How Technology adoption can help Petrol Pump Businesses become more Profitable and Streamlined

Adoption of technology for petrol pump operations will help streamline daily operations and also help build strong customer relationships. Technology will be of great help to the petrol pump owner to remain connected with the petrol pump operations even while he is away using Mobility to access critical data for faster decision making and be in control.

Communicate with Customers using technology for Petrol Pump Operations

Use of technology enables a Petrol Pump Owner to effectively communicate with its customers. Extending technology being used by the petrol pump to its customers gives better and timely visibility of the transactions at the petrol pump to its customers. When customers use this information using the technology extended by the petrol pump the petrol pump operations business benefits as better communication and visibility creates strong positive public image resulting in increase in business.

Technology adoption for petrol pump operations will increase efficiency

Technology helps petrol pump owners get visibility of the petrol pump operations without being dependent on the back-office staff to enter the data of daily operations and then create reports for information. Right technology adoption can enable the petrol pump operations being enabled for the Daily Sales Managers or Pump Boys for their related activity as that’s where the actual customer handling and transactions happens. This will enable the petrol pump owner to get near live visibility of the petrol pump operations.

Technology adoption helps increase productivity of Expensive Human Resources

Technology adoption creates a team dynamic within the petrol pump operations as the employees working at the petrol pump get enabled to capture correct transactions immediately at the time of transaction. This saves them huge amount of time and relieve them from mental pressures of reconciling their transactions after the closure of their respective shifts. They are able to capture data and submit the closure reports duly reconciled in far lesser time as being done today resulting in extended working hours for them which are also non-productive. Technology adoption by all means will result in better productive utilization of expensive human resources at the petrol pump.

Security, Reliability and Faster Availability of Transactions using Technology

With technology adoption for petrol pump operations, the quality of data collected in the system is most reliable. Workflows can be created to manage user rights thus keeping data secured and the petrol pump owner can be rest assured that the information will not change without his knowledge and interaction ever. Using technology, the petrol pump can retrieve an archived data for any kind of a query from the customer, tax authorities, etc.

Technology helps in Improved Business Mobility

In the world of today and future, there is only connected world. This enables each one of us to be connected with the happenings around us globally. We all are aware of what’s happening irrespective in which part of the world we maybe. Then why stay away from being connected to our business. With the help of technology adoption, the petrol pump owner can stay connected with the petrol pump operations through the mobile based application and get required informed even when not being available at the business premises. Such information is no more person dependent and will not require any manual intervention to compile and share. All necessary information will be available the moment the data is captured at the time of transaction itself.

Technology Adoption for Petrol Pump Operations enables correct & timely Statutory Compliance

Increasing statutory compliance’s with the rollout of GST has become a nightmare for business owners. To ensure correct and to keep pace with statutory requirements, it is now become mandatory for every business to adopt technology at a much faster speed. Petrol pump operations business is no exception to this. Its hence the right time to adopt technology for business operations and ensure timely & correct statutory compliance to keep the authorities also happy.

Why Technology Penetration is now imminent than ever before for Petrol Pump Operations

Integrating technology into the petrol pump business has compounding benefits. Technology equipped Petrol Pumps can see exponential rise in efficiency as tech adoption helps them free up people, resources, and time. This enables them to reduce manual work, enable operational capabilities & efficiencies and reduce errors. Unlike automated processes, manual operations are more prone to data inconsistencies resulting in unforeseen losses.

Another major benefit of technology enabled operations is that organizations get more focused and have opportunity to allocate resources on high value activities. The entire process of adopting tech helps business having deeper insights into what is really important to the business and it’s growth.

When businesses focus on technology, the processes within the ecosystem get automated which eventually lead to creating highly systemized and documented process. An organization with automated process can devote time on high impact decision making, rather than spending time on manually duplicating data.

At the petrol pump operations, technology is helping to achieve both convenience and confidence in terms of quality and quantity. With best technological enhancements in place, OMCs supplying fuel and gas are ensuring complete transparency in refueling operations and providing highest operational standards.

By embracing cutting-edge technological solutions, companies are automating their back-office systems as well for real-time inventory management and sales reconciliation with centrally controlled price management and MIS reporting system.

We have already seen great improvement in term of technology at fuel stations and petrol pumps. And we are looking forward to more in times to come.

The way the OMCs are increasing usage of technology at the petrol pumps for their own requirements, it’s time that the petrol pump should start adopting to newer technologies wherein the petrol pump operations are made more efficient. Every person working at the petrol pump from the forecourt to the back office should be able to capture his relevant data at the time of the transaction giving trouble free, prompt and excellent customer experience while maintaining correctness of data without being required to reenter. This will also help handle the today’s nuances with reconciliation and delays.

Why Technology Adoption is Critical for Petrol Pump Operations Business

Adoption of technology in business is growing at a rapid pace. However, there are still large number of organizations and specific businesses who have yet to embrace technology for growth of their businesses. It’s evident that technology penetration in the business has long term benefits, yet a much larger number of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fail to engage with technology.

At the outset it seems that petrol pump operations business is the simplest of any kind of businesses. But the moment you start deep diving into the processes and the transactions, one realizes that there are several complexities in this business. Need for technology adoption and the right kind of Petrol Pump Operations Management solution becomes a necessity for the efficient working of the complex petrol pump operations business.

In petrol pump retail operations business as well, technology adoption isn’t yet a mainstream focus. Such businesses stay away from technology adoption generally due to wrong myths about high costs, resistance to change and lack of user acceptability.

Extent of Current Technology Adoption:

Petrol pump operations still have a very low footprint of technology adoption and majority of their operations are being done manually OR are semi-automated.

Below are few of the operations basis the level of technology adoption in a Petrol Pump Operation:

Operations which are automated using Technology are primarily influenced by the OMC’s (Oil Manufacturing Companies) and the changes being brought about due to increase in Digital Payment Mode:

  • Automation Systems installed by OMCs to get their required data in terms of Sales & Stocks
  • Payments made to OMCs are now only through RTGS / NEFT and not thru physical Cheques / DDs
  • Payments Received from Retail Customers through Credit Cards, EWallets, UPI, etc.

Operations which have limited adoption of technology but are very critical for efficient and effective petrol pump operations and management to arrive at desired results:

Semi-Automated Operations:

  • Accounting for All Petrol Pump Operations as desired by the Petrol Pump Owner

Manual Operations:

  • Daily sales management
  • Daily forecourt operations – Expenses, Collections, Deposits, etc.
  • Credit sales management – Parchi / Slip Handling, Billing, etc.
  • Customer Credit limit Control
  • Stock Management of Lubes & Others

The bitter truth is that the extent of automated operations in RO is just 20% whereas 80% of work is still manual and are most critical for the efficient and effective management of the petrol pump operations.