In Test at QuikTrip

TULSA, Okla. -- The most obvious sign of growth by any retailer is its store count, and convenience retailer QuikTrip intends to build 60 of its 5,700-square-foot Gen 3 facilities in 2013. But a look at some of the lower-key tests the chain is running gives a deeper look at just how dedicated QT is to keeping its store offer fresh.

The Tulsa, Okla.-based retail is beta testing several new programs, including:

• Gasoline Loyalty with a Tulsa Grocer: The program is a classic cents-off gasoline redemption program that takes the supermarket consumer to QT for a discounted fill-up.
• Modularity: In years past, QT would build a new, larger format behind a legacy store that would then be razed. With the current building deeply egressed to allow for ample forecourt space, QT is piloting a modular, plop-and-play unit at existing raze-and-rebuilt sites. The goal is to sustain some level of operation while a permanent fixture is erected. "We're testing it. We're still in the very early stages," president and CEO Chet Cadieux told CSP Daily News.
• Phone Apps: QuikTrip is testing a QT mobile app. At press time, the application has not been rolled out to test markets.

"We consciously stayed out of the first generation of [web-based loyalty], which was email marketing, and the second generation of text marketing because our customers told us they didn't want a convenience store to be marketing to them. But they're OK with an app," Cadieux said.

"What they've said is, 'I don't want anybody sending stuff to my phone; the last thing I want is clutter. An app? That's fine, because I've chosen to open it up or to set settings on it. I can set up the parameters myself'," he said.

For more on how QuikTrip has achieved fuel and inside sales dominance, see the March issue of CSP magazine.