Motorist Behaviour and Implications at the Service Station: UK

Based on a survey of over 1,000 motorists, this brief outlines French motorists' attitudes towards fuel prices, added value services, convenience store products, and the relative merits of grocery and oil company branded fuel retailers.

Introduction

Verdict has conducted a study of over 8,000 motorists across eight European countries to assess how their buying behavior changed over the second half of 2010. These briefs summarise their attitudes towards fuel prices, added value services, shop products, and retailer brands, including supermarket brands where relevant.

Scope

• Make well-informed investments by identifying the most important and frequently used features and services at service stations.
• Tailor marketing campaigns to effectively target customers by understanding the profile of the forecourt shopper.
• Develop a lucrative convenience store offer by uncovering the product categories for which consumers want more variety.
• Plan defensive strategies by understanding the behavior of motorists who are switching between oil company and grocery branded retailers.
• Demonstrate customer empathy in your marketing messages by uncovering the measures being adopted by motorists to reduce their motoring expenses.

Highlights

A large proportion of motorists are affected by fuel prices when selecting a service station and one in three motorists in the UK look at service station pricing boards closely before deciding where to fill up.Attributes related to convenience and time-efficiency continue to have a high influence on UK motorists’ service station choice. Pay-at-pump facilities and ATMs are the two most frequently used forecourt services in the UK.One in four motorists are switching from oil companies to supermarket-owned service stations in the UK. Tesco was voted the best fuel retailer by motorists in terms of fuel price, shop products and customer service.

Reasons to Purchase

• What measures are motorists taking to hedge against rising fuel prices? Are they comparing forecourt price boards or using online comparison websites?
• Are my customers switching to supermarkets for cheaper fuel? What other services should I provide to maintain my customer base?
• How does my customer base split by age, gender, marital status, and frequency of use of car, so that I can develop a suitable service proposition?
• Which products should be included or excluded from a forecourt shop's mix so that maximum value can be generated from the available shelf space?
• Which fuel retailers are considered the best by motorists in terms of value for money for fuel, quality of shop offer, and customer service?