forecourttech April 19

forecourttech
remotely it could become a co-working space. Retailers
then need to think more about the in store experience. Just
one great example of this is Maxol in Ireland, who won an
Honourable Mention for their M3 Mulhuddart motorway
station at the NACS International Convenience Retailer of
the Year Award in 2017. They have a range of food offers
and children’s play areas, so families go there because
they want to. They leave home in their car with a motorway
station in mind,” he added.
Whilst convenience can be easily achieved online, more
and more online retailers are investing in physical stores to
deliver experience to their customers. China’s online retailer
Alibaba is using a ‘New Retail’ model to meld the online and
offline experience. In the last year they have opened 65 retail
sites, that use mobile apps, online payments and a host
of other cutting-edge technologies to provide a unique customer
experience. Customers can even order from home
and typically, customers within a three-kilometre radius can
receive their groceries within 30 minutes.
“In a recent discussion with Alibaba in China, they explained
to us why they, as an online retailer, are opening
physical stores: ‘We need stores to deliver experience. It’s
not necessarily about selling but building the relationship,
allowing customers to connect, trust and get to know the
brand’, something that our industry truly has an advantage
in that we can utilize,” explained Mark.
Self drive cars
Self-driving cars are here. Whilst mass adoption is still a
way off, the technology is there.
“It all comes down to owns the customer of the future. At the
moment if a customer wants a drink they decide where to
stop. If there is a self driving vehicle then who tells it where
to stop? Is it Google because the data is based on maps?
Is it the customer? Does the vehicle make the decision
based on consumer habits or companies’ promotions? This
question has not yet been answered. It is a threat and an
opportunity,” said Mark.
“At the International Forecourt
Standards Forum (IFSF), we are
following all of the trends that Mark
has highlighted above with interest.
We certainly agree that those who
do not embrace these changes are in danger of being left
behind. What we are seeing is that to allow the fuel retailing
landscape to keep up with and hopefully lead other market
segments, all elements of the forecourt and backcourt need
to be able to easily interface not only with each other, but
also with the myriad of platforms now hosted in the “cloud”.
In order for this to happen, all parties need to use standards
not just within their own geography and segment, but
globally, to be able to benefit from break-in technologies
from existing software and hardware vendors, plus new
innovators. To this end, IFSF provides standards and
implementation guides that allow for the interoperability of
the new technologies along with the legacy technologies
enabling fuel retailers to operate and offer both for many
years to come.”
Heather Price, Chair, IFSF
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Mark Wohltmann will be discussing ‘The end of the
forecourt as we know it’ at forecourttech ’19. The key
note presentation will feature exclusive insights from the
most recent NACS Global Issues Survey on technology
and will look at trends and disruptors as well as examining
how emerging technologies could change the way
consumers interact with the c-store, that may fundamentally
change the face of fuel retailing and forecourt
convenience as we know it.
For more information visit www.forecourttech.com
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