In the current retail landscape, everything is moving rapidly. Consumers have an insatiable appetite for information, and they are actively shaping (and then re-shaping) the brand messaging of the products they purchase. They also have more options and are receiving more targeted messages than ever, so their loyalty is easily swayed. Retailers who rely on the once-trusted, go-with-your-gut approach to day-to-day operations are in danger of falling behind those who utilize real-time insights and data to build on measurable standards of success.

Love it or running from it, data is on everyone’s minds these days. It comes in many forms and from many sources, including customer ratings, reviews, surveys, business and location intelligence software, third party research, POS data and more. For retailers who haven’t identified a clear objective, data can be a daunting four-letter word, and it is easy to be overwhelmed when looking for answers before determining your most pressing questions.

In particular, many fuel and convenience store brands have a lot of room to grow when it comes to using data and analytics to make smart, informed decisions. It is critical for those who want to build their analytical muscle, gain an edge over their competitors, enhance the customer experience and grow their market share.

Creating an all-encompassing data-driven culture is to create an environment where everyone from the top down has access to data relevant and necessary to their work, and where everyone is encouraged and empowered to use that data to gain insight and make decisions. Forward-thinking fuel retailers can use data in many ways to create value across the business. Here are just a few:

Marketing: Location-based and demographic information helps marketers better understand who is visiting their stores, allowing them to evaluate the brand affinities, habits and attitudes of growing segments such as Millennials —and then target them effectively.

Operations: Teams who oversee multiple stores may be able to quickly correlate a plunge in foot traffic or sales to customer reviews pointing out broken fuel pumps.

Customer Service: Negative reviews can turn into positives — customer service teams can promptly triage and respond to complaints, and forward actionable feedback to individual station or store managers so they can assess and remedy problems.

HOW FUEL RETAILERS CAN SHIFT GEARSINTO A DATA-DRIVEN MENTALITY

But which departments need access to shift the company into a data-driven mentality?

The answer: all of them.

GasBuddy provides you data and insights to help you compete in the marketplace. www.gasbuddy.com/business

Business Pages encourages data-sharing and collaboration across the organization with unlimited logins, varying permission levels, custom station lists and more. Retailers can hone in on locations that are performing well or performing poorly, and localize their product assortments or anticipate changes in traffic patterns down to the station level.

As your organization continues to shift toward one driven by analytics, ensure data is a central element in everything you do; not just in fixing problems, but in planning for the future. The practice of gathering and using data is growing because it’s measurable and it works. It’s up to everyone to back up the road ahead with numbers and insights.

Best Practices on Becoming a Data-Driven Organization

GasBuddy Business Pages collects real-time

access to consumer insights, all in one easy-to-navigate dashboard.

Identify your strategyDon’t collect data just for the sake of collecting. Data cannot benefit your organization without a plan of action for gathering, dissemination and implementation.

Determine which kinds of data you need to answer your questionsWhile collecting all available data “just in case” may seem like the way to go, an overwhelming data-dump may leave you with more questions than answers.Keep your finger on the pulse

You may discover that some of your metrics need daily attention, while some can be looked at weekly, monthly or quarterly.

Be data-driven in everything you doTo make data truly effective, you can’t pick and choose which areas of your organization need to be driven by data.

Leverage your whole organizationDifferent types of data have distinct value for departments within your company. If you don’t see an immediate need, think of how a data set or insights could help someone else on your team.

Data on search and station impressions within the GasBuddy app, as well as physical station visits and dwell time provide insight into how frequently consumers are stopping into specific gas stations as well as time spent at those locations.

Customer-generated ratings and written reviews on industry-specific categories such as cleanliness, customer service and restrooms provide insight into the customer experience and allow retailers to forge a modern, digital relationship with consumers.

Determine how your stations or brand compares to competitor stations, by location and by brand.

GasBuddy provides you data and insights to help you compete in the marketplace. www.gasbuddy.com/business