Innovation | Reinventing the customer journey at Oman Oil Marketing service stations
SITUATION |
Retail fuel market in the Gulf countries is extremely specific. The customer behavior is very different: vehicle drivers or families stay longer time and spend more in service stations. Compared with other regions they will take time to visit shops, quick-service restaurants and services, while caring for their vehicle and spending more for their families. They will also make more stops when driving from one place to another. As a result, the potential for extra revenues is enormous for fuel marketers. The challenge is to attract drivers and families, offer the right journey with a complete offering while differentiating from competitors. You then win their heart and get them loyal more easily than in other regions of the world. When relationship is established, trust in the brand is there and customers are less fickle than in Asia for instance.
TASK |
Reinvent the customer journey for drivers and individuals as well as families visiting Oman Oil Marketing service stations. Design a new generation of service stations with a complete fuel band non-fuel offering of retail shops, restaurants and snacking as well as most diverse services. Transform the service station into a one-stop shop, making it an actual destination where all customers get delighted. We no longer wanted only to answer the needs of those 250,000 visitors daily, rather meet the “wants” from any customer visiting us. We also set up a comprehensive five-pronged approach with interconnected touch points and bringing cohesion to our new customer journey, well described in an article by the specialized platform “Global Convenience Store Focus” on March, 30th 2021.
APPROACH |
The Transformation was based on five elements: New c-store format, Optimo Swift, Master franchise agreements in F&B, New Strategic Partnerships and Digital Developments.
Beyond, various marketing innovations were created such as a revolutionary concept of service stations: the “MEGA”. Attract vehicle drivers and their family to the MEGA service station while being a destination and become eventually a living place where communities meet. Making it a space of its own while having a dedicated marketing and digital offering. This value proposition of MEGA service stations is revolutionary in its way of creating a purpose: customers would no longer be vehicle drivers only but individuals and families looking for a place to enjoy and change their mind as well as meeting friends and making new connections, a major cultural trait in the Middle East. It differentiates from the 15 Flagship service stations Oman Oil Marketing could develop in the past 2 years by adding a purpose, welcoming all kinds of customers while integrating them a community. MEGA service stations create a sense of belonging for any visitor and a feeling of engagement rather than basic loyalty only.
RESULTS AND IMPACT |
Two MEGA service stations were built with a third on its way while extending the same to other countries. We also diversified and adapted the concept of “MEGA” to the location while offering different sub-concepts for instance to lure customers from industrial areas to us. Simultaneously we used the same concept of MEGA service stations while developing our retail network of service stations in Saudi Arabia and differentiating from other competitors. The concept of “MEGA” is on the way to become a brand of its own in the world of Retail fuel marketing.
CASE-OWNER(S) |
