Cuebiq, the largest provider of accurate and precise location data in the U.S. and GasBuddy, the only smartphone app connecting millions of drivers with their Perfect Pit Stop, have conducted a joint study examining foot traffic of GasBuddy users to convenience stores and gas stations across the U.S. in Q1 2017. As the first footfall trend report in the fuel and convenience store space, the analysis exemplifies how location intelligence can help this massive and rapidly growing industry understand consumer habits and behaviors.
Leveraging Cuebiq’s proprietary intelligence platform and data collection methodology, the companies analyzed anonymous geo-behavioral patterns of GasBuddy’s app users, which allowed them to gain insights into its users’ offline behavior such as frequency of station visits, fueling patterns, how long they spend at a location and brand loyalty.
Key study highlights include:
- GasBuddy and Cuebiq analyzed more than 23 million consumer visits to stations and stores throughout Q1, which enabled them to understand America’s refueling behaviors.
- Weekdays between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. were highly-trafficked hours in Q1. Convenience stores are poised to lure business away from QSRs and grocery stores now that customers can eat quality meals at the same place and time they choose to fill up their tanks.
- GasBuddy users will likely not go out of their way to fuel up or shop at a specific brand. In Q1, more than half of GasBuddies visited locations within six miles of their homes or places of employment.
- The study also analyzed GasBuddy users’ brand affinity. When it comes to shopping, GasBuddy users shop at Walmart, Sam’s Club and Target. For banking, GasBuddy users’ top preferred banks are Chase and Wells Fargo. Lastly, for GasBuddy users who are coffee drinkers, they prefer Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and Tim Hortons.
“There’s a reason they are called convenience stores,” said Greg Fox, chief revenue officer at GasBuddy. “Their perception as primarily gas stations is dwindling as many chains now feature coffeehouses, delis, quick service restaurants (QSRs) and grocery stores. As the joint study indicates, if you are a CPG brand, you now have unprecedented opportunity at the convergence of mobile and physical to influence consumer behavior where $233 billion is spent in the U.S. annually.”
“Today’s retailers already know a lot about their customers, thanks to customer relationship management software (CRM), but location data brings them further CRM enrichment by offering them powerful insights into consumers’ real-world behaviors and trends,” said Antonio Tomarchio, CEO of Cuebiq. “Location data shows what consumers are interested in in the physical world – whether they’re coffee lovers or regular fast food customers. If you are a convenience store looking to bring in more customers by adding in a Starbucks or McDonald’s, location data can tell you whether it will be a worthy investment.”
View the full report here.
Methodology
From January 1 to March 31, 2017, GasBuddy and Cuebiq analyzed location visit data at more than 100 fuel and convenience store brands across the United States, equaling nearly 23.5 million trips, to understand foot traffic trends, provide geo-behavioral and consumer insights and identify the impact of key factors such as proximity and pricing on POI visits.
About GasBuddy
GasBuddy is a smartphone app connecting drivers with their Perfect Pit Stop™. With more than 65 million downloads, GasBuddy is the leader in crowdsourced information to help drivers find the best gas prices, closest stations, friendliest service, cleanest restrooms, tastiest coffee and much more. GasBuddy is the leading source for the most accurate, real-time fuel prices at more than 140,000 gas stations in the US, Canada and Australia. The Company’s B2B Retailer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), known as GasBuddy Business Pages, provide Fuel Marketers and Retailers their best opportunity to maintain their station information, manage their brand, and promote to their target consumer audience. For more information, visit www.gasbuddy.com or email [email protected].
About Cuebiq
Cuebiq is the largest provider of accurate and precise location data in the U.S. Its leading data intelligence platform analyzes location patterns of 61 million monthly active U.S. smartphone users on over 180 mobile apps, allowing businesses to glean actionable insights about real-world consumer behaviors and trends. Cuebiq provides clients geo-behavioral audiences for cross-platform ad targeting, the industry’s only SaaS based real-time campaign optimization and footfall attribution tools, and offline location analytics. Cuebiq does not collect any personally identifiable information. Its privacy-sensitive methodology has earned the company membership status with the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), the leading self-regulatory industry association dedicated to responsible data collection and its use for digital advertising. Cuebiq is headquartered in New York with offices in Chicago, Italy and China.
