Summer road trips are an American staple and the key to success is to provide convenience, familiarity and rewards to win customers.
I loaded up the family roadster for our annual road trip in late July, traveling north from my home in Virginia to Massachusetts.
My family of four, which includes two picky teens with opposite food requests, fares best at locations that offer ample choices to suit whatever meal they opt to eat at that moment. In agreement with recent studies, my kids tend to want snacks more than meals, lunch during breakfast hours, and protein shakes instead of chewable food at lunch. A c-store is generally the wise choice as a restaurant just causes arguments.
Road Trip First and Last Stops
After an early morning departure, we made it up to middle New Jersey, my home state, just in time for lunch and a gas tank fill-up. Anyone who has traveled the NJ Turnpike knows of the convenient, well-spaced, and interestingly-named travel plazas along the way.
I was extremely pleased to visit a newly redesigned travel plaza featuring esteemed Irish retailer, Applegreen. In 2022, Applegreen was contracted by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to redevelop New Jersey’s on-highway service plazas to include Applegreen convenience stores, QSRs, and other amenities, including a growing EV charging network.
I loved the fresh look of the Applegreen c-store anchoring the large location.
The self-checkout was easy to understand with a staff person nearby to help.
The restrooms were super clean, especially comforting since there were easily thousands of people coming in each day. One kid got snacks, the other went to the QSR Shake Shack, my husband was outside fueling up and we were quickly on our way!
Jumping ahead a week, we stopped at another service plaza on our way back south and we were equally impressed. This time, it was lunch and everyone stuck to the conventional meal choices of Subway and Shake Shack while also purchasing drinks and chips at the Applegreen!
One side note, Shake Shack’s kiosk ordering was so very convenient! With a small, limited menu, it was easy to order and get on our way without having to surf through a thousand choices. Very impressive.
I have to shout out to this little green frog trash receptacle out front of the two travel plazas I visited. Earlier this year, I was in Ireland touring Applegreens and they have the same cute little guy there. It made me smile!
Applegreen isn’t in my home area so I only have the opportunity once or twice a year to visit. However, when they extend a loyalty program akin to their Irish locations, I’ll be sure to sign up!
A Store for All Road Trip Seasons
New England customers are seeing a lot more Seasons Corner Market locations popping up. Colbea Enterprises, LLC, operating as Seasons Corner Market, has more than 40 locations with plans to expand.
The sleek, clean look of Seasons Corner Market is warm and inviting to daily commuters. We stopped at one for a quick restroom break in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. The location was brand new or newly remodeled and the staff was wonderfully friendly.
Offering Seasons branded snacks and drinks in addition to traditional offerings, this location was bright, open, and cheerful! In addition to food, it had Shell-branded fuel and Honey Dew Donuts inside.
Seasons Corner Market operates car washes at a number of their locations and plans to release a car wash subscription program later this year!
Mobile Fuel Pay the Cumberland Way
Mid-way through our trip, we fueled up at a convenient Cumberland Farms. Cumberland Farms was one of the first to offer mobile fuel pay which I always find convenient. There aren’t any Cumby’s in my area so I only have the chance to visit on our annual vacation. Every time I visit, I open up my mobile app and it welcomes me back as an (unintentionally) infrequent visitor and once doubled my fuel savings! A very friendly way to reward users, no matter how occasional!
Mobile fuel pay is a fast, convenient way to speed service, provide convenience and reward customers. Sunshine Gasoline Distributers in Florida and Smith Oil in West Virginia are both realizing great success with the Liquid Barcodes C-StorePay solution!
Dunkin’, of Course
When in New England, it is impossible to throw a stone without hitting a Dunkin’ Donuts. While I didn’t get treated to being served by Ben Affleck, we did enjoy breakfast and summer iced coffee one morning from Dunkin’.
I frequent my Virginia Dunkin’ so I was excited to pop open my trusty Dunkin’ mobile app, claim some outstanding loyalty rewards, place my order and skip the line, all while saving money!
Convenience, Familiarity and Rewards Are Key for Road Trips
My family has been making this 9-hour road trip every year for a couple of decades and yet, we don’t have planned stops along the way when the need for fuel, restrooms, or food arises.
We rely on map searches and road signs to direct where we’ll stop. Clean, well-lit locations might get us on the lot, but clean restrooms, good food, and great offers compel us to come back.
We might not stop at the very same location each time, but if we are familiar with the brand, we’re very likely to stop at another somewhere along the way.
And, if that store offers a loyalty rewards program, you better believe my cost-conscious self will download it and sign up! I may not be their exact target customer due to my infrequency, but, it’s important to remember that locations on highways, along popular beaches and tourist routes can cater to once-a-year guests who will go out of their way just to stop in someplace reliable, familiar, and save time and money!
Cheers and happy summer!
About Liquid Barcodes
Liquid Barcodes is a leading global loyalty and digital marketing technology partner specializing in the convenience and foodservice industries. The proprietary, cloud-based technology platform allows retailers to create and manage their digital marketing campaigns with the “customer connection cycle” process to engage, promote, and reward customers’ activities in realtime across digital and media channels.
Liquid Barcodes loyalty platform is powering loyalty programs for industry partners across several global markets, by offering unique subscription and mobile payment programs, machine learning, personalization, gamification, loyalty, and other capabilities.
Learn more about Liquid Barcodes at LiquidBarcodes.com.
About the Author
Carolyn Schnare, Chief Content Officer, Liquid Barcodes
Carolyn Schnare has been involved with the convenience retailing industry for two decades with extensive knowledge of customer engagement and marketing, sustainability, and community outreach. Before Liquid Barcodes, Schnare worked at NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) in a variety of roles from event production to membership and most recently as Director of Strategic Initiatives and host and producer of the popular industry podcast, Convenience Matters. Schnare currently anchors the popular Future of Convenience podcast, produced by Global Convenience Store Focus media group.
