Guidelines for Creating a Travel Center Loyalty Program That Cultivates Customer Engagement and Grows Sales
Article created for the digital issue of the 黑料社区Foundation鈥檚 magazine
, which operates 39 locations in Pennsylvania and New York, has focused on cultivating customer loyalty with an engaging loyalty program. 鈥淭he crux of it has been providing offers and opportunities to engage and connect with the Onvo brand,鈥� he said.
Aulakh and , spoke on a panel discussion during on loyalty programs. , moderated the session.
Rasmussen said loyalty programs can be one of the most effective and least expensive marketing tools, and creating compelling offers can help encourage people to sign up.
What Discounts to Add?
As part of its loyalty program, which is card and app based, Onvo offers fuel discounts.
Customers collect points, which Onvo calls 鈥楬oots.鈥� There are also club programs for items customers are purchasing regularly, such as roller grill items.
鈥淭hey may be on the fourth purchase and decide to come to Onvo over the location down the street,鈥� Aulakh said, adding that the company also offers deeper discounts on items on promotion in the store. 鈥淵ou may see two bottles of Coke costs $5.50, but with loyalty you鈥檙e saving an extra dollar. We鈥檙e giving our customers a reason to sign up.鈥�
Using promotions and rewards to grow sales, especially around food and beverage items, requires a certain level of 鈥渢olerance for trail by offer鈥� through free product or deep discounts, Rasmussen said. 鈥淵ou follow the data and say how many people used an offer and then how many didn鈥檛 we see again.鈥�
How to Market the Savings?
A lot of brands will give out something free to rewards members, but Schnare said it is critical to let customers that aren鈥檛 in the rewards program know what is going on. 鈥淭he one thing I can recommend with whatever you do is to tell people what is happening there,鈥� she said.
Onvo created free coffee Tuesdays to help promote its loyalty program. 鈥淭he goal was to get them in on Tuesdays to get the coffee, the other goal was to get more people to sign up,鈥� Auklah said, explaining that the company placed signage at the pumps and coffee bar. 鈥淲e had good success of driving sign ups.鈥�
Rasmussen recommends locations promote loyalty card signups at the point of sale and have a digital reminder to encourage sign ups. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there will be anything better than your most engaging employee talking about your rewards program,鈥� he said, adding that signage at self-checkouts can also drive participation.
What About the Data?
For operators, the most valuable part of loyalty programs is the data they can collect from them. Aulakh said that includes the data collected at sign up as well as what products they鈥檙e buying. He said it is important to get as much information as possible at sign up, and Onvo collects demographic information, birthdays and email addresses from customers.
鈥淔igure out what information is important to you on day one. It is harder to get that information after day one unless you have gated offers,鈥� Aulakh said. 鈥淚f they are able to access your program without providing information and just say, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 my phone number and that鈥檚 it,鈥� you鈥檙e never going to be able to get that information again.鈥�
From there, loyalty programs can provide a wealth of information. 鈥淥nce you have a good sample size and once they are engaging with your program, you can start targeting segments,鈥� Aulakh said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, the data isn鈥檛 just valuable to your organization but also to your vendors. The more data you can share with them, the more funding they鈥檒l give to you for your programs.鈥�
Rasmussen added that loyalty programs can target messaging based on customer behaviors. 鈥淚f I had a driver that came to my location twice a week and then stops, I can start a lapse campaign,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can start to predict customers on when they fueled last and when they will fuel again. If I send you a message with an offer on a day you need something, I can maybe get you to buy more.鈥�
How to Send Loyalty Messages?
There are multiple ways to send loyalty messages to customers, such as an app or email. 鈥淔ind the method each customer responds to,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淚f you do push notifications, you can measure who takes it and uses it, but maybe they opted out of messages. If you do email, the only way I would do that is click-to-redeem. There is text also, but it a little bit newer and you鈥檙e paying a fee per message.鈥�
Onvo makes it a point to meet customers where they are, which for the majority of today鈥檚 consumers is on their phone. Email marketing has also been successful for Onvo and the company has an extremely high engagement rate.
鈥淢y philosophy is if you鈥檙e going to send someone an email, it better be something good. The content of that email should be something that makes them want to open the next one you send,鈥� Aulakh said.
Rasmussen also recommends operators test the effectiveness of push notifications when someone is on the fuel court. Onvo has done some push notifications using geofencing and had success. 鈥淲ith geofencing, you have to have the app and location enabled on the app. We do it, but it doesn鈥檛 hit those customers that are card centric,鈥� Aulakh said.
But How to Do Bring Them Through the Door?
Schnare said it is still important to draw customers inside, and asked the panel for the one thing that brings them through the door.
Aulakh said it all comes down to branding. 鈥淚t is the compelling nature of your brand, your messaging, and what you鈥檙e saying at the pump,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t is a system of messaging. It is building your brand and being known for something different.鈥�
Rasmussen said signage matters. 鈥淚t is powerful, and you still do it. But at the end of the day, the experiences begin before people come to your store,鈥� he said.
// This article was created for , the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. The is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the traveling public’s needs through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit for more information. ()
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