Customer loyalty strategies in the fuel retail industry are undergoing a significant transformation. For years, one of the Loymax customers relied on a traditional loyalty model based on instant discounts. The program offered customers 1–3% off their fuel purchases, a familiar approach widely used across the industry.
However, market conditions began to change. State-owned competitors were able to offer lower retail prices, despite higher wholesale costs, creating an increasingly difficult pricing environment for private operators. The leadership at the large fuel retailer recognized the need to move beyond discounts, which were both eroding profit margins and failing to generate long-term loyalty.
The company sought a solution that would allow them to maintain customer engagement while improving profitability and operational control. After reviewing available platforms, they selected Loymax to support the design and implementation of a new loyalty strategy.
About the client: industry and challenge
This fuel retailer operates a network of gas stations and minimarkets. Facing margin pressure from large state-run competitors, they needed a loyalty approach that aligned with their long-term business goals. Instant discounts had become financially unsustainable and did not offer the flexibility or customer insight needed to drive growth.
To remain competitive, the company decided to transition from a flat discount model to a points-based bonus program with tiered rewards.
The new program: from discounts to tiered bonuses
With Loymax, the retailer launched a structured bonus system that rewarded customer behavior based on monthly fuel consumption. The program introduced three tiers:
- Silver: 1–100 liters/month → 0.5 bonus points per liter
- Gold: 101–200 liters/month → 1 bonus point per liter
- Platinum: 201+ liters/month → 1.5 bonus points per liter
In addition to fuel purchases, customers earned 1 bonus point for every 5$ spent in the minimarket. Each bonus point is equivalent to 0,1$ and can be redeemed on fuel or store purchases, provided the customer pays at least 0,1$ in cash. Points remain valid for one year.
The transition from the discount model to the bonus system was completed over a six-month period, beginning with a pilot in the smaller local city. Customers were notified of the change two months in advance through flyers, media announcements, and cashier briefings. Importantly, existing physical loyalty cards remained valid, which simplified the user experience.
Personalized offers and program automation
The new loyalty structure allowed the fuel dealer to move beyond simple transactional incentives and begin using targeted campaigns to influence customer behavior. Loymax’s BI and campaign automation tools enabled the team to create highly specific promotions.
One example involved targeting customers who had purchased energy drinks multiple times in the previous month. These customers received a 20% offer on a new private-label energy drink, resulting in a threefold increase in sales of that product.
Another campaign targeted dormant customers with a special SMS promotion offering platinum status as a win-back incentive. Over 2,000 customers returned and made purchases using their loyalty cards during this campaign.
Additional personalization included:
- In-receipt messaging and promo codes
- Push notifications to mobile app users
- Offers triggered at the point of sale based on customer profile
The company adopted a consistent policy: customers must take some form of action — such as entering a code or using a registered card — to activate offers. This ensured that discounts were earned through engagement rather than distributed indiscriminately.
Marketing efficiency and operational gains
The implementation of Loymax resulted in significant efficiency gains:
- Marketing costs were reduced by 20–30%, primarily due to the elimination of printed flyers, the replacement of SMS with push notifications, and the automation of promo delivery through receipts.
- Time spent on campaign analysis and reporting was significantly reduced through BI dashboards and self-service analytics.
- Manual processes for promo setup and customer segmentation were replaced with automated workflows within the Loymax platform.
These improvements not only reduced overhead but also improved campaign speed and accuracy.
Loyalty program results
The transition to a tiered, bonus-based system produced measurable outcomes across key business metrics:
- Loyalty program participation grew by 2–4% per month during the rollout phase.
- The company currently maintains 105,000 active cards.
- The energy drink campaign resulted in a 3x increase in product sales.
- A coffee promotion, in which a fuel discount was tied to coffee purchases, led to a lift in both categories.
- A New Year campaign attracted over 60,000 registrations and more than 38,000 active participants.
- Ongoing promotions regularly draw 20,000 or more customers.
Customer support and loyalty visibility
Another operational improvement was the creation of a dedicated call center for loyalty-related inquiries. Previously, all calls were routed to staff via a single mobile line, resulting in delayed response times and missed opportunities.
Today, all requests are processed via a ticketing system linked to the call center and station managers. Every issue is tracked, responded to, and marked as resolved or escalated as needed. This change has significantly improved customer service and increased transparency across the network.
Additionally, the Loymax platform gave the retailer access to detailed user data, allowing staff to monitor loyalty card activity, track redemption behavior, and assess the impact of individual campaigns at the customer level.
BI usage and key metrics tracked
With access to real-time business intelligence tools, this large retailer marketing team tracks several performance indicators on a monthly basis, including:
- Number of active users
- Repeat purchase rates
- Burned bonuses
- Campaign participation
- Promotion redemptions
- Purchases made using bonus cards
Custom reports are often created to support campaign planning, seasonal trend analysis, and promotional budgeting.
Future plans
The company continues to refine its loyalty approach. Current priorities include:
- A new version of the mobile app with improved stability and user interface
- Enhanced app functionality to show bonus expiration dates
- Integration with third-party review platforms to potentially reward positive feedback
- Streamlined card status transfers without requiring full re-registration
- Further integration with proprietary POS software to support advanced promotions
The fuel company also continues to experiment with campaign mechanics and is evaluating future use of AI-driven recommendations under specific safeguards.
Conclusion
The fuel retailer’s experience demonstrates how a company from this sector can successfully shift from instant discounts to a structured, personalized loyalty program. By implementing Loymax’s platform, the company was able to preserve margin, improve customer engagement, reduce operational costs, and enhance the flexibility of its marketing strategy.
Through a combination of tiered rewards, campaign automation, and business intelligence, the company now operates a loyalty program that supports long-term customer value and sustainable business growth.