Boost Truckstop Sales with Today’s Hot Categories

Although there is no magic bullet for winning customers and increasing each transaction, truckstop and travel plaza operators said they are seeing tremendous success in certain categories, but what is hot today isn’t always what has sold in the past.

“You have to adapt and follow the trends,” said Damon Borden, operations manager for Broadway Flying J. “Hours-of-service has changed what we do and carry in the stores, and it is a different business now than it was 10 to 15 years ago.”

Know Your Customers
Knowing what to sell and how to position it goes back to understanding who your customer is, said Darren Schulte, vice president of membership at NATSO. “There may be a store that does well with cigarettes and beer, but another that doesn’t,” he said.

Schulte said there is a belief that ‘if you build it they will come,’ and while there is some truth in that, it isn’t always enough. “Look at what traffic is passing you,” he said. “What types of trucks are on the road? What is your marketing approach? How are you talking to your customers around you? Are you using your website or do you have a heavy presence on Yelp, Google Maps, Trip Advisor?”

There are standard things that sell very well if positioned properly, such as cellular, sunglasses, and food and beverage. “When you start with a travel center, you have to start with the base. What are the things everybody will want? That is how you start generating your strategy,” Schulte said. “Then you break it off and look at your demographics.”

“When you’re looking to grow a category or reduce a category, you do have to look at data, it has to be part of your commitment,” Schulte said, adding that NATSO can help members identify the demographics in their area. “If you don’t have the ability to do that on your own and understand what types of customers are around you, ask NATSO.”

Tailor Your Offerings
While food is one category that seems to be doing well across the board, not all food programs are created equally. “We used to have family restaurants in our locations, and people would come in and have a meal. For the past 10 years it has changed. Nobody has time to sit down and have a breakfast or lunch. They want fast, grab-and-go food,” said Paul Bhardwaj, CEO and founder of Golden Oil, which operates four truckstops and is in the process of building its fifth.

Golden Oil has been successful with taking out sit-down restaurants and adding a variety of nationally branded fast-food locations. “At first, we tried our own fast-food location, but it didn’t work very well because people want to know the name of where they are going,” Bhardwaj said.

Golden Oil also offers grab-and-go food options in the c-store, and prepared fresh fruit and vegetables are a top seller. “We have a kitchen in the back and can prepare that in house. You have to have the proper area dedicated to it,” Bhardwaj said, adding that offerings must be consistent. “You can’t have it one day and not the next day.”

To help differentiate its locations, Bhardwaj said he likes to have unique offerings. A big hit at the location is fresh-squeezed orange juice. “Customers can squeeze it themselves. We have a machine that has a hopper and you put your orange in,” he said.

Certain categories, such as beer, have traditionally been underperforming in truckstops and travel plazas even though they do well in c-stores, but that isn’t always the case. Borden said Broadway Flying J has had success with its beer cave and with craft beers in particular. “It is the hottest segment of the beer category,” he said.

Schulte said the success of a beer cave depends on who is stopping at the location. “I have heard some operators say, ‘I put in a beautiful beer cave and it isn’t selling.’ That is likely because they didn’t understand who their customers are,” he said, adding that a strong local customer base or proximity to an event center or local attractions can bode well for beer sales. “There are many products in our industry that depend on who your customer is and where they are located.”

Bhardwaj said Golden Oil has a beautiful selection of wines and liquor, which sell well. “In our new location, we will have two doors of wine in the cooler,” he said.

The majority of customers at Golden Oil’s locations are local, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in the same town. “It is people traveling 50 miles or 100 miles,” Bhardwaj said, adding that while over-the- road professional drivers do stop at

Golden Oil’s locations, the company doesn’t target them heavily. “There is no money in it and they jump ship every day. Our sales people try to target our local trucking companies.”

Both Borden and Bhardwaj said beverage coolers do well. Broadway Flying J has taken its sales up a notch by offering two-for deals. “It increases your ring and you move a lot more product,” Borden said.

Beverages seem to change every year, Bhardwaj said. “There are so many out there nowadays, but you have to be selective. You just don’t have enough room to carry everything,” he said, adding that for Golden Oil, energy drinks have been successful but seem to be dying down. “Now Kombucha is big. We just started adding that about a month ago,” he said.

Craft an Apparel Program
Broadway Flying J has also had good luck with apparel, and its line high-visibility clothing (think construction yellow and orange) in particular. “It has been a great item for us. Workersbuyit,andIthinkitiskindofa fashion statement now,” Borden said.

Schulte said today’s customers are more willing to buy clothing at non-traditional locations. “Think of the number of apparel products that popped up in airports,” Schulte said. “Someone at the airport authority has said, ‘You know what? This can sell.’”

Draw on Your Amentities
Some locations are creating new or expanded sales offerings through their amenities. Following the addition of a dog park at Davis Travel Centers, sales in the dog section of the store have increased. Top items include novelty items as well as types of dog food and treats. Davis Travel Center installed the location several years ago, and Bill Decker, manager of the location, said the use and love of the dog park has continued to increase, which means added sales for the location.

Schulte said dog parks and playgrounds are on the rise. “Chairs with canopies or umbrellas can change the demographics of who is stopping at the location, he said. “If you have a nice outside seating area, and a playground and dog park, you’re sending a message that you’re friendly to the family.”

At Davis Travel Center, novelty food items, such as popcorn and cotton candy also do well, Decker said.

Buying local has become a trend for many shoppers, and it can be especially attractive for travelers. Wisconsin cheese is a top seller for Golden Oil. Bhardwaj said he ran a trial on cheese sales after a friend told him he was having success with it. “The sales grew like I couldn’t believe,” he said. Today the company’s truckstops have 16-foot coolers dedicated to Wisconsin cheeses and meats, and the newest location, which is under construction, will have two 16-foot coolers.

A location’s surroundings can influence what customers buy. At a travel center located near a major tourist attraction that has buses of foreigners coming through, slippers and neck wraps might do well. If the travelers are Asian, noodle soups may be popular. “It all depends on where you’re located,” Schulte said.

Be Flexible
Overall, operators said locations have to be willing to adjust their offerings as customers change. “I’ve been in truckstops for 30-plus years, and I’ve seen over the years that our amenities have changed,” Bhardwaj said.

For example, Borden said the increase in the number of company drivers has resulted in a decrease in sales of truck hardware, chrome and CB accessories. “Those sales just aren’t there anymore. You consolidate that and it makes room for new items,” Borden said, adding that Broadway Flying J has been focusing on ways to turn that inventory back into dollars. “It is changing what we do.”

Schulte reminds all operators to remain focused on who their customers are when deciding which products to pull and which to add. “While truck supply doesn’t sell like it used to, in some locations it is still a huge profit center,” he said. “You have to know who is stopping at your location.”

No matter what locations sell, Bhardwaj said one of the most important features is a clean restroom. In addition to always cleaning its restrooms, Golden Oil replaces them every five to eight years to keep customers happy. “Bathrooms are very, very important, especially for ladies, and ladies are usually dictating where to stop,” he said.