7-Eleven Australia has been announced as the winner of the inaugural NACS Asian Convenience Retail Technology Award for its 7-Eleven Fuel App. The award will be presented at the NACS Convenience Summit Asia in Shanghai, China, on March 7.

Angus McKay, 7-Eleven CEO said the app was recognised due the innovative nature and its impact on business growth.

“The 7-Eleven Fuel App is the first of its kind. It uses a customer’s current location and real time fuel price data to allow motorists to find the best local fuel price at their five closest 7-Eleven stores. They can ‘lock in’ that price and redeem it at any 7-Eleven Australia fuel store within seven days. In three years consumers have collectively saved more than $10 million on their fuel purchases using the app,” Mr McKay said.

“The fuel app gives drivers another reason to actively choose 7-Eleven, in addition to our high quality Mobil fuels. Of course we aim to be competitive in our everyday fuel pricing, but the app gives customers the opportunity to take control when petrol is cheaper, and use that price lock when it’s convenient for them that week.”

According to Mr McKay, the number of 7-Eleven Fuel App customers almost doubled from FY 2017 to FY2018, with growth coming from both outside and within the existing 7-Eleven customer base.

“The app has been adopted by many of our existing customers which is great to see, however the incremental customer growth is really exciting. Our research is telling us that our fuel app users tend to visit more often than non-fuel app customers. The total spend by fuel app customers is growing in line with the uptake of the app. Fuel app customers spend approximately three times the average spend of non-fuel app customers.

Mr McKay said the additional value provided to fuel app users through the app’s merchandise offers and freebies was making a strong contribution to the average basket size of fuel app users.

“Customers with the app get exclusive product discounts and offers in addition to the fuel price lock capability. We’ve redeemed more than 1.1 million offers through the fuel app since launch. More than 220k or 25% of those redemptions were in January 2019. January was our month of fuel app freebies, with a new product every day. Our customers loved the freebies, and it was a great way for us to work with our stores and suppliers to give customers the chance to try a range of products,” Mr McKay said.

While the technology and the consumer proposition were fundamental in winning this award ahead of strong competition from Hema China, JD.com China, Circle K Hong Kong, 7-Eleven Philippines, BP New Zealand, Z Energy New Zealand, Shell Thailand, and PTT Oil & Retail Thailand, Mr McKay said the work of the total 7-Eleven team to support the app at store level has been vital.

“This award celebrates the collective effort of the entire team to develop the technology, and engage with customers to make it a success. Our support office and store teams worked together to provide great customer experiences, and to get our customers, family and friends excited about using the app to save,” Mr McKay concluded.