MAPCO Has High Hopes for MobilePay

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — MAPCO Express believes its MobilePay program will ultimately enhance customer engagement and loyalty, according to a Loyalty360 report.

Howard Curtis, director of marketing and customer relationship management for MAPCO Express, said it is "still pretty early" for MobilePay, which launched in May. He noted that MAPCO will have a better sense of customer adoption by the end of the year.

"Using the MY MAPCO mobile app, customers can pay at the pump through their mobile phones," Curtis said. "Consumers are geo-located at the pump and can secure payment through PayPal. Consumers can experience the convenience of contactless payment from the comfort and security of their vehicle, and receive a receipt in the mobile app. We believe this experience will drive new customer traffic and excite our current customers."

The company anticipates slow adoption of MobilePay as the payment method is still new, but the convenience store chain expects that use and the number of transactions will grow over time, according to the report. Feedback via social media has been positive so far.

Additionally, the MAPCO MY Reward$ loyalty program is doing well.

"We've seen consumers continue to register with MY Reward$," Curtis reported. "I would've thought by this point we would've seen ramping down of registrations, yet they are actually growing, which is great because we have more people joining the program. We don't advertise the MY Reward$ program in media, so we rely on our frontline operators to share the program benefits and get customers excited. I have to give our store operations credit for creating great word-of-mouth awareness around the MY Reward$ program."

He added that marketers should be "mobile stewards," and said if companies are not "considerate" with email and mobile app notifications, consumers may opt out of irrelevant messaging.