Speedy Rewards
Outpace your competitors with insights from Speedway Rewards! Fuel up on perks, drive business metrics, and unlock loyalty success on Loyalty Program Slam!
[MUSIC]
Hey everybody, welcome back to the loyalty program slam.
I'm your host, Amber Collins, Marketing Manager here at NS Cloud.
The comprehensive and agile staff solution for
enterprise loyalty program management.
The loyalty program slam is jam packed with real world commentary on some of
the world's most beloved loyalty programs.
Here's how it works.
Each slammer has roughly two minutes to state their case on these four areas.
Program for sign, value proposition, engagement, and performance.
If you haven't checked out our other ones, be sure to visit the loyalty program
slam collection on the loyalty lounge.
Today, planners are Alex, head of strategy, staff, director of product
solutions, and
at least manager of digital and design.
Today's program slam is speeder rewards by Speedway.
It is a large chain of gas and convenience stores.
They have beverages, snacks, other convenience items.
They might even start to rival some QSRs.
Their competitors include 7/11,
Wawa, racetrack, and sheets.
They have a free loyalty program and app program launched in 2004, the app a
little bit later.
But we're reportedly over 80 million users of this app in loyalty program.
It features earning points for every gallon of gas and qualifying in store
purchases,
as well as redeeming those points for gas, merchandise, food items.
They've got select product clubs and might align with some of your preferences,
as well as a mobile app for payments right there on your phone.
You don't even have to go wallet, account management, tracking, and redeeming
points.
And every year you earn a birthday bonus, so let's get into it.
Let's start with at least today.
Hey, so I kind of like what I like about this program in a couple different
buckets,
flexibility, ease of use, and engagement.
I found that the program was really flexible.
You can pick your own perk monthly if it's merchandise or fuel,
and there's a lot of different categories to redeem.
There's food beverages, gas, gift cards from ton of different retailers.
So I really liked that you could choose a lot of how you redeem your points.
I also thought that it's really easy to use.
It's easy to earn and redeem in the app, and they have these club products.
So beverage club, car wash club, gaming club.
And if you purchase something in one of those clubs,
you're automatically enrolled in the program.
So it's super easy.
And then there's a little barrier to start earning rewards and redeeming.
So I just thought that ease of use was great.
And there's also a lot of ways to engage with the program.
There's partner rewards, there's gamification.
You can win sweepstakes for snacks, for events, for beverages, for different
things.
So I just thought, you know, for-- I was kind of surprised at how interactive
and engaging
that everything was.
And then just as another note, I just thought, you know,
the app is really easy to use and it has great information.
It's a store locator.
You could find the closest speedway to you and get up to date prices.
And just in terms of the overall design, the website's bright and energetic and
fun.
And I think it really plays off the energy of the logo.
And it's just a good user experience.
I like how they put the product shots for the categories instead of icons.
So if you want a bag of Doritos, you know, you see the picture and it's right
there.
So I just thought there was a lot of great things about the program.
And it'll be interesting to see how it expands when they add more partner
categories.
So I just thought there's a lot of opportunity for them to grow too.
So--
Yeah, I mean, you're always going to need gas.
You have lots of different options for gas.
And so this is a wonderful way to stand out, particularly for me.
If I don't have to get out my two things, keys or wallet.
And my car is pushed to start and I can just push-- I could just put my hand
and open the door.
I have the code on my door.
So I never have to take my keys out for that.
If I don't have to take my wallet by coming out to the gas station and just
using the app
to pay, I personally just love that experience.
So Alice, you look like you are really digging that experience too.
So how do you feel about Speedway?
I think it's really good.
I, to piggyback on what Elise said, I think the other fun things that they do
are they're
definitely taking advantage of brand relationships.
So they're doing bonus points.
If you buy specific products, they outline that every month for you.
So I'm sure they're engaging those brands to have to pay for those types of
placements
and those types of bonuses.
So I'm assuming they're monetizing that, which is great for a loyalty program
to leverage
that revenue, to offset the cost of the rewards and the cost of the benefits.
The other thing I'd highlight is their credit card.
So they have a speedy rewards credit card where you get a 25,000 bonus points
for taking
the card, not even that much on it.
I think it's like $500 over three months and you unlock the bonus.
Plus you get 50 bonus points for every dollar you spend on gas and in store on
top of the
standard amount of points that you earn for those products in general.
So that's really interesting.
It's a really big give back.
And then you also get 10 points per dollar wherever you shop.
So I think they've layered in the card really nicely into the program.
The perks, the benefits, the rewards are really good.
I am excited to see where partnerships go with them that are they going to be
expanding
more earn opportunities and acting more as a coalition.
I think that's clearly something that's to come given it's saying that it's
coming soon
on their website.
And the last piece I would say is I think that everything they're doing is nice
, engaging
the creative looks good, especially within the app.
So I think that they have a very solid overarching program and structure.
It's definitely impressive.
Especially if you look at some of their competitors too.
I agree.
I mean, again, this is the necessary, the gas is a necessary product.
And we know that gas shoppers are price sensitive.
So even if you have this price and it's being offset by points like that, it
really doesn't
take much to get shoppers to switch.
And then the whole experience overall and the building upon it with the tiers,
then that's
a great way to then once they switch to build a little bit loyalty.
And so they become, I mean, we're talking about sense differences of sense,
right?
So if it's five cents more at speedway than somebody else, and I'm in the
program and I
know that this is going to be a long term earn for me, then I'm willing to
overlook that
five cents.
And we were literally talking about the sense of difference.
And sometimes it's also the side of the road that you're on.
Are they willing to make a huge difference that comes to you?
You know, like these are all the ways that consumers are proving their loyalty
to these
types of businesses.
That, what do you think is speedway?
So I agree with lots of options to spend.
I, the clubs are there.
There are lots of clubs I acknowledge that.
But the clubs aren't really fitting my personal preference.
And I like to see that there are a lot of options.
But to me, there are too many options for like the redemption points.
I know you kind of want to like make it universal to everybody.
But I think that it's too confusing like what is in and what is out.
Where I live, the biggest competitor is the Quick Trip program.
And the Quick Trip program that I participated in the most because the fuel
savings is there.
I only get five cents off a gallon after 15 visits.
So I have to do a visit whether I'm buying gas or whatever it's just based on
the visits.
So the 1750 for 10 cents off a gallon is about 175 gallons which average
vehicle fuel tank
is about 13 Phillips.
So I'm hitting a 10 cents off a gallon to visit faster potentially using this.
So to me, the math is there.
But again, it's kind of that do I want to do think about my daily or do I want
to think
longer term.
So then it just becomes like you said, a matter of convenience.
I didn't see a lot of get to know me things.
Like there's an opportunity there to kind of get to know my vehicle, get to
know my driving
habits so that you can make other kinds of offers to me.
Like if you know what I'm feeling, what about when I fill up and you know like
what I need
to like you can do certain things around that.
But really it's just kind of here's the today stuff.
Here's this week's stuff.
Take it or leave it.
But the receipt summit is definitely a boon in my opinion because people forget
or like
I send one of my kids or my wife forgets to like put in my phone number so we
can like
consolidate all the earning just taking risk and receive.
So again, they're making this easy but in some ways making it too universal.
So it becomes confusing in my opinion.
So you mentioned, you know, you guys, you and your wife deciding that you're
going to
use your phone number to consolidate points.
Sounds like there's an opportunity there for some household being.
And I think that often parents also give their children gas cards.
And so they're kind of are behaving that way where everybody's trying to
benefit because
again, we all have to get gas.
So that's what I'm hearing is that there's definitely an opportunity to do some
household
in there and then some progressive profiling.
I think that that data could be really helpful in going back to Alex's point
about where
the partnerships are going to go and also pushing the push notifications they
have an
app.
And that specifically is for this loyalty and so they could really get to, it
could really
get some really good data there.
Right?
Like, you know, when do you tend to fill up in the morning or the evening?
All my commute, you know, whenever and it's like, you can imagine that you're
driving down
the road during your morning commute and they're like, need a coffee.
It's Monday.
You need a coffee.
You know, here's your double points on French vanilla coffees that we know you
love.
So there's a lot of opportunity there.
Also, I think in Minnesota, I don't know how y'all experience this as well,
where like when
it gets super stupid cold, the gas, like, expands and contracts a little bit.
So like you're getting a little bit more or you know, it just doesn't sit right
So doing things in different times of the day to encourage fill-ups when, you
know, it's
more beneficial to them.
And something that they could do that, I know, is maybe more Minnesota specific
, but it happens.
I think Georgia's the opposite.
I think, I think, whenever it happens to gas, it gets really hot.
So, you know, I mean, we've briefly touched on some competitors.
I will say this out here in Georgia, Quarkrover, and they have gas stations
that some of their
locations.
And that's one that I really do enjoy using because it crosses over into other
necessities
in meaning groceries and they've got to act for that.
And then I would say that they had a partnership when you don't have a Quarkro
ver gas station
that you can use them at Shell gas stations.
So I definitely would also, I'm very interested to see like Alex said where the
partnership
goes, where they can bring in all these other sort of things around the
experience and
these necessary things, where if you're going to do it anyways, you might as
well earn
for it.
So that brings us to our scorecard.
So at least, how do you fill-up speedways to bind?
I give it a 4.5.
I just thought there were lots, you know, there's lots of great flexibility.
It's really easy to use and there's some good engagement elements too.
So I just think there's a lot that's working towards the overall design of the
program.
Alex?
I give it a four.
I think that one of the things it is missing, which might not be as needed
within this
industry, but they don't have any tearing.
And I think, you know, to Scott's point, I think sometimes tearing can also
help with like
finding the right segments, being able to curate the types of offers that you
give based
on the value they give back and also thinking about those, you know, avid
drivers, right?
Like truck drivers, people that are constantly in there getting stuff, like
making sure that
they also feel that benefit without having to take the credit card because that
's really
the accelerant, is that piece?
So I give it a four and I do like the clubs.
I think that they could do a little bit of a better job of really featuring the
main club,
which is the beverage club.
If you get any of their coffee or ICs or whatever, then you know, it's like a
punch card.
You get the seventh free.
I think highlighting that a lot harder and then having the other clubs be
available because
they're branded.
So they're again, they're probably monetizing that.
But I would make a couple of those design tweaks and proposition tweaks to the
consumer
so that it reduces some of the complexity, but also thinking about how do they,
you know,
still elevate the fact that there is a really robust program.
So I give it a four.
Yeah, so I must have been incorrect in my research that I thought there were
tears, but I've
probably referring to the club's status as well because you could move up into
club's
status now, Scott, and my rate or my wrong there.
Well, I didn't see it like overtly called out.
So I guess maybe that is part of the design, part of it where it's not as
obvious.
Overall, I gave it a three because again, it is a spending program, like it is
a spending
getter.
So when we talk about like engagement elements, you know, like talk about, you
know, are we
watching ways to save on fuel tips to, you know, keep your tire pressure, you
know, at
the right pressure, remind, you know, funny videos on cleaning out your car or
something
like that.
Like there are things that they could be doing, especially for like summer road
trip,
you know, like tips and tricks.
Like there are the things that they could be doing, but as a spend program, it
's pretty
good.
Again, I think that there are too many options.
I think that there, the clubs don't personally reach to me, but that's kind of
my own thing,
but there are no partners in my area either.
So it's less meaningful, less impactful to me about that.
So I give it a three.
Yeah, so I think with like the clubs, I mean, there are so many and obviously
those are,
you know, sort of funded with, I'm assuming, partners, so that was guys like
partners.
But within it to cool, if it was kind of like you shop organically as a
customer and then
it kind of said, hey, you've become, you've become this level in the Lipton
Pure Leaf Club
and just sort of like organically, you've bought six mountain views.
So now you are a delete status in the mountain.
And just sort of like, you know, gamified a little bit and the experience that
I'm really
thinking about is more like, what is it like four square where you're like the
mayor
or something, right?
And so it's almost like a little bit of like a leader board like, hey, you
bought the
most mountain view out of everybody.
You are very confident in it.
It's not hard, okay.
But Scott, you were just talking about their engagement.
It's a four-on-the-engagement.
You want to say that again, your audio kicked it a little bit.
Scott, you were just talking about some of those engagement elements.
So why don't we jump down to engagement and watch your score?
Two, because again, it's a real spending get kind of a program.
Now, there are lots of options for the get and they make it very easy to
understand the
spend, but it's not engaging.
I don't see anything, I don't feel anything where they're trying to like get
into that
consumer where they're trying to differentiate and ingratiate themselves beyond
the spending
bonuses.
It's not to say that every program absolutely has to have it.
This is doing pretty well without it, but it is to say that I don't feel like
beyond
the clubs that I'm going to be treated any differently than Alex or yourself,
even though
we have vastly different lives.
Different spending habits, different areas where we live.
So there's not really an engagement of get to know me for all of that.
There's another app called like Upside and Gatsations pay to subsidize some of
their 25 cents
off a gallon and it's proximity based as well.
So Upside is constantly sending push notifications.
They expanded from gas to restaurant, emotions and things like that.
So I don't particularly think that they're doing anything much better than what
speedway is
doing, but I say all that to say that there's competition in the marketplace
around people
who are push-notifying and offering discounts and really pulling on the demand
that all of
these gas stations have to share.
So Alex, how do you feel about their engagement?
I give it like a three and a half.
I think it is a highly transactional program, but also the majority of people
that are going
to get the biggest benefit out of this are the hardcore drivers and truckers.
So I think it's fair to be heavily positioned on the value back to you and the
discounts.
But that being said, I think there is that clear opportunity to try to learn
more about the
customer, engage them further with interactions, get them a little bit more of
that brand love
versus just the fact that I know I can save.
And I think it will help them with some of their propositions because their
touch, their
tag is earn points, get rewards.
And that's what the program is.
That's it.
So, yeah, I think the clubs you could play with are like build your own club.
I like the idea of family hierarchies, but other ways to incent and get more
information
to do more with, I think is what they are missing.
But otherwise, I think it's pretty engaging as a basic, not even basic, as a
little bit
more sophisticated transactional program.
Elise, how do you feel about the programs you engage with?
I gave in for a little bit higher, but I just, you know, I think in comparison
with, you
know, their competitors, I do think that they do offer, offer engagement,
especially like
like I was on their website today and there's like B of the IP and fanatics
fest, like enter
win.
So, I mean, they do have a little bit of that experience based opportunities.
It's not, you know, it's not their, at the forefront and it's not, I mean, they
could
probably do a little bit more in terms of what Scott was mentioning before.
But they do think in their category, they are offering engagement opportunities
Right?
So, time for your back into the body composition.
Sure.
How do you feel about that, Elise?
I mean, they gave it for because I just think, you know, there are
opportunities to focus
on, you know, there are partner rewards.
And I know that they're expanding and I category now, but there, I mean, there
's just,
easy to earn points.
It's easy to redeem points.
I just think there is value to the consumer.
If they sign up for the program and they're using it consistently, they are
going to get
a lot of rewards and they are going to get value from that.
So, that's right.
I think we're enough.
Yeah.
Elise, how do you feel about the value problem?
I think it's, it's pretty fair.
I mean, it's, like I said, it's very transactional, but the multiple weight,
the base earning,
the bonus earning, the clubs and the list of all the different rewards that you
can redeem
for.
I mean, I think the value proposition is, is pretty straightforward and clear
and does
look clean within the app.
So, I think the value proposition is pretty good.
I would say, again, you gotta, you gotta get some gas, like, you know, at a
pretty consistent
pace, like at least going to, you know, two or three times a month to get as
much value
as you can, but I would say that the value prop to me is probably again like a
three and
a half.
So, Scott, how do you feel about value in calling back the whole, you can get
the state, you,
you can get a higher or two visits, sooner, you know, I think that that was
some good math
that you did, that you did there.
So, I gave it a five.
Oh, my God.
I mean, I've been at a lot of back for the historical harker, but that might be
the first five
that Scott has given.
Is it spending to get program?
It's, it's a good spending to get program.
You know, kind of where you're at, it's easy to use.
So the value of me doing this thing over and over at the same place that's
convenient to
me, you know, all those stars aligned, I'm getting a good value for it in my
math and opinion.
I'm doing it faster than the competition in my area and it's better.
Instead of five cents, it's ten cents for fewer trips or for fewer visits.
The clubs are in line with a lot of the other ones and the variance in that
means that your
club doesn't have to be the same as my club.
I would love to see more partners, but again, I'm acknowledging the vast array
of partners
that are in the network and even though personally it doesn't affect me, like I
'm still sticking
with a five that I think, if you put all these things in a line, if I am
consistently getting
the gas that I'm going to be getting anyway, I'm going to get a better return
than through
some of the other programs.
I love that and I just checked and we did get best lessons and a value of five.
So these two brands have been knocking out the park.
The fuel partner savings, they're very local.
I'm noticing that they are literally calling out like this town in this state
is where you
have fuel partner savings.
And so that could be a strategy, like that could be a thing, like, you know,
that could
be like a value of the program that we support local businesses, but it's also
a lot of
work for your loyalty program manager to create those relationships, to do
whatever it
takes to integrate and have those savings going on.
And so if they really take like sort of one very large retailer, whether this
is grocery
or something else, that would affect a lot more people as far as their
partnerships go.
So definitely looking to, it seems like the value that it brings for the people
that live
in those areas, it might be something that is really, really valuable to them.
There was a precedent for that.
There was a precedent for that.
I think of like all of these like fast food, culverts, DQ, whatever, they're
constantly
putting up like the sports teams that they are supporting.
There is a precedent to do that.
So I think that to piggyback on yours, if they hired somebody who did that,
they can
empower these managers to do these kinds of things because others in these
small towns are already
doing them as well.
We definitely don't, you know, plan upon localization for sure.
I mean, that's just another form of personalization.
So, at least something to performance, Alex, how do you feel about the
performance of
the program?
Well, I think it's the largest program for fuel and convenience in the U.S. I
think there
was February or March of this year.
They said they surpassed 80 million members nationally.
And that's substantially larger than Shell, which has also a very large program
, leveraging
multiple earning scenarios, but they're at like 20 million.
So this is 4X.
And Chevron, I think, is maybe close to 1 or 2 million.
They've been making a lot of changes with their program and getting into a
better place.
So we'll see where that grows.
But yeah, I mean, I think from a performance standpoint, they're obviously
getting people
to participate and engage with it and stay around.
So I think it's very successful.
But I'd give it a 5, 80 million.
That's pretty impressive.
Wow, how do you feel about their performance?
Give it a 3, because, again, I think that these people are going to shop there
often anyway,
because it's the one on my way to work.
It's the one on my way home.
It's the one near my house.
So I think of the 80 million.
It's a lot of the other programs that we've reviewed slammed.
I'm going to be there anyway.
So give me something for it.
Yes, maybe I have an option across the street or something, but I'm probably
going to stop there
anyway.
So I tend to devalue those kinds of programs and say, I was going to do this
anyway.
This is a give back.
So I still stick with my 5 for the value prop because it is a better give back.
But performance wise, I don't know that they're moving the needle.
And that's car joke.
I've been changing that decision.
Yes, there is a slightly better value problem, but I think that people are
going to be stopping
there anyway.
So I think that they're not detracting from that.
I think that it's right in the middle of the three.
And I think to your point, there's one across the street.
That's not common in a lot of where you're shopping that the Nordstrom might
also like,
if it's in a mall, maybe it is near the Macy's or it's near something where I
know there's
other programs.
I don't know.
That's like some of the most competitive threat.
Because gas stations are almost always across the street or kitty corner from
each other.
So it's interesting.
I think that the turnover in a big U-turn for.
Yeah, I think churn rate is a big factor here.
And I think that with 80 million, their churn is probably likely not that's not
that bad
because I'd rather keep earning points there than go to the shell across the
street.
And even if it's a couple pennies off, they fight each other a little bit when
you usually
pass them.
But I don't know.
I don't know.
I think it's a 20 million.
How many of the 20 million are also in the 80 million?
Because I would venture that there's a, it's just I sign up for the program
because I just
have to enter in my phone number or something when I stop for gas.
So I would say that to show a difference, you'd have to show a difference in
membership
base.
I shop at Nordstrom.
I don't shop at Macy's.
Yeah.
You know that kind of differentiation.
I don't know if you think that people have preferences for gas stations though.
I think that's really good.
I do.
But a state of rights is based on quality of gas or perceived quality of gas as
well.
And so also if you don't have to fight for every single time that your customer
gets gas
either, you just have to do it.
You have to get them enough and get that share of when they get gas because of
course you
can't also, you also cannot predict where they're going to need when and where
they're
going to need gas.
So that's a whole nother, you know, real estate strategy.
But you don't have to get here on a road train.
That's not going to matter as much.
Then like if you're just driving around town and you have your preferred
station.
Or you don't want to lie to yourself and say you're going to get gas in the
morning so
you always stop at that one right before you go to your house because it's on
the side
of the street because you're part of the program because they have good prices
and perceived
good quality of gas and it's convenient to use.
So that convenience heart rate is massive.
And cleanliness, especially around a road trip, like that's where buckies is
always a
favorite.
It's like a target with a super clean bathroom, good food.
And then yeah, the gas is easy and you can go.
The only thing that they have is they have lines and lines and lines sometimes.
But no, it is funny.
I was like, I will only go to buckies on a road trip if I can because that's
just so much
better than any other one.
Well, if you're on another country, another consideration of consumer safety.
You know, you don't want to stop at a place that is dimly lit.
You don't want to stop at a place where you know that you can't really tell if
the
attendance inside.
And so there's just a lot of different reasons why somebody's choosing one gas,
they should
over another and to Scott's point.
Where does the loyalty program rank in that, right?
Right.
So at least round us out with your score for performance.
So I wasn't 100% sure where to go with this.
But after hearing both the arguments, I think I'm going to kind of go in the
middle and go
with the floor.
Just because that's what I've sort of ranged like the rest of the elements of
the program
to.
And I don't know what that but yeah, I mean they have obviously a huge number
of people enrolled
in the program.
They have a, I feel like they have a really solid program and there's
opportunities for them
to, you know, add more features in the future.
So I want to leave like a little room for like those options in my score too.
But yeah, well for all I think it's a really strong, strong program.
Well, the average score definitely reflects that.
It's average score of all this is going to be a 3.79, which is actually quite,
you know,
on the higher side for us if we've been doing this now.
You know, people that we did in the beginning forgive us if we were a little
bit more strict.
But yeah, so it looks to me like you know, speed, speed, rewards.
For given the type of business that it is, the purchase frequency, all of these
other factors
that come into making the choice of this, you know, it seems like they're doing
a really
great job with their program.
It's an interesting space to be in.
I just like how they, you know, considered all these other things as well, like
, you know,
like adding in the POS with the loyalty and just really adding the convenience
to convenience
stores.
So that's been our show.
Okay.
I like it.
I like it.
You want to, you want to add a point for that?
So that's Speedway for you.
And be sure to check out the rest of the loyalty program's plans on the loyalty
lounge
powered by Guinness Cloud.
Thanks for watching.
Craving more commentary?
Be sure to check out our other loyalty program's slams in the loyalty lounge
powered by
Annex Cloud.
[Music]