Moving Ahead: Best Practices Mean Competitive Advantage

The sixth in a six-part series about the benefits of E15 fuel

E15 has been a hot topic in much of the retail industry for the past several years.

A quick recap shows how quickly and substantially consumer and retail adoption of this biofuel, as well as its availability, have grown nationwide.

E15 now is approved for 2001 and newer vehicles, which means nine out of 10 cars on the road today can use this energy-saving biofuel. According to Growth Energy, the leading biofuel trade association representing ethanol producers and supporters in the United States, approximately 100 sites sold E15 in 2015. That number had almost quadrupled by the end of 2016, and almost quadrupled again by the end of 2017.

"Today, there are more than 1430 sites that sell E15 in 30 states, with the number of retail sites continuing to expand and infiltrate markets not saturated with ethanol blends," says Mike O'Brien, vice president of market development for Growth Energy. "E15 has been available to consumers for over four years and continues to be the most tested fuel in history. In July 2018, consumers logged over 5 billion miles driven on E15, showing that more and more consumers are making it their go-to fuel."

Educating Customers
Consumers are not the most daring shoppers when it comes to buying fuel.

For example, research shows they typically revert to past purchasing behaviors if they see a product that is new or relatively unknown — which is why educating fuel shoppers about the benefits E15 can deliver is key to using the biofuel as a retail advantage.

"The opportunity here is to display the benefits that are important to the audience," O’Brien explains. "When you promote E15 as a cleaner burning fuel, consumers correlate it with something that is good for their engines and for the air we breathe."

Letting consumers know E15 also emits fewer toxins than other fuels because it displaces harmful additives in fuel is another teaching opportunity. "In today's day and age, healthier options touting products' 'green' benefits appeal to many audiences," O'Brien adds.

Replacing the term 'E15' with the more user-friendly 'Regular 88' and 'Unleaded 88' (names that Prime the Pump and Growth Energy, in conjunction with retailers across the country, created) is also important when merchandising and marketing E15.

"Our research and retailers agree that names like 'Regular 88' and 'Unleaded 88' are viewed positively by customers," O'Brien says, noting that Sheetz, Kwik Trip, Casey's General Stores, Minnoco, Family Express and Protec now use those terms to promote the biofuel.

Also consider the price perk E15 offers: It provides consumers with a better value, usually retailing up to 10 cents below regular fuel while providing a benefit to their engines and the environment, O'Brien says.

"The optimal opportunity is to create a message that touts the benefits of biofuels that are important to the specific audience, which will in turn increase the number of consumers reaching for it at the pump," he explains. "Once the driver understands that the fuel is good for their vehicle and better for the environment, they will continue fueling up with it when available," he says.

Summarizing the Best Practices Approach
So just what does this all mean for fuel retailers eager to embrace E15? What are the best practices they can adopt that will lead to better sales of this energy-saving biofuel?

"Focusing on precise messaging, optimizing marketing configuration, and marketing E15 as 'Regular 88' and 'Unleaded 88', or a similar name, are all critical steps toward success," O'Brien stresses.

Retailers who have implemented the best marketing practices for E15, he notes, are reaping the bottom line benefits biofuel delivers.

Kwik Trip is just one example.

The company started converting stores in the spring of 2017, and quickly added E15 to more than 300 locations in a matter of months.

"Kwik Trip focused on what the consumer understands — just gas — and also adopted the approach of not treating E15 like a niche product," O'Brien says. "By treating E15 as a standard fuel for standard vehicles they created a market advantage. They also noticed that it was beneficial not to draw attention to lower price and improved octane. Simple plan, simple 'marketing resulted in an increase in sales."

As O’Brien notes, offering E15 means more choices are available at the pump, which drives demand and ultimately drives up fuel sales and in-store traffic.

"Properly executed, E15 provides the retailer with a competitively priced product — one that other retailers can’t match," O'Brien concludes.