Ipsos c-store loyalty study; ADNOC issues ninth crude tender since June

Ipsos put out work this week on what wins customer loyalty and trust in convenience stores and fuel retail. If you're trying to turn a fuel-only stop into a repeat inside-the-box customer, it's worth reading.

Loyalty and trust

The Ipsos work covers what drives customer loyalty in the c-store and at the forecourt, and where foodservice fits in. The point the firm is pushing is that pump price gets people to the lot, but what keeps them coming back is what happens after they park. Loyalty programs and a food offer people actually want are doing most of the work on repeat visits, along with a clean store.

Trust is the part operators tend to underrate. A customer who believes your pump reads honest and your prepared food is safe comes back without shopping the sign across the street every morning. Trust earns the repeat visit without you having to match the price out front.

The full breakdown is in the Ipsos study, and it's worth pulling if you run more than a couple of sites. The pump brings people onto the lot. Most of the profit is in foodservice and a loyalty tie.

The ADNOC tenders

ADNOC issued its ninth spot crude tender since June, offering Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu, and Das grades for October and November loading. The UAE keeps pushing production and exports higher even with the Hormuz situation hanging over the Gulf.

More barrels moving out of Abu Dhabi is a loosening signal on the supply side. When a major Gulf producer runs nine spot tenders in a stretch, it usually means they have crude to move and buyers willing to take it, which leans bearish on the front of the curve if the strait stays open and the barrels keep loading.

For a US jobber, this is upstream of your rack, but it's the kind of thing that sets the tone weeks out. Cheaper, plentiful crude tends to show up later as softer wholesale gasoline and diesel. It doesn't hit tomorrow's contract, but it's the direction to keep an eye on.

The catch is Hormuz. Every one of those cargoes has to clear the strait. One bad headline there and the loosening story flips fast, so the export pace and the transit picture move together.

What to watch

Whether ADNOC keeps the tender pace up into the winter loading window, and whether the Gulf stays calm enough to let the barrels through. On the retail side, pull the Ipsos numbers and check your own loyalty enrollment and food attach rate against them before you plan next year's remodels.