Fuel retailers today are faced with fuel theft to meter drift to supply disruptions and changing regulations—all while working to maximize fuel margins and revenues and satisfy demanding customers.

The Wills Group and Titan Cloud talked about retail fueling trends and how operators can prepare for the future. Through digital transformation and balancing new technologies and legacy systems, operations can become more proactive and strategic for the future. They discussed how a holistic frictionless fuel strategy helped the 300-store chain of Dash In convenience stores  and SMO Motor Fuels sites manage compliance, inventory, delivery planning and reduce inventory variance from 1% to .01%.

Scott Barrett, director of fuels pricing, supply and logistics at the Wills Group, discussed challenges and opportunities within the fuels industry. He mentioned a variety of challenges, including declining demand, growth of EVs and work from home hybrid models minimizing drive-by traffic.

Barrett explained, “What that really means is that every single customer that comes to our store is that much more important because there’s no guarantee that you’re going to see them again or that you’re going to get another customer to replace them.”

David Freese, CEO and chief product officer at Titan Cloud, contributed information on how technology helps convenience stores tackle these challenges. Regarding minimizing costs, he said, “Most of the costs for c-stores related to maintenance are the fuels systems. How do I minimize the cost of that? … Automation remote tools that come through the alarm noise help you to get really efficient and cost effective.”

The webinar highlighted how frictionless fueling can help companies:

• Analyze fuel flow rates and detect abnormalities to ensure seamless operation across all facilities and dispensers.
• Catch and prioritize issues automatically to reduce equipment downtime.
• Increase sales by reducing the frequency and duration of issues that cause negative customer fueling experiences.
• Avoid run-outs and overfills, reduce dispatches and maximize hauler efficiency with near real-time fuel inventory polling and fuel sales trends.

The Wills Group is using advanced meter drift monitoring to reconcile fuel sales to fuel inventory quickly identifying pumps over dispensing that result in lost revenue and margin.

To view the webinar, click here.