LONDON – UK BP has recently redeveloped its forecourt offer to appeal to female “stop and shop” customers and has introduced “customer conductors” (i.e., greeters) to differentiate its service proposition among the competition, according to a presentation by Dave Newton, retail director, convenience retail UK BP, and David Pitron, offer implementation manager, convenience retail UK BP.

In their presentation this week at the NACS Insight Convenience Summit – Europe, Newton and Pitron shared the changes UK BP has made to encourage consumers to shop the entire store offering. They explained how the introduction of the M&S Simply Food concept onto its forecourt stores had attracted more female shoppers, essentially reversing the former male to female ratio of 60:40. At the same time, their research had identified three key consumer groups, including stop and shoppers, who accounted for 33% of sales.

“We had to make sure we focused on the female shopper with propositions that are distinctive for female shoppers,” said Newton.

This included the introduction of customer conductors on site, who will welcome shoppers when they arrive on the forecourt, escort them under umbrellas when it rains and advise them that cars can be filled with fuel from either side of the pump thanks to the introduction of longer hoses.

Conductors will also radio to the store when eight or more cars pull onto the forecourt to recommend opening up more cashier points and helping shoppers inside the store.

BP improved its store design with a more open layout, which is easier to navigate and includes lower counters for better sight lines. The changes garnered feedback on the in-store via an online community called BP Buzz, Pitron told delegates. “We were able to have a conversation with customers to understand what they like and what they don’t like,” he said.

The retailer has also added doors on chillers on the sidewalls, lifting the ambient temperature in-store and boosting sales from those product categories to boot. BP improved the in-store environment with wood and brick features. Frozen foods were also introduced and BP worked with suppliers to upgrade the quality of products across its range.

According to Pitron, the new look has been piloted in a number of stores and will be rolled out across the whole network in the next couple of years. From a results point of view, the number of shoppers rating BP a nine or 10 out of 10 increased from 43% to 75%. Commercially, the project has delivered a 35% to 65% increase in foodservice sales. Fuel and M&S sales have also increased as a result of the halo effect of the upgrade.

For more information on strategies for attracting female shoppers, read “Winning Over Women” in the June issue of NACS Magazine.

Look for complete coverage of the NACS Insight Convenience Summit – Europe in the upcoming July issue of NACS Magazine.