Bobby Haskins, Vice President of Retail Partnerships at Auror examines what retailers across the globe are investing in as the traditional gas station model evolves – for the better.

The gas station experience

Right now, gas stations are redefining what convenience means across the world.

They’re looking to create communities at their forecourts, transform the roadside shopping experience and connect to their customers’ wants and needs as they continue to evolve.

It’s no longer a case of less is more.

What does that look like now and what could that look like in the not-too-distant future?

Right now, the gas station experience across the US is transactional and it’s largely driven by the high risk of theft and drive-offs.

You pre-pay, either at the pump or in the store, then go back to your vehicle and fill up.

It doesn’t matter whether there’s 100 pumps or four – this is what we’ve come to expect from our gas station experience.  

This isn’t the case globally and now many gas stations across the US and UK are reassessing how they can be a better part of their communities, while still managing to reduce or avoid fuel theft.

With collaborations between retail giants like bp and Marks & Spencer in the UK, people are shopping longer and spending more at their gas stations – and their desire for good customer service as well as a less transactional nature is growing.

As an industry, we need to continue to adapt.

And there’s good reasoning and data behind this too – customer experience matters and consumers are becoming more loyal to brands that invest in world class customer experience.

A recent KPMG study showed that 65% of consumers were most likely to be loyal to brands that deliver top customer service.

Furthermore, 85% of consumers went as far to say they are willing to pay higher prices for exceptional service. 

What could a good customer experience look like for gas stations?

Good customer service is an ongoing battle, particularly as crime is becoming more brazen in our communities.

Retailers want to protect their associates, their loyal customers and continue to grow as community hubs.

This is a global issue – it’s certainly not one the US is facing alone.

However, pre-pay pumps aren’t the norm across the globe. In the US, to keep pumps off pre-pay and maintain excellent customer service levels, gas station attendants were effectively having to make judgment calls on whether someone was likely to steal gas.

And they’d have to do so within seconds.

They’d achieve this using a variety of methods – a quick cheat sheet of known license plates, probably taped to a computer screen at the counter, or maybe an assessment of the person, what they were wearing, how they were dressed, the car they were driving – the list goes on.

Not only are these efforts unsustainable and ultimately ineffective, they’re all loaded with human bias.

To be blunt, it wasn’t providing good customer service and it’s not the model we want to employ here in the US as gas stations look to evolve.

How can we overcome this – and how does the US do it better? 

There are ways to overcome this and by using data-led decisions rather than human bias.

Utilizing license plate recognition (LPR) technology, as a vehicle drives into the forecourt, gas retailers are able to identify vehicles connected to incidents when gas or other goods were stolen from them.

This means they can put those pumps onto pre-pay to require them to pay at the pump, yet switch on the pump for honest and loyal customers – within seconds and discreetly.

There’s no bias, it’s a data-driven decision and your loyal customers are grateful for the experience.

As we start to see the change in gas stations to community hubs, this will become a more pressing matter for gas retailers to assess: how do we continue to provide good customer service, encourage our customers to come in and shop, while still protecting ourselves from drive-offs and theft?

No one is immune to violence

Regardless of pumps on pre-pay, there’s still the overwhelming threat of violence in retail at the moment – and it’s on the rise. Since 2021, Auror data has shown a 257% increase in violent and serious behavior by repeat offenders across the US.

Many retailers across the US are looking at implementing LPR technology in order to combat this – to ensure their teams and communities feel safe – and gas station forecourts are no exception.

However, a license plate with no actionable intelligence isn’t going to tell you what you need to know quickly, in order to help your associates make good decisions on the spot.

What’s needed is that further intelligence picture, like whether the vehicle is associated with previous incidents at your stores or if the individual connected with this vehicle is known to carry a weapon.

As a retailer, you need to know the security blanket you’re paying for does what it set out to do.

Security and retail professionals need to be able to move from detection to actionable intelligence, connecting vehicles to their subjects and their associated offenses, including violent and threatening behaviors.

To do this, you need a single system for retail crime intelligence and LPR – this combination will provide you with a powerfully simple experience to stop crime and violence.

Law enforcement matters

Law enforcement globally is stretched – police are having to do more with less as crime becomes more brazen, but also as more responsibility falls under law enforcement.

As a result, law enforcement has historically been an advocate for pumps to be switched to pre-pay – stating that investigating gas drive offs isn’t the best use of police resources.

However, when it comes to the risk of drive-offs and crime, as well as engaging with police, it doesn’t have to be binary.

With the use of technology, law enforcement isn’t having to make the decision to investigate serious crime over gas station theft, their processes around gas theft can be enhanced and retailers can continue to provide excellent customer service. 

We want to see fuel and gas retailers empowered to be the community hubs they’re looking to be, while still reducing the violence and loss in their stores.

The use of technology can enable both retailers and law enforcement to create more sustainable solutions that create powerful and positive impacts on their local communities through good customer experience and safer environments. 

A case study

Utilizing Auror’s LPR technology, purpose-built for gas stations, providing excellent customer service, a well-known fuel retailer saw the following results:

• A 73% decrease in net loss through a combination of fewer drive-offs and a higher recovery rate
• A 50% increase in debt recovery rates
• A 54% reduction of repeat offenders
• Thousands of associate hours saved annually through automated processes

How does it work?

• Together with Auror, the fuel retailer implemented LPR  technology at every one of their sites
• Cameras installed on the forecourt read the number plate of every vehicle that enters the site. In real-time, data is captured and available within the Auror platform
• This information is matched against a list of vehicles that have previously offended at the fuel retailer site
• If there’s a match, then a visual and audible alert is sent in real-time to inform the site team not to release the pump that the vehicle is attempting to use
• This puts associates in control and stops incidents before they can occur by giving staff timely intelligence they can make decisions with, rather than having to make a judgment call
• This led to a 54% reduction in incidents involving repeat offenders

About the author

Bobby Haskins is a loss prevention expert, having spent the last 15 years in the industry, solving complex operational problems with technology.

Formerly of Target Corporation working in their Asset Protection team for ten years, Bobby deeply understands the concerns of retailers, both security and loss concerns, as well as technological advancements that retailers need to be across to prevent violence and loss.

Bobby now spearheads Auror’s key partnerships as Vice President of Retail Partnerships in North America and is always willing to discuss the overwhelming benefits of LPR for gas retailers, particularly when supercharged with crime reporting intelligence.

See more at auror.co, or for LPR specifically, click here.

This article was originally published in the September edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.