News

Simplify loyalty programs with technology

September 2, 2004

For operators of commercial fueling centers, customer loyalty is a constant challenge.

America's highways are filled with places to stop for fuel, food, rest and even a shower. That's why travel center operators are always seeking creative ways to lure truckers back to their locations.

This story and all the great free content on Kiosk Marketplace is supported by: Apunix

While there are several kiosk-based programs geared to truckers, loyalty programs have been immensely popular and are one of the few applications that have proven successful in brand building and in generating return business.

Take the Road King Club program, operated by Ohio-based Travel Centers of America. Every gallon of diesel fuel purchased earns drivers one Road Mile.

Truckers use bar-coded loyalty cards at Road Mile Marker kiosks to access Road Mile points. Once logged in, they can check point balances and redeem points. When a trucker redeems points, the kiosk prints a certificate that can be used like cash at the register.

Revolutionary rollout

A truck stop might be an unexpected spot for innovative, high-tech kiosk deployments, but that's exactly what kiosk software developer Apunix provided.

The Travel Center/Apunix kiosks were one of the largest Linux deployments the kiosk industry has seen. The software for the machines is written in Java and runs on a Linux platform. Travel Centers of America has used the kiosks in their stores for more than three years.

In an story on KIOSKmarketplace.com, a Travel Centers of America representative said, "It definitely has been worth it. The drivers like it because they don't have to walk around with these sheets of paper anymore, and we like it because we don't have to worry about those sheets of paper, so it's a win-win situation."

Perhaps most importantly, such systems are much easier for the customer, and that means that customers are more likely to come back.

According to Peter Berens, president and co-founder of Apunix, "No other marketing avenue (radio, TV, direct mail) has ever offered a program that comes close to being as cost-effective as kiosk-based loyalty and couponing programs."

Rip Griffin Travel Centers discovered this fact when they started using kiosks in their stores. The key benefit to these kiosks has been the ability to enroll customers in the loyalty program and, as a result, collect demographic information prior to any point redemption.

Customers at Rip Griffin earn points from fuel and in-store purchases. Rip Griffin found that after just three months of usage, the average cost to capture demographic information was a few dollars per name. That cost also covers the kiosk purchase and loyalty program implementation.

"Having kiosks that are robust and reliable is key in a 24/7 environment," said Ben Wong of Rip Griffin Travel Centers. "Being able to interface to a variety back-end systems and provide the information in a graphically rich, easy to use manner, and the ability to keep the kiosk content fresh was vital to the success of this deployment."