How does brand impact gas station performance?

Savvy fuel retailers are leveraging Kalibrate’s advanced analytics tools to simulate potential outcomes and identify optimal strategies for growth. These data-driven simulations explore the effects of branding, pricing adjustments, site expansions, and amenities to forecast their impact on both fuel and retail sales. 

In our decades of experience supporting fuel retailers, operators that place data at the heart of their decision making consistently win more market share and outperform their competition.  

Let’s deep dive into two recent simulations: 

1. Evaluating branding strategies in a competitive suburban market

A retailer planning to develop a new fuel site in a competitive suburb needed insight to discover which fuel brand would yield the best volume results to maximize return on investment.  

Kalibrate used the building plans and detailed site characteristics to run four simulations. In each one the site characteristics stayed the same, but gasoline and diesel were rebranded.  

Site characteristics:

• Fuel station: Mid-sized site with six gasoline pumps and two diesel pumps 

• Convenience store (C-store): Independent branded, offering food and beverage options 

• Quick-service restaurant (QSR): Popular regional chicken QSR, integrated within the c-store 

• Operating hours: 24/7 

Simulation insights:

• Selecting a nationally recognized brand, Brand B, projected the biggest return in gasoline volumes 

• Brand C projected to return lower fuel volumes that both A and B 

• Adopting an independent fuel brand yielded the lowest fuel volumes and negatively impacted c-store and QSR volumes. 

1.  Optimizing branding in a high-traffic urban area 

In a dense urban location near a major highway, one fuel retailer explored opportunities to improve performance at their existing gas station by considering a rebrand of the gas station and c-store.  

Kalibrate ran four simulations to test out the impact of different brands on overall site performance before any big investments were made.  

Site characteristics:

• Fuel station: Moderate capacity with six gasoline pumps, and no diesel pumps 

• C-store: Small c-store offering wine and liquor under a regional brand 

• Pricing: Competitive with nearby sites 

• Operating hours: 24/7 

Simulation insights:

• For this gas station, a rebrand would certainly pay off. Every combination of brands projected an increase in both gas volume and c-store sales. 

• The combination of fuel brand A, and c-store brand A (both well recognized national brands) yielded the biggest increase for this site.  

Key takeaways:

In both scenarios, brand recognition had a big impact on overall site performance. Flying a major brand allows you to take full advantage of their public perception and their marketing and promotion activities, to ultimately drive more people to your site. In many cases, including this one, the right fuel brand impacts more than just your gasoline sales. 

However, this isn’t indicative of every market. Independent brands are very successful in the right places. It’s imperative to understand how market characteristics impact your business. Making the right decisions around which brands to fly across fuel, c-store, and QSR can greatly impact the overall profitability of your sites.  

Kalibrate collects and analyzes over 70 data points to gain a deep understanding of your site and the market that it operates in.  

Building a new gas station or making changes to an existing site? Get a Fuel site analysis today