Paying at the Pump
Over the years we have become used to some Service Stations offering the motorist the opportunity to pay at the pump using their card or going inside and paying at a manned till. In the early days there was a lot of discussion over the two approaches to retailing fuel. Should the retailer go for fuel sales only and clear the pumps for the next customer for higher fuel sales throughput or should they encourage the customer inside to and tempt them to buy the usually higher margin items inside the shop? We are seeing both strategies adopted as the humble Service Station shop becomes a branded convenience store for supermarket chains such as Tesco or a 24 hour fuel outlet like ASDA. Lately, I have seen more forecourts offering both. You can choose whether you pay at the pump or pay in the shop. Personally I dislike the time it takes to stop and refuel so for me please bring on the convenience of automated card payment at the pumps! Others can enjoy the shop because now we do have a choice.
Ken Hansen
BritPay
