Gas stations seek strategies to keep customers despite the increase in super

Last week, the price of super gasoline increased and in some service stations it has cost up to $4.16, a much higher price than the extra-ecocountry, which currently has a ceiling and does not exceed $2, 55, which is why the percentage of users who prefer the second to the first is decreasing, to take care of their pockets.

However, the difference in octane, which in the case of the super is 92 and in the extra-ecocountry 85, is an issue highlighted by marketers and users for caring for the vehicle and the environment.

According to Xavier Granda, manager of Terpel Fuels, which has gas stations in different forms (their own, subsidiary companies and, for the most part, by affiliates), currently have commercial strategies to try to keep supermarket users, because they think that it is the one that should be used the most and that the number of people that uses it should be increasing; not decreasing, as it happens in Ecuador.

“Our strategy is based on three pillars. The first is the service: that when you go to a station you are attended to the appropriate standard, with warmth and courtesy. Second, an adequate infrastructure, with lighting, clean, modern facilities, with equipment that gives the user confidence that he or she is handling a product in good condition, at the right or fair price for each micromarket,” says Granda, who adds that the third is that they add a high-quality additive to the super, and this reduces emissions, friction and lengthens the useful life of the engine.

He adds that they also use commercial campaigns to maintain and attract customers, such as the raffles (every fortnight) for couples’ trips (twelve in total) to the 2022 Qatar World Cup for using their services.

Price-wise, there’s not much to compete with; but he believes that, due to international prices, they would not rise in April or would even have a downward adjustment.

Renato Hidalgo is part of a family business that has two PDV brand gas stations on the road to Daule. He points out that, beyond what people think that when the price of fuel increases, so do the profits of the stations, this varies a lot depending on the investment.

In the case of his business, the family decision was to leave the price of the supermarket at $3.85, that is, 33 cents more than it cost before March 12, arguing that the base price rose around that amount and they didn’t want to affect their user flow.

Hidalgo remembers that each gas station can have different prices, even if they are of the same brand. In his case, his mother told him that right now people are very worn out and that, since it went up around 30 cents, let that be the increase they apply.

“This business, more than by profit, is by volume; and when prices go up, it means that we have to invest more in issues such as working capital,” says Hidalgo, who says that every time there is a change, his friends write to him to find out how much the price is going to go up or down.

He also says that, as part of the process to make the business more profitable, they have installed a solar power plant from Rising Sun, which is his company, which helps cover part of the energy that the place needs for operation. Also that it is in talks with five other competing gas stations that are looking to do the same.

“Our clients always leave grateful, because they say: ‘Here it lasts longer, the car doesn’t break down, they serve me well, quickly.’ We give them a free coffee, there is high-speed Wi-Fi, if they want to go in to do remote work,” Hidalgo points out as a strategy to keep his customers happy; and that also in the case of diesel they have a large clientele, due to their microfiltration system to improve quality. It is your commercial “workhorse”.

Carlos Salazar, president of the National Chamber of Petroleum Derivatives Distributors of Ecuador, He comments that for some years now, fuel marketers, such as Primax and other brands, have been running promotions to encourage the consumption of super gasoline, for example, with additives to improve the performance of the combustion system.

Both Granda and Salazar emphasize that it is important to know that the manual of each vehicle specifies what octane, at least minimum, must be used in that engine; and even sometimes not even the super would cover that need, since there are new cars that indicate or recommend from 94 or 95 octane for proper operation.

But Granda recognizes that the current economy is too complex to put aside the price difference, and that it is very difficult to do anything to avoid the migration of super to extra-ecocountry, despite the technical issues that can make a difference. in the efficiency and durability of a car.

According to the Guayas gas sector, currently around 4.5% of the country’s vehicles consume super, compared to 13% in 2018, and the percentage is expected to drop two tenths or half a point more due to the Current situation.

According to Granda, the profit of the marketers is between 12 and 15 cents per gallon in the case of diesel and extra-eco. While comparing the margin of the super in percentage, the profit being between 15 and 16%.

In the case of users, a driver who was tanking at a Petroleos & Servicios station on Av. Quito indicated that she changed her SUV from super to extra and has not seen a difference so far, and that she always goes to that station because they take good care of her and always have a good price ($2.55 for the extra and $3.66 for the super). ).

While Fabián, another driver, indicates that he has always used super, but now that he is about to buy another vehicle, he has looked for an option that is more suitable to add extra, for economic reasons. (I)