Forecourt Concierge - Service at a Petrol Station - is it coming back?

Forecourt Concierge - Service at a Petrol Station - is it coming back?

By Peter Buckingham BSc GradDip MktMdl CFE FIMC CMC at Spectrum Analysis

Is it possible that service could be coming back to petrol stations?

My first job (that put me through school and early university) was as a “Pump Jockey” or Petrol Station Attendant. This profession went into extinction around 40 years ago – and yet when I visited New Zealand recently, I saw it was being revived as a “Forecourt Concierge!”

In the "good old days", the job employed many young boys, (and men), where you would meet and greet the driver (at their car window), and ask if you may be allowed to fill up their car - always try and fill up - not put in $5!

Once you had engaged, we were always suppose to offer to check the oil (good for oil sales), wash the windscreen and check the type pressures. Most customers just wanted the fuel, but service was the aim in those days - and cars used quite a lot of oil that was good for profit.

In my generation (baby boomers), working at a petrol station as a pump jockey, or as a chemist delivery boy or having a paper round were probably the equivalent of working for McDonald while still at school - most of us had a job of this type.

Service disappeared from service stations around 1980, as the oil industry in Australia went to self-serve, and price was such a huge motivator for purchasing petrol, cheaper meant do-it-yourself (DIY). Not everyone has been happy with this, including my mother who has been complaining for 40 years as to why she cannot find service at a service station.

In New Zealand, Shell has been sold and rebranded to “Zed,” and one of the new marketing ploys is to have a Forecourt Concierge available to fill your tank for you if you would like (at not extra cost). I can assure you if we lived in New Zealand, my wife would be a very, very loyal Z Energy NZ customer.

The history of the self-serve petrol station

Pre about 1975, every service station employed a raft of people to serve customers. It was even felt to be an OH&S issue if the driver got out and served himself, so the aim was to offer to “fill it up”, and could we check the oil and water (hopefully to sell oil in the days many cars used a lot of the product).

Pumps were turned on at the pump (when you reset the meter and picked up the nozzle), and the idea of a central console run from inside the shop had not arrived.

Working at Caltex from 1978, I did a justification at that stage where we even tried “Split Serve” where some of the pumps were wired to a central console and operated as self-serve at a lower price, and normally the outer pumps were advertised as Full Serve, with a 2 cent per litre price premium added on. The idea was that if you went to the Full Serve bays, the attendant would fill the car and check oil, water, tyres and wash your windscreen as well. Unfortunately this rarely occurred like we planned!

Split serve did not last long, so basically every service station – which we now call Convenience Stores, became self-serve in Australia, maybe with the exception of some country locations.

Customers were trained (by necessity) to use self-serve as there was no alternative. Service stations have for years been staffed on this assumption, with no one available to assist in any way on the forecourt. Nozzles on petrol pumps were changed from the ones we used (as Professional Bowser Boys), that could be clicked on and would cut off once the car was full, to the ZVA nozzles where you had to be holding it on to get fuel delivered.

Even the design was made so you would have three cars wide, and therefore a passing lane, so if the car at the front was slow, the ones behind could go past if they had finished.

The New Zealand change

New Zealand followed Australia down this way, however there have been major changes in New Zealand with some of the International oil companies leaving the market, and large independents coming in – with new ideas obviously.

Shell sites have all been rebranded to Zed or Z, and now listed in the services on the main price board is the words “Forecourt Concierge Every Day from 10am – 9pm”. I tried it out and this nice man came over and filled my tank for me! First time I have seen this in 40 years!

As my wife says, she hates it when she may have the smell of petrol on her hands or clothes, and that is why she normally sends me down to fill her car when it is almost stopping and extremely empty.

Could this work again in Australia?

Marketing is a big spend for the oil companies, and it would be very interesting if one of the major retail chains (Caltex, Shell, Coles Express, Woolworths, United, 7/11, Liberty, Puma Energy, Liberty, On the Run OTR or BP) were to try and take a jump on the rest by offering service – something they have been low on over the years. 

If they were to do this, there could be an argument on price – however the oil industry has been running on very good margins for some years now, and they continue to move prices up and down so much, no one ever really gets a good point of comparison.

It could be a game changer, especially in higher socio-economic areas, or business areas around the CBD’s, where people would love to not have to fill their own cars.

Maybe a smaller chain would want to try it, such as Shell and use their Liberty brand sites as a test run, and if it really made a difference move it into their Shell / Coles locations?

What are the next big changes in petrol stations?

The last major change I can recall was the introduction of the shopper docket. This moved the market considerably in the favour of Shell and Caltex, who had deals with Coles and Woolworths, and at the detriment of all other retailers.

We are approaching a significant shift over the next 20 years as we move to electric vehicles, and possibly hydrogen power after that, and while there will be an ability to "refuel" at home, there will be other needs including quick recharges for a period of time to get to the next location. Space will become more relevant as cars will be stationary for far longer, and need to hook up to charging stations.

Maybe we will be looking for larger sites - more like a service centre, with a bank of charging stations to hook the car to up to 24 hours a day (within government regulations). This will have to be the way on major highways unless the range of the electric car greatly improves, but even so, you will not be able to refuel in the time it takes to fill a car up at a petrol bowser.

Country service centres may resemble a large car park, or like where the taxis wait at the airports before going to the terminals. Maybe we will then have play centres, hairdressers, more cafes and restaurants to cover a longer stoppage to "refuel."

Metropolitan sites will be a different challenge due to space - maybe the vertical car stacker will come into play to hold cars while they recharge?

Summary

Shell / Coles and Woolworths / Caltex introducing their shopper dockets was the last significant change in petrol retailing in my view. The industry has remained relatively stable with market share driven by the number of sites and the competitiveness on the price boards. Forecourt concierges could be a new factor that could put the word “Service” back into “Service Station.”

Questions

What do you think?

Could forecourt concierges work in Australia?

Do Service Stations need another game changer initiative to differentiate their offering?

What would you like to see in local service stations?

Please add your views in the comments below...

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Peter Buckingham is the Managing Director of Spectrum Analysis, a Melbourne based consultancy in demographics, mapping and analysis with access to international data including Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. Spectrum Analysis works with many schools both large and small from all sectors, but particularly Independent Schools, and have all the GIS tools to undertake this work. Peter is both a CMC (Certified Management Consultant) and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC). Peter can be contacted by email at [email protected] or called on +61 3 9830 0077.

More information

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Declaration: Peter worked for Caltex from 1978 – 1999 in many different marketing roles.