EdgePetrol only existing for multi-site operators is a myth. And it’s why over 50% of our customers are single sites.
Sitting with a multi-site retailer (who shall not be named) a year or so ago, they told me that they don’t pay attention to competition on 2 of their 6 sites.
“At these sites we have Tesco and Sainsbury nearby. Instead of competing we use our premium brand to set a premium price. The customer has a choice as they are literally across the road. The hit we take on volume we make up for on other sites.”
This is the advantage of a having a portfolio I thought. If you lose volume or margin on one site you can make it up elsewhere. The stakes are bigger, but so is the operational flexibility.
For a single site, however, this is not an option.
“We have an Asda and a Morrisons within 3 miles in each direction” a single site owner at another meeting told me. “We pay particular attention to their price, the day of the week, our average fill ups and- of course- the margin in order to make ends meet. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have a business”.
Single site owners often struggle to understand how supermarkets are able to sell so cheap. There are indeed four reasons:
- They do not need profit from fuel to make an overall profit, due to the size of their non-fuel offering
- Economies of scale give them greater buying power in the market
- Logistical advantages mean they are able to reduce freight costs, which are built into normal fuel supply contracts for smaller independents
- They are usually on a 2 weekly lag, or have a mix of contractual terms, giving them a forward view of the price and even more flexibility on cost
When you consider all this, it is hard to see how single sites stay in business.
They are a savvy and determined group. They are able to build personal relationships where supermarkets cannot and provide specific shop offerings tailored to their local market. But what they do best is make pricing decisions. Knowing the exact volume, their margin and all the other fuel insight for their site is imperative to help them do this. And this makes Edge extremely valuable to them.
For example, when the local supermarket moves down 2 cpg if you are not accounting for the old fuel in your tanks you can be up to 3 cpg off in your margin calculations. This is the number that tells you whether to follow or hold.
Seeing volumes in real time means you can see whether being priced a little higher is having a material impact or whether pricing lower is driving volume.
Average fill ups LIVE tells you whether people are just topping up at your site before coming back to the supermarket at the weekend and filling up alongside the big shop.
Best of all, EdgePetrol provides a net margin, taking into account the impact of fuel card transactions as they happen on your margin. Fuel card amounts can vary day-by-day and this means net margin varies too.
All of these factors go into setting a pole sign price.
This is why more than 50% of Edge users are single sites and we are adding more every week.
If you are a single site (or a multi-site) and you want to see how Edge can help your business book a demo or call 855-794-5844 .
