Technology-driven experiences are everywhere. From iPhone to Netflix, customers buy products and order services literally with their fingertips. If you’re a Digital Native, the thought of doing anything manually–like driving to the store or going to rent an actual movie–might be foreign to you. And when it comes to business processes, manual processes seem downright archaic.

Technology helps companies in every sector automate labor-intensive backend processes and customer-facing services. Cloud technology has the power to revolutionize fuel delivery in our industry. With a commodity such as fuel, it’s nearly impossible to track workflows, vendors, tanks and leak lines, or fuel usage without some automation in place, at least with any accuracy.

While the processes you’ve been using may be good enough, the retail fuel industry is evolving faster every day. Efficiency and productivity can differentiate your business from the forecourt down the street. Fuel delivery automation is paving the way.

Innovation as a Competitive Advantage

Technology is capable of integrating into your operation’s backend systems while at the same time streamlining your operation on the front end. Here are five ways innovation can give you a competitive advantage.

1. Achieve better workflows. Using many technology systems for site management can leave you feeling like your information is scattered and difficult to access. You may have a decentralized process spread across various divisions. You may have to manually update spreadsheets. You may not have a standard operating procedure to manage compliance. You may be managing work orders haphazardly.

If so, this all translates to poor efficiency and lost revenue. Whether it’s to track maintenance orders from entry to completion or pipeline repairs, fuel delivery automation can help you run your business at peak efficiency and greatest profitability.

2. Save time. You can review past alarms, tie them to specific tanks, identify issues with theft, carriers, or leaks and analyze the time of discovery. Knowing when and why alarms are triggered represents crucial data points that can improve response time. Our software gives owners the ability to escalate workflows with custom notifications, ensuring critical tasks are taken care of immediately.

Also, when you’re operating many convenience stores, vendor management can become a critical profit (or loss) center. The ability to integrate vendors into the platform can improve efficiency dramatically. Instead of laboring over paper files that are hard to transfer and analyze, you can automate vendor data feeds, streamlining the entire process.

3. Improve outcomes. Software lets you check tanks and line leaks around the clock so a leak never goes undetected. It can also correct common ATG configuration issues, minimizing shutdowns.

No one wants to lose a customer to the competition, especially over something preventable like an unavailable or slow fueling nozzle. Automation creates frictionless fueling. Technology can monitor and prevent slow fuel and nozzle unavailability. It can simultaneously check tank levels and track fuel use to reduce the duration and frequency of tank shutdowns.

4. Mitigate risk. When you improve alarm efficiency, you’re better able to manage risk. Alarms set for overfill, high or low product inventory, will generate reports you can then analyze. You can review past alarms and tie them to specific tanks to create a fuel delivery model. This model lets you plan based on historical data and real-time forecasting for timely fuel refills. It’s not just a leak you have to be concerned about. You can lose sales if you run out of fuel.

5. Minimize errors. Automation at the pump provides the lowest possible inventory variance by correcting for common sources of error, such as the tank chart, meter drift, temperature, and vapor loss. No one wants to lose a customer to competition, especially over something preventable like an unavailable or slow fueling position.

Wrap Up

There are many reasons to automate fuel delivery. For one, the software lets you focus on the real issues rather than the process of moving paper from one point to another. Also, a robust cloud solution provides a simple one-stop-shop of actionable analytics. You can improve both the customer experience and increase fuel sales when you invest in fuel delivery software.

Paul Lauinger

VP of Solutions Consulting

Paul has over 25 years of global presales leadership experience and has a proven track record of building high-performing, scalable Solution Consulting teams that have advanced strategic, value-based selling skills.

After a challenging year of unexpected changes and adaptations, many are looking forward to a fresh start in 2021. As retailers are thinking about long-term goals and top priorities, here are a few resolutions every c-store owner and operator should make: 

1. Become EMV Compliant 

EMV compliance has been a hot topic for years as major credit card companies insist retailers upgrade their point-of-sale (POS) systems to use chip readers or take on the fraud liability themselves. The deadline to comply has been extended to April 1, 2021 after key industry players voiced concerns over the impact of COVID-19 on retailers. A Conexxus survey conducted in June 2020 showed that only 15% of retailers were fully EMV compliant with most retailers lagging in upgrading their outdoor POS systems due to cost and complexity. With the April deadline rapidly approaching, EMV compliance should be priority number one.  

2. Stay on Top of Technology Trends 

The pandemic forced c-stores to quickly adopt new technologies to keep up with changing regulations and customer needs. CSNews’ Technology Report shows that almost 75% of retailers increased their technology spend from 2019 to 2020, driven in large part by EMV compliance, but also by the need for greater business intelligence and reporting capabilities as well as better store-level inventory management. To jump start 2021, owners and operators should seek software that can organize forecourt data to help them make better business decisions and drive greater profitability. Even though a pandemic accelerated this technology evolution, customers expect an upgraded experience, and you don’t want to fall behind the competition.  

3. Move on from Manual Compliance 

In the wake of ongoing challenges and the strain COVID-19 has put on the convenience store industry, many retailers have a long list of to-dos and may be facing budget reductions. That’s why retailers should focus on investments that can free-up cash reserves, such as switching to a digital compliance solution. Not only will environmental compliance solutions streamline processes and allow employees to access data and documents remotely, but Titan Cloud’s compliance solution decreases fuel releases and remediation by 80%, so users can reallocate their environmental reserves for other important projects. Make 2021 the year you commit to a faster, more reliable compliance process.  

4. Migrate to Mobile 

Mobile apps dominated the industry last year as many retailers created or updated them to include online ordering, delivery, and customer loyalty programs to meet changing customer needs throughout the pandemic. With many customers still wary of venturing indoors, a mobile app offers socially-distanced options to make your customer feel more comfortable visiting your store and facilities, which makes it well worth the investment. Adding a customer loyalty program can also be a great way to attract customers with promotions and retain them with reward programs. Regardless of where you are in the mobile app journey, this is the year to use it to the fullest. 

5. Finally Take Control of Wetstock Management  

2020 was the year of frictionless: painless shopping, easy mobile payment, and streamlined fueling at the pump. Continue this trend in 2021 by offering a frictionless fueling experience with Titan Cloud’s Frictionless Fueling. This comprehensive wetstock management solution helps you reduce runouts, nozzle unavailability, and slow flow – three things that can damage brand reputation and push loyal customers to competitors. Upgrade your wetstock management program this year, so you can offer a customer experience that’s truly frictionless.  

Looking for Solutions to Help with These Resolutions?

Contact one of our specialists to help find solutions to support your goals.

Brent Puzak

VP of Solutions Consulting

Brent brings 25 years' industry experience to Titan Cloud as the Vice President of Solutions Consulting. He led environmental shared services for a global retail chain with over 9,000 locations, moving through numerous leadership positions. Brent's diverse background and knowledge allows him to take a strategic approach to addressing complex industry challenges.

It looks like Americans just can’t wait to get on the road again.

After months of shuttered doors and few travelers on the road, convenience store owners are beginning to see an increase in traffic as states continue lifting quarantine measures following the COVID-19 outbreak. The most recent NACS and PDI reports show that the number of workweek trips has increased to almost the same level as 2019. As states continue to open their cities one thing has become apparent: this will be the summer of road trips.

July and August are the most popular months for travel, but with most people still feeling uncertain about travelling by plane, many are altering their vacation plans to stay closer to home. In fact, Service Management Group found that 71% of people are less likely to travel by plane this summer. Instead, one-third of Americans will be taking a road trip in place of airline travel according to Gasbuddy’s 2020 Summer Travel Study. This is great news for convenience stores across the nation, but after weeks of waiting for more forecourt traffic, owners and operators need to ask themselves if they’re prepared for this sudden increase in customers.

If there was ever a time to take control of forecourt maintenance, it’s now. Even though customers’ main concern is cleanliness, they’re still expecting fast and convenient service instore and in the forecourt. To maximize uptime for each fueling asset, many owners and operators are turning to software solutions to help streamline their maintenance processes. Titan Cloud’s  maintenance platform offers a work order dispatch feature to expedite the process and manage tickets for better performance and fewer go-backs. With the addition of root-cause analysis, this solution provides the transparency that owners and operators need to improve their assets and processes before crowds of vacationers start showing up.

Preparing for lots of customers also means preparing to give them a frictionless fueling experience. Now more than ever, owners and operators need to prioritize minimizing nozzle downs, runouts, and flow rates. ATG monitoring systems can solve these and other problems by providing data and analytics that help make inventory management easier. With Titan’s advanced fuel analytics solution, owners and operators can even pinpoint when to replenish inventory (and by how much) so their fueling positions  stay open and ready for customers.

With most summer vacations just around the corner, owners and operators need to use this time to prepare for the road trippers by streamlining inventory and maintenance processes.

To talk to someone about the Titan Cloud solutions that can help do just that.

Brent Puzak

VP of Solutions Consulting

Brent brings 25 years' industry experience to Titan Cloud as the Vice President of Solutions Consulting. He led environmental shared services for a global retail chain with over 9,000 locations, moving through numerous leadership positions. Brent's diverse background and knowledge allows him to take a strategic approach to addressing complex industry challenges.