Artificial Intelligence (AI) determining prices – a real game changer for gas stations and stationary retail trade about to take off

Strategic partnership
BiCA has already been involved as an investor and strategic partner in the technological race to catch up around dynamic gas prices since March 1, 2018.

“The foundation for this collaboration was laid by our longstanding acquaintance with Chairman Niels E. Bengtsson,” says Joachim Lantzerath, CEO of BiCA: “With this partnership, we responded early on to the need of our major customers to soon start using algorithms for analyzing and influencing the market in near time. “

At the point of sale, CiRRUS, BiCA’s cloud business solution, connects with the technology from Denmark. “CiRRUS provides us with all the data we need to understand customer behavior in real time,” explains Gary Szendzielarz, Vice President Global Sales at A2i.

End of traditional pricing
Artificial intelligence gets to know customers and their individual consumer behavior. “Every single customer interaction is ultimately an important clue,” explains Gary Szendzielarz. The first contact already takes place when the customer sees the gas price on the tag. Until now, gas station operators simply followed the competition in their pricing. At the same time, margins and volumes are falling. In other words, they listened to the competition instead of their own customers. But traditional pricing is a thing of the past. For customer-centric, artificial intelligence can track down new volumes.

Game changer 2022
“The upcoming game changer will be personalized pricing for customer loyalty,” reveals Gary Szendzielarz. “Timeboxing for discounts will become a trendsetter.”

Gary Szendzielarz is convinced that gas prices are only one area in which dynamic pricing will become relevant, and he cites convenience stores as well as mobility-related services such as car washes as examples. All elements of a service station are networked and impact each other, both positively and negatively.

PCF filters all available, sales-relevant data and incorporates customer and competitor reactions with a frequency and accuracy far removed from conventional, rule-based systems. Even local situations can be matched to the dynamically mapped behavior.

The customer of the future
The biggest challenge of the future is changing customer behavior. “Already today, customers have become more selective about where and how they consume,” says Gary Szendzielarz. “Attracting these customers will become even more difficult because each individual wants their specific needs addressed. ” In this context, the classic economics of supply and demand is a thing of the past. Dynamic,
personalized pricing is also bound to arrive in stationary retail, thus constituting a logical evolutionary step for A2i.