Oh, The Love of convenience! This summer, my family took the proverbial summer road trip vacation. First, we drove from our home in Virginia up north to the great land of lobstah in wicked cool New England. After that, we drove from there down to the endless sandy beaches in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
1,500 miles!
We stopped for gas at a dozen different branded and unbranded convenience stores. We ate at quick-serve food, usually from the convenience stores. And, we bought tons of snacks and drinks and a whole lot of coffee (iced, of course…a summer staple).
The beauty of having convenience stores and travel centers in every town is that you can pick and choose where to stop.
But, there was one brand in particular for which I had a loyalty app with a fuel pay option. It was super convenient to just pull up and basically start pumping. I also saved 10 cents off every gallon and the app brilliantly told me how much I saved with each fill-up! You better believe I stopped at that store more frequently than other brands.
And, let’s talk about coffee.
In the great Northeast, Dunkin’ Donuts reigns supreme, especially in Massachusetts. It’s the only land in the world where Starbucks just can’t compete. I love Dunkin iced coffee, but you know what would make it even better?
A subscription program.
We consumed so many iced coffees during those three weeks. I certainly would’ve bought a Dunkin’ beverage subscription and the investment would’ve paid itself off in just a few days. I would certainly still be redeeming my daily allotment here at home when I want to add some New England blueberry flavor to brighten an otherwise hot Virginia day. If only…
The Moral of This Story?
Ensure your customers have a reason to continuously visit your store and not your neighbor’s store. If you’re a nationwide or a regional chain, welcome those road trippers with open arms over and over again state after state and day after day. Loyalty programs, fuel discounts and subscription programs will lock them in for life…or at least a few months, especially if they have that love for convenience.
About Liquid Barcodes
Liquid Barcodes is a leading global loyalty and digital marketing technology company specializing in the convenience and food service industries. The proprietary, cloud-based technology platform allows retailers to create and manage their digital marketing campaigns with a process called the “customer connection cycle’ to engage, promote and reward customers’ activities in real-time across digital and media channels.
Liquid Barcodes loyalty platform is powering loyalty programs for industry leaders across several global markets, by offering unique subscription, mobile payment, 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. Prior to Liquid Barcodes, Schnare worked at NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) in a variety of roles from event production to membership and host and producer of the popular industry podcast, Convenience Matters.
