With any consumer’s interaction with media, the relationship is one of give and take. In some cases, the give and take are very obvious. For example, when you go to a movie you pay the theater $10 to watch the movie. In other cases, it is less obvious, such as with TV. Most would agree that on TV, few viewers would be willing to watch too many back-to-back commercials during the breaks of their favorite sitcom. Thus, the network must provide their viewers with enough of their favorite programs in order to borrow their attention for a few advertisements.
The forecourt is no different. The fuel retailer needs to give the customer something they care about (news, weather, etc.) in order to capture the customer’s attention to tell them about something the retailer cares about (deli, coffee special, etc.). If the content is implemented properly, it can keep the customer fully engaged throughout the fueling transaction and reap the benefits of showing the customer something inside the C-store they may have been headed elsewhere to purchase. Perhaps it generates an impulse to purchase something from the C-store the customer did not even know they wanted before fueling.
Over the past several years, there has been mounting evidence supporting the sales lift from having engaging media content on the forecourt. Fuel retailers are in the unique position of having thousands of consumers’ undivided attention on a monthly basis to engage them in a meaningful way, and media on the forecourt is one great way to take advantage of this opportunity. In an article by the Republican Herald, on media at the pump one consumer said, “I like the screens. I have nothing else to do while I’m getting gas, so I might as well watch it.”1 The station referred to in the article currently employs Gilbarco’s turnkey forecourt media solution, Applause TVTM.
The content loop constructed by VeriFone Media is designed to have a healthy mixture of entertainment and advertisements which works to maximize the retailer’s time with their customer and even influence their behavior. In an intercept study done by Nielsen, 66% of customers enjoyed the content put together by the VeriFone Media team which helped lead to a 50% advertisement recall2. Multiple case studies with fuel retailers have demonstrated sales lift from media in the forecourt. In some cases, locations have seen as much as a 35% sales lift on promoted items and as much as 9% same store sales growth. Not only is the content proving extremely effective at driving customers inside the store after fueling to take advantage of promotions, but these customers are primed to spend more which is a great combination for growing the top line.
The customer enjoyment of the content combined with the sales lift results are evidence that media in the forecourt is a fantastic way to increase awareness of the products you sell inside. In addition, enabling audio/video media on the forecourt can be a simple and easy way for fuel retailers to differentiate their sites and build loyalty by improving their customer’s fueling experience. Please check out Gilbarco’s forecourt media options at http://www.gilbarco.com/us/products/forecourt-merchandising or go to www.YouTube.com and search “Applause TV” to watch some of our videos on forecourt media implementation and customer testimonials.
- http://republicanherald.com/news/customers-at-gratz-gas-station-can-watch-news-videos-at-pump-1.1999903
- Nielsen, Intercept Study, 2012