CSN EXCLUSIVE: Raising the Bar on Convenience & Fuel Retailing

While all these initiatives are aimed at transforming the experience for marketers and consumers, Greg Franks, senior vice president, mobility & convenience, Americas for bp, feels the most excitement about bp's digital initiatives. 

"This is a great example about where we had some gaps, our customers told us we had some gaps, and we understood what their pain points were," Franks told Convenience Store News at the expo. "We're putting together what we believe will lead us ultimately to be an industry-best offer that we'll be able to have out there that'll enable [the marketers] to run their sites from beginning to end."

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On the consumer-facing side, Franks called out the company's mobile app that covers all aspects of the consumer ecosystem. "Consumers can drive a fleet truck during the day and then they can bring their kids back in the evening and get a frozen drink. Then, maybe they show up on the weekends and charge their car. You can do all this in the same ecosystem and very seamlessly move around," he explained. 

Additionally, bp wants to get to the point where its brand marketers will be able to layer on their own localized offers on the same app, bringing the forecourt and backcourt together in one holistic offer for the consumer, according to Mukta Tandon, vice president, U.S. mobility marketing for bp.

Coupling a modern end-to-end POS solution and an enhanced digital offer adds up to a win-win for bp and its marketers, Franks said. "Our ability to do that with a modern end-to-end POS solution puts our marketers in a great position because remember, they have to be attractive to their dealers, too. And us being able to give them an industry-leading digital offer makes the dealers want to come and be customers of the marketers and the marketers, in turn, are our customers," he added. 

Tandon agrees that the retail operating system is at the top of bp's exciting new initiatives. However, she also points to bp's fuelService offer and its partnership with In Our Backyard to combat human trafficking. 

Through a campaign, which is running this spring, marketers can display dispenser skirts featuring In Our Backyard graphics and information at the fuel pump. 

"The In Our Backyard offer and the fuelService offer is a big thing for us," Tandon said. "It truly starts helping our customers get even more involved with their communities and make a difference. They are the eyes and ears on the ground. It's a way they give back to their communities and then we support them through that journey."

According to Franks, there is also excitement around bp's EV charging network, bp pulse, and the strong team supporting it. "We've resourced it; we've used some of the expertise that we've developed in other parts of the world and now we are laying that in," he noted. 

"In essence, we want to be there for our customers, for our marketers when they're trying to serve their consumers. If they want fuel, then we want to be their fuel provider," Franks continued. "They want another alternative energy type with electricity, and we want to be able to do that as well. And if we're sitting here talking some time down the road, if somebody wants hydrogen, we want to be able to do that, too. 

"We're trying to be what a good retailer is, and that's somebody who understands what their consumer wants and provides it. We need to support the marketers to be able to bring that," he concluded. 

The 2024 BPAMA Convention and Business Expo took place Feb. 19-21 at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.