Rick Dery, Gulf Oil’s Senior Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, told Loyalty 360 that the company is revamping its GulfCard program to allow its 2,500 branded stations to customize their loyalty programs.
The GulfCard Loyalty program empowers fuel retailers at Gulf locations to create their own “instant savings” discount levels for customers who use the GulfCard when they purchase gasoline.
“The GulfCard is not new,” Dery said, “but what is new is the turnkey ability for stations to customize promotions, including easy to use online ordering of point-of-purchase materials. The GulfCard program is a very effective way to increase revenue by attracting new customers and to build stronger relationships with existing ones. And the promotions are easily adjusted station-by-station to meet changing market conditions.”
Dery said the GulfCard is a proprietary consumer-friendly credit card that has no annual fee and can be used at Gulf Stations for gasoline purchases, repairs, and to buy in-station merchandise. The GulfCard eliminates cash/credit two-tiered pricing and carries no processing fees for GulfCard transactions. Stations that offer discounts for using the GulfCard are identified on the company’s website.
Customer feedback played an integral role in the GulfCard’s expanded benefits.
“The idea for our customizable loyalty program came out of a brand meeting we held with our dealers,” Dery said. “Several stations presented what they had done on an ad hoc basis to build customer loyalty, and there was great interest in making the effort nationally available. We take great pride in providing best-practice approaches to help our stations thrive, and the program is a great example of how we work together with our stations.”
The GulfCard Loyalty Program is part of Gulf Oil’s ongoing efforts to help its network of branded stations in 29 states drive sales and build customer loyalty.
“The program we announced this week gives our stations the ability to design their own specific discount promotions tied to the use of the GulfCard for customers who fill up their tanks,” Dery said. “Thousands of drivers use their GulfCards to make millions of transactions each year with more coming on board every day. Our goal is to keep growing our user base exponentially.”