roady’s. “The drivers like to get things for free.”

Roady’s has 388 truckstops within its networks, and Harris said the loyalty program can boost repeat business for the locations and attract customers.

Increasing Inside Sales
To grow inside sales, operators can offer discounts on fuel based on the amount of purchases made inside the store, Schulte said. “When they buy a Twinkie or a sandwich, you could give discounts for fuel. That is how you can get them for a fuel customer and encourage inside sales,” he said.

Operators can use a loyalty program to drive customers to profitable areas of the location or areas where they want to increase sales. That could change based on the particular day or a specific time window.

Evaluating the Data
McCarville said the key element of a loyalty program is the database the location builds and the information it captures. The information can help them better understand customer behavior and the best promotions to spur sales.

Data collection and analysis, which Points to Partners does through its software, helps the company customize programs for retailers. “While the software of the program is all basically the same, you could have programs right across the street from each other that don’t look the same,” McCarville said. “That is where the database comes into play. We can tell who is buying gas but not shopping inside the store or who is shopping inside the store but not buying gas. Our marketing capabilities allow us to send messages to people in the database based on any parameter.”

For example, if a location knows that out of its 1,000 loyalty card holders, 250 never buy gas, the store can take that group and give them a specific message, such as a discount at the pump, at the point of sale, McCarville explained.

Evaluating the data can help operators identify their top customers, allowing them to provide extra recognition for their most frequent shoppers. “Once the location has identified drivers that spend more than the average guest, they can communicate with them on a more personal level, send specials on a regular basis and customize offers,” Schulte said.

Points to Partners can capture transaction information in several ways, including using a standalone credit card type of device that captures thesale and the dollar amount or integrating with point-of-sale systems.

To access their Points to Partners loyalty card data, retailers go through an online portal and can run 16 different reports. “For any data requests they have, they can submit a request and we will run a report and either generate the information they’re asking for or set up a promotion based on what they want to do with it,” McCarville said.

One pitfall Schulte sees is that operators will spend a lot of time mining data but not do anything with the information. “If you know that the vast majority of the time people are using their fuel discounts on a certain day, you should be able to identify programs or specific things around that day,” Schulte said. “If Tuesday is your slowest day but Monday is outrageous, could you change things to where you’re telling customers to come in on Tuesday or Wednesday?” If Tuesday is your slowest day but Monday is outrageous, could you change things to where you’re telling customers to come in on Tuesday or Wednesday?

“When you get information, it is actionable,” Schulte said, adding that single-store operators may choose not to dig deep into the data but can still gain usable information. “You might be able to see that Tuesday, for example, is a day when people using a loyalty card and the vast majority of the swipes are going on fuel.”

Rolling out a Program
Burt Newman Jr., president of Professional Transportation Partners, said that when launching a loyalty card program, it is crucial to give something that gives people value instantly. “You have to give some type of a reward right when they sign up and then reward them very soon after that. It has to grab their attention, otherwise they don’t pay attention,” he said.

Points to Partners encourages operators to offer instant rewards, which McCarville called triggers, when they start a program. “We know from the years of doing this if I use the card for your program three times and don’t get something valuable, I will think it is not worth it and not participate,” he said. “We encourage people to preload program with triggers to create excitement, so it becomes like a lottery.”

Schulte also suggests operators offer customers immediate gratification. “Today’s shoppers want something that makes them feel valued right now. Offering a discount on an item during the current visit can be more powerful than offering savings on a return visit,” he said.

Communication is also key. “You have to be able to communicate to the customer what is in it for them. If they can’t see it, they won’t use it anymore,” McCarville said.

Roady’s Harris suggests operators use Facebook and in-store signage to promote their programs. Some stops will run promotions, such as double or triple points for set periods, to encourage use.

Scott French, hotel manager at Little America, whose parent company is Sinclair, said he believes in the Points to Partners program. Little America has success with it in pockets, and French said the company likely would have been more successful with it if it had done a better job when rolling it out.

“Loyalty programs themselves are proven to be effective, but one of the keys is getting everybody on board within the organization but then rolling it out correctly,” French said. “What I wish we could go back and change is having more preparation before we rolled it out.”

Habeger said that at Center Point Travel Plaza, the store’s cashiers do a good job of signing customers up for the card. “They just ask them, do you have a rewards card,” he said. “You can reward cashiers for signing people up.”

The sign-up process has to be easy, Habeger said. “You can’t take up a lot of their time. It is convenience, so you have to get them in and out quickly,” he said.

Newman said that if customers aren’t required to provide information when they receive the card, it is essential that they follow up and register the card. “You want everyone to register. You can give them points they can start accumulating right away, but they should have to register to redeem them. You want to have their information,” he said.

For customers, ease of use, such as the ability to use a phone number as an alternate ID, is a priority, Newman said. “Everybody is busy now. If you make it too complicated, people won’t do it,” he said.

Once a program is established, then Points to Partners switches to a more data-specific type of reward. “All of that depends on the retailer, what he wants to do and what he is interested in accomplishing. Our software is so flexible that we can do virtually anything you want to do,” McCarville said.

Partnering with the Community
Points to Partners has a clubs and charities section with its program that allows retailers to use software to set up a charity or group, enabling them to participate in the loyalty program and track the amount of sales. “They’re not just giving them a check for $150 and hoping for success but giving them a rebate for members actually shopping with them. That is a powerful thing,” McCarville said.

Center Point Travel Plaza uses its loyalty program to support an archery program at a local school. “We set it up so the 100 or so cards we gave them earn points for themselves and the same amount of points for their club,” Habeger said.

McCarville recommends operators identify their goals for their loyalty programs, which will allow them to measure success. “Whether it is for an over-the-road diesel program or a c-store group or a single store, the goal is to increase whatever aspect you’re looking at,” he said.

Photo credit: Darren Schulte/NATSO

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