Petroleum Marketer Feedback Improves Fuel Solutions
For years, petroleum marketers have relied on Pinnacle solutions to facilitate and inform their fuel marketing services. Though ever-changing, petroleum sales remain massively relevant even against increasing trends towards public transit, government regulation and alternative fuels. For us to continue to provide cutting-edge service and industry knowledge through the flexible Fuel Smart [link] software and all our fuel solution products, our Fuel Advisory Council presents the opportunity for clients to share their individual experiences with us. Through our Advisory sessions, we better understand how we can enhance our solutions to meet the needs of this dynamic, highly-demanding industry.
Fuel Solutions Advisory Fuels Our Innovation
Since 2009, we’ve hosted not only our standard Advisory Council events (which cover a broad range of niches including c-store, POS, and retail marketing), but introduced a Fuel Solutions Advisory group specifically for petroleum marketers. Through these exclusive annual events (and quarterly conference calls), we assure client voices are heard so we don’t miss details from the front lines regarding changes in the market. Not only does the Advisory Council provide direct access to Pinnacle’s project management team for clients, but also opens the door to cement peer relationships. We’ve found these to be the ultimate petroleum marketing brainstorm sessions.
Advisory Council informs the updates to our entire fuel solutions suite through upgrades within the system, improvements in workflow, and exploring avenues for the expansion of additional capabilities. These sessions also help guide improvements to our training sessions, a new client (or tenured client) acclimation service we offer from our facilities in Arlington, TX and online [link].
We understand we’re only as good as our collaboration. In addition to the Advisory Council, we also host an annual Pinnacle Summit featuring keynote speakers, leaders in the industry [link] and a series of educational technical sessions. This is a unique opportunity for our clients and partners to interact in a highly informative environment, exchange opportunities and challenges within the industry and gain insight from peers, partners and Pinnacle.
Current and Future Challenges in Petroleum Marketing
Through knowledge gained at the 2016 NACS State-of-the-Industry (SOI) Summit, we can still see that petroleum remains a force considering more than 97% of light-duty vehicles still utilize gasoline as a primary fuel resource. Immediate threats to petroleum sales include increased ride-sharing and more frequent utilization of public transportation. Long-term technological innovations aside (that could possibly render car ownership and driver training obsolete), volume of liquid petroleum sales will still see strength in the market even with steady declines in volume.
While there are no guarantees in the future for favorable petroleum sale margins, the projections for volume seem relatively promising. Gasoline sales through the year 2025, according to NACS SOI statistics, are expected to sit around 83.34% (a roughly 13 percent decrease from current).
Even though the decline in liquid petroleum demand is expected to be a slow and steady one, the perpetual volatility of the market requires petroleum marketers to stay on the ball with changes in the market. Our collaboration with clients and improvements to Fuel Smart allows us to help fuel marketers maximize their petroleum returns.
Pinnacle Fuel Solutions
Whether a client focuses within the scope of wholesale or retail fuel, we continue to offer solutions that optimize clients’ internal processes and provide valuable business intelligence. Our Fuel Smart product automates and simplifies a multitude of essential tasks including inventory management, exportation of tax data, business intelligence/analytics collection, Microsoft-powered financials, an intelligent dispatch module (for delivering driver work orders), and billing for customers, among other tasks.
As clients see their fuel marketing processes consistently streamlined, there is a constantly increasing return from optimization alone despite market volatility. With fuel volume remaining high, clients’ focus on internal processes remains as important as ever.
