Bharat Petrolueum Corporation has reported record sales through its customer loyalty programme card, PetroCard, accounting for over 14 per cent of the total turnover pie for 2005-06.
The PSU, which introduced Petrocard as a pioneering initiative in auto-fuel retailing six years ago, has aggregated total sales turnover of Rs 7,147 crore (RS 71.47 billion) through the loyalty card.
Last year's Petrocard sales was about 40 per cent higher compared with Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) achieved in 2004-05. The sales through the Petrocard is expected to touch Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) by the end of the financial year, said George Paul, DGM (Brand & Allied Retail Business), BPCL.
"The corporation, which is currently present in the individual as well as fleet operators segment with its loyalty card, is planning to make few more strategic moves to expand its customer base further," he added.
The PetroCard is a prepaid loyalty card, in which members can load up cash onto the card and use it for purchases at BPCL outlets. Purchases and other programme behaviour gives the member points earnings that can be redeemed for rewards.
The percentage giveback depends on the product being purchased. Currently, Petrocard has over 2 million customers and records more than 1,35,000 transactions a day. The southern region of the country alone has five lakh customers.
Paul said BPCL runs three different loyalty programmes, with variants within each. Petro Bonus is the one which targets the urban segment.
"There is a separate fleet programme, Smartfleet, with a corporate fleet variant of SmartFleet Corporate, a third, and still-in-pilot programme is the In&Out Card programme for the In&Out convenience store chain," Paul added.
"The PetroBonus programme was launched in September 1999 and it continues to hold a leadership position in the loyalty-card arena amongst fuel retailers in India. Over 20,000 members are added to the programme on a monthly basis," Paul said.
Meanwhile, industry sources said the corporation may rope in private sector companies in the FMCG and retail space and also, into Petrocard loyalty programme in the similar lines of co-branding or to redeem the reward points at other outlets.
Paul, though confirmed that the PSU is proposing yet another set of strategies in the retail marketing front, declined to offer specific comments on the same."
Over the next two years, BPCL plans to take PetroBonus and all its loyalty initiatives to the next level. The company hopes to clock a turnover of over Rs 15000 crore (Rs 150 billion) in two years time. Various new programme formats are being tested to build excitement and involve the customer.
Web and New media will drive a number of these initiatives as will data mining and analysis," he said.
In the marketing innovation space, BPCL had recently partnered with the Tatas in the recently launched TATA Card, as a co-brand.
The branded fuels of Bharat Petroleum, like Speed petrol and Hi-Speed diesel, had also caught the fancy of customers and ushered in a new era of vehicle-friendly and value-added fuels.
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