Roof or No Roof. Does it Matter When You are Buying Gas?

By Dale Wolf

Eric at the Revenue Miners Weblog posed a situation where two gas stations across the street from one another -- one with a roof over the service area and the other with no roof.

My guess is that the guy across the street with no roof should have been selling gas cheaper — or at least on bad weather days, he should have lowered the price to compete with the roofed-in service. But in a normal customer experience mentality, the roofed-in gas station should do better because he offers a better customer experience (albeit, a rather small one … but even small experience differences can be the cutting edge of difference).

I have two nearby gas stations, one that has credit card service at the pump and one that requires walking from the car and giving the attendant my card and then walking back to fill up my tank and then walking back to pay my bill. The bad service dude sells ususally a few pennies cheaper. Where do you think I buy my gas? (Hint, like most Americans, I am a bit lazy).

There's a modest relationship between my previous blog and this one. Gasoline prices, in part, caused Starbucks to raise prices twice this past year. Their store traffic dropped for the first time in company history. But was the price increase the problem. Could be since every fast-food restaurant and strip-mall coffee joint is undercutting Starbuck prices. But my experience tells me that somehow Starbucks needs to bolster their customer experience even beyond what they have become famous for because they live and die on customer experience.

So does this translate to something as in-your-face as the cost per gallon of gas?

The problem gas retailers might have is that the very convenience of credit card payment at the pump has diminished in-store sales of convenience store merchandise. I want to buy my gas and get back on the road as fast as possible. But I do not want to pump gas in the blaring summer heat or in the rain or in the snow ... so a roof over the service area does enhance the customer experience. What, however, from a customer experience point of view, will get me to walk the 30 steps to buy something inside the store?

Comments

[The Revenue Miner]

Dale,
Believe it or not, the gas station with the roof overhead charges 2 to 4 cents less per gallon of gasoline than the open-air station. Go figure. And, the gas station with the roof has a convenience store that's 3 to 4x the size of the other station's shop -- due to Town zoning/approvals. And, the station with the roof is open 24/7.
Thanks for getting in touch.
Happy Holidays,
Eric Gelb
The Revenue Miner