All major fuel station networks in Ukraine today have their own loyalty programs. In the fierce competition for customers, they constantly come up with new promotions, bonuses, and privileges. It is sometimes difficult for an ordinary driver to understand this mass of information. We decided to help and analyzed 9 loyalty programs of the largest fuel station networks by all key parameters. Our experts awarded points for each parameter. The total number of points determined the level of profitability. The best overall indicator was the Fishka program from OKKO, while Shell Smart scored the fewest points. For ease of perception, all results are summarized in a table on a rating basis. And below the table, we will go through all the points in more detail, explaining who received which points and why.
Table 1. Rating of loyalty programs of the largest fuel station networks in Ukraine
Joining the program
The main evaluation criterion here is how easy and simple it is for a new person to become a member of the loyalty program and get a fuel card. There are actually two ways. The "old-fashioned" way is to visit a fuel station and get a card in person. And the more technological way is to fill out the program application on the company's website or in the mobile app and use a virtual card, without the need to carry "plastic" in your wallet. This opportunity is provided, for example, by OKKO (Fishka) and WOG (Pride) fuel station networks. In addition, the latter allows you to join the Pride program simply by calling the hotline.
Another important point. Most companies issue a card without any additional conditions, but there are those that still require the customer to make a certain purchase first. They lost points for this. Customer-oriented companies do the opposite. In particular, OKKO and WOG give newly joined program participants a discount of 2 UAH per liter of fuel.
Accrual of points
For petroleum products
Most loyalty systems involve accruing points to a personal account in an amount directly proportional to the purchase amount. Most often this is 1% of the receipt for regular fuel and 2% for premium fuel, in some cases up to 3%. There is no fundamental difference between most networks here. The customer can get a larger discount through additional bonuses. And in this, each brand shows individual ingenuity.
For example, BRSM-Nafta accrues an additional discount for refueling "to a full tank" or visiting a fuel station on weekends. At KLO, the discount on gasoline can increase thanks to purchases of coffee or other food products in cafes and stores. Glusco offers fuel 1 hryvnia cheaper if you refuel the car yourself. WOG and OKKO give an additional discount for using quick refueling services at the pump (WOG Pay and OKKO Pay, respectively).
But special attention deserves the practice of personal offers built on a customer behavior analysis system. Such offers are again available only at OKKO and WOG. Therefore, they earned the highest points for this criterion. Taking into account personal discounts, the savings for the driver can be up to 4 hryvnias per liter, which makes refueling more profitable than at cheap fuel station networks.
For stores, cafes, etc.
The highest bonuses for purchasing goods in stores (up to 7%) and food in cafes/restaurants (up to 10%) are given by the KLO network. At BRSM and Shell, this option is practically absent; at WOG, the discount is minimal – 1%; at OKKO, more bonuses can be obtained for certain types of purchases (2% in stores, 3% in restaurants, 4% for private label products).
But to make the picture more complete and objective, our experts took into account another factor – the functionality of network cards. In our table above, this is the line "Additional features". After all, it is one thing when you can get your bonuses exclusively at fuel stations of a single network. It is quite another when points "drip" into your account for almost any purchase. This is currently possible only with the Fishka card from OKKO. Thanks to its multi-brand nature, points are accumulated not only at the fuel station, but also at retail outlets of other program partners – "Furshet" supermarkets, "Allo" digital technology stores, Prostor cosmetics stores, "Budynok Igrashok" children's goods stores, the lifecell mobile network, car service centers, banks, and insurance companies. With the Fishka Online service, you can also collect points at more than 70 popular online stores and services. For example, when booking accommodation on booking.com, 3% of the order amount is returned to your Fishka card.
Using points
Almost all companies participating in our study exchange points for a discount using the formula: 1 point – 1 kopeck. Differences arise when answering the question "Where and what can points be spent on?". At most fuel station networks, points can be used to pay for both fuel and purchases in stores, restaurants, and cafes. However, not all. Socar and Amic networks, for example, allow spending savings exclusively on goods from stores. Bonuses accumulated on the BRSM Plus card are automatically transferred to increase the fuel discount, but are not suitable for payment in stores. Such restrictions resulted in the mentioned networks losing points in our rating.
Also, some networks (Shell, Parallel, OKKO) offer customers to exchange accumulated points for goods from the loyalty program rewards catalog. This can be anything. For example, a cold pack, a tow rope, or a thermal mug at Parallel. Or a set of power tools, a subscription to an online cinema at Shell. Often in such catalogs there are original offers that cannot be found in free sale, and at a very good price. So program participants are advised to keep an eye on new products.
But again, when using points, Fishka card holders are in the most advantageous position. After all, they can spend their points at any of the partners of this program. And this is more than 1,500 points throughout Ukraine. The KLO network's DyakuyOU program is also developing a similar function. But its list of partners is much more modest.
Promotions and offers
Each fuel station network tries to attract customers in some special way, inviting loyalty program participants to take part in various promotions and special offers. Thus, BRSM offers its customers a free diagnosis of gas cylinder equipment, or the chance to win a new crossover for the weekend. Crossovers are generally in trend. Recently, the Parallel network also raffled them among its customers. WOG also regularly holds promotions where you could win from tickets to sporting events to an apartment in Kyiv. Amic provides separate fuel discounts to combatants, gives sweets when buying coffee. KLO motivates the purchase of insurance with free fuel in the amount of 5 liters and gives tickets to football matches with the participation of Dynamo Kyiv.
But having assessed the size of the benefits and gifts provided to customers, the highest score in this nomination was awarded to OKKO. Last season, it raffled off as many as 15 stylish Volvo hatchbacks among its customers, and in May of this year launched a new loud promotion – "Lemon" hryvnias for an idea".
Mobile app
Today, a loyalty program mobile app is no longer just a fashionable feature, but a vital necessity. A few more years will pass, and we will all forget about plastic cards, which will be replaced by a smartphone. For now, WOG Pride and OKKO Fishka have advanced the furthest in the functionality of their applications, which stimulate their customers to use the mobile app with additional discounts. In general, they have a fairly similar set of useful services: the ability to register in the system and get a virtual card, track the balance of points, receive information about new promotions, view the current balance, etc. But there are some differences. The WOG mobile app allows you to buy fuel and coffee using liter and coffee wallets, which OKKO does not have. But Fishka has a separate section with a rewards catalog for ordering goods and services for accumulated points, a Fishka Online section with more than 70 online stores and profitable offers there, and a map of program partner points.
Also, thanks to mobile apps, last year OKKO and WOG launched services that allow paying for fuel and refueling the car directly at the pump. If WOG Pay works on the geolocation determination system, then OKKO Pay works by scanning a QR code at the pump. Now companies are working on ensuring that with the help of these same services, customers can purchase not only fuel, but also other goods. Moreover, at OKKO, customers who are in a hurry can buy coffee or windshield washer fluid without even going to the cash register, but immediately after refueling via OKKO Pay or by reading the QR code on the coffee machine.
Summary
Summing up and tallying the points, it can be noted that at the moment, based on the totality of all factors, the most profitable for the driver is the Fishka card from the OKKO network. Firstly, it is the most multifunctional tool of all existing analogues. The scope of its application is much wider than that of competitors. Secondly, thanks to the discounts provided by the Fishka card, buying fuel at OKKO is even economically more profitable than at operators that initially offer a lower price but provide a minimum of bonuses or even none at all. Thirdly, the OKKO network – the program operator – constantly surprises customers with the most generous and emotional promotions. The main rival of Fishka in this field is the WOG Pride program. GLUSCO CLUB and "KartBlansh" from Parallel show some good results. The rest still need to work. But the consumer will only benefit from this.
