Competition is growing, and not just in the ‘old’ traditional ways.
By Roy Strasburger
When I was in elementary school, a family moved into the house across the street with a son roughly my age. Wayne was friendly and outgoing, and we got along well from the start.
One of my lasting memories is visiting Wayne at his home for the first time. He recently had a birthday, so he had a treasure trove of new toys. His house was the place to be because everything felt so new and different compared to what I was used to at my own home. It wasn’t just me—all the neighborhood kids wanted to be there.
Wayne came to mind while I was attending an EV conference earlier this year in Las Vegas.
Our Vision Group Network launched an Electric Vehicle Vision Group (evVG), and I was there to soak up knowledge. One speaker, Karl Doenges from the Transportation Energy Institute, said that the popularity of EVs will continue to grow over time because EVs feature the new technologies that many consumers desire.
The big takeaway for me was that retail sites that are specifically and solely dedicated to EV charging are on the rise—and are getting nicer. Orlando-based Social Charge develops sites that create a premium retail offer for EV drivers. Their belief is that EV owners are, by and large, treated as second-class citizens at traditional gasoline retailing locations. Social Charge offers covered high-speed charging, high-end foodservice, premium amenities and a lounge area where customers can take a break, work and literally recharge themselves and their car.
There are other companies out there doing the same thing. One that has been in the news recently is Tesla’s drive-in theater/diner under development in Los Angeles. It will only service EVs; it will not offer hydrocarbon products. These new EV charging locations are the harbinger of a new, and specialized, form of retail.
It is not the actual EV charging that’s going to become a competitive threat. It is the creation of new and exciting retail destinations that will take customers away from the traditional convenience store.
So, back to Wayne. Customers, like kids in the neighborhood, are attracted to the bright and shiny. The question that you need to ask yourself, as a convenience store operator, is whether your offer is exciting enough to attract—and keep—your customers. Can your store be a destination all on its own? How are you going to compete with the premium amenities and foodservice programs that companies like Social Charge are going to offer your customers? And it’s important to note that these new EV charging stations will also have parking spots for everyone—not just EVs.
Now is the time to start looking at your business and get ready for increased competition. The battle for drivers of all types of vehicles is going to heat up between traditional convenience stores and EV charging sites, which could increasingly be opened at QSRs, drugstores and dollar stores.
The question is not what you can offer to customers that your competitors don’t have. It’s what can you offer that will stop your customers from going somewhere else? Unfortunately, it will require a capital investment, and you’ll want to review some critical questions.
Look at your physical store space: Is it modern, well-lit and spacious? Look at your foodservice offer: Are you producing a quality product, do you have the right menu and are you promoting yourself as a foodservice destination? Finally, look at operations: Are the employees trained, do you provide excellent customer service and does the experience in your store meet or exceed your customers’ expectations?
EV charging-only locations are the new kids on the block. You will need to be able to offer the same, or better, experience than they do. Now is the time to start planning. Don’t wait until everybody instead wants to go to Wayne’s house.
Roy Strasburger is the CEO of StrasGlobal, which provides retail consulting services, the licensable Quix brand and Compliance Safe, a cloud-based 24/7 document management and storage platform. He also is a cofounder of the Vision Group Network.
