Two Ideas to Make it Easy for Professional Drivers to Park and Get Food at Your Travel Center
Article created for the digital issue聽of聽the 黑料社区Foundation鈥檚 magazine聽
Adding convenience for drivers can help boost sales and grow wallet share, and two 黑料社区members shared simple yet effective strategies they are using to leverage their customers’ behaviors, drive revenue growth and build loyalty.
at and from joined , and , during a webinar highlighting the results of .
Below are two of the ideas shared. During the session, they also discussed loyalty programs, data analysis, how staff can aid in educating drivers and growing market share, staff contests and other small ways they鈥檙e meeting drivers鈥� needs. 鈥淎ny type of program that you put in place to speed up the process of the customer coming in and buying will get results,鈥� Schulte said. To view the full session, including a conversation with Elks and Momin, access the webinar at .
Add Quick 30-minute Parking at the End of the Fuel Canopy
To help reduce the time pressures that can keep drivers from coming inside, Pat鈥檚 Travel Center has added quick, 30-minute parking at the end of the fuel canopy before the scale for drivers can park, making it easy for drivers to come inside.
Momin said some of the location鈥檚 customers come in two or three times a day with some who want to take their time in the store and others who are in a hurry. 鈥淲e will try and do whatever we can to have their products ready to go. If it’s anything from the food line or from behind the counter for tobacco or lottery tickets, we’ll have that ready to rock and roll. They usually appreciate that,鈥� he said.
Add a QR Code on the Pump for Easy Food Ordering
Elks recommends making it quick and easy for drivers to order food while fueling. By scanning a QR code on the pump, drivers can order from the full-service, sit-down restaurant and quick-service offerings at the pump and pick their meal up at the fuel desk. Elks also recommends you encourage your staff to promote the code adding, 鈥淵ou can really grow your wallet share by coaching staff at the fuel desk to constantly ask drivers, 鈥楬ey, did you try the QR code at the pump today?鈥欌��
If they didn鈥檛, cashiers could explain that they can order from their phone and their order goes to the front of the line and that their food will be ready and waiting when they come to the fuel desk. 鈥淭here might be 10 people in line at Chester’s or 10 or 15 people in line at Subway, but you become the No. 1 priority because the staff know they only have 14 or 15 minutes from the time they submitted their order鈥ntil they come inside and get their ticket to have that food ready for them,鈥� Elks said.
Darren Schulte, NATSO鈥檚 vice president of membership, echoed Elks鈥� idea, adding that some operators are adding the ability to order food from an app as soon as drivers pull on the property. 鈥淭hey’re waiting in line鈥hey jump on the app, and then they are able to order,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e also have more operators, where they’re not staff strapped, going out鈥o the customers.鈥�
// 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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