At the same time, competition forces companies to come up with more and more new options. Some bet on introducing new services in an electronic application, others choose traditional methods, such as raffles of valuable gifts. The Institute of Consumer Expertise analyzed how WOG (Pride), Shell (Shell ClubSmart), Motto (Motto Club), OKKO (Fishka), KLO (ДякуYOU), Parallel (КартБланш), GLUSCO (GLUSCO CLUB), BRSM-nafta (BRSM Plus) and Amic (My Amic) do this.
How to become a program participant?
There are several ways to register in the loyalty program of a gas station network. The most common is purchasing a card for a nominal amount (from 1 kopek to 1 hryvnia) when refueling or buying goods at the station. This scheme is relevant for Shell, OKKO, BRSM, Parallel, Motto and KLO networks. To become a participant in the My Amic program, you need to refuel at least 25 liters of any fuel. GLUSCO network offers its customers registration in the GLUSCO CLUB program in four ways – fill out a form on the website, download the mobile application, call the hotline, or register directly at the gas station.
A common rule for all networks is that the participant must be 18 years old, since they are a full participant in financial relations with the gas station. Also, for better personalization and protection of personal data, you need to provide basic information during registration – mobile phone, email address, optionally date of birth, etc.
To register in the PRIDE loyalty program from the WOG gas station network, it is enough to simply enter your phone number when making any purchase at the station or download the PRIDE application. The card is issued electronically, and to get benefits, you just need to provide your phone number or scan the QR code from the PRIDE mobile application.
As for the speed of registration and ease of managing the electronic application, the leaders are Shell ClubSmart and WOG Pride. For some other participants, the application did not work correctly.
How to earn points?
As a rule, points are awarded for purchasing fuel and goods in stores at gas stations. Thus, at Shell gas stations, points are accumulated when buying fuel (with a coefficient of 400% when refueling branded V-Power!), or when buying goods in stores at gas stations with a coefficient of 1 point – for every 10 hryvnias spent. At Parallel gas stations, bonuses will be credited to your account at the rate of 1.5 bonuses per 1 hryvnia spent – both when paying in cash and when using a bank card. Accumulated bonuses under the Motto Club program are counted towards a fuel discount. For each liter purchased, 1 point is awarded. Depending on the accumulated amount, the fuel discount for the next month increases. At WOG gas stations, points are awarded at the rate of 1 bonus point for every hryvnia spent. However, the company regularly offers individual promotions for customers, where each customer has their own personal conditions for purchasing fuel, as well as WOGCAFE and WOGMARKET goods.
At OKKO gas stations, points are awarded as a percentage of the purchase amount: 2% of the cost of car services, 4% of goods of the OKKO trademark, 3% of coffee, etc. The BRSM network has a similar scheme, but with certain increasing coefficients on weekends, holidays, etc. GLUSCO has a progressive accumulation system – with a large volume of purchased fuel, the percentage of the purchase also increases, ranging from 1 to 5%, depending on the product group.
At KLO gas stations, the number of bonuses is calculated from the receipt amount at the rate from 1 point per liter to 15 bonus points per hryvnia spent. The My AMIC program awards 10 points for each liter of fuel, 5 points for gas, and 30 bonuses for every 10 hryvnias spent in stores at gas stations.
How to spend points?
All gas station networks from our review allow you to accumulate points and spend them in one form or another. In particular, Shell allows you to exchange points for a discount from 0.5 UAH/liter to 3 UAH/liter (depending on the type of fuel). Customers can also choose goods in the Shell store and by pre-order – goods on the company's official website. After updating the loyalty program, the offered goods can now be bought for fewer points, i.e., the program has become 2-3 times more profitable for customers. The updated Shell ClubSmart program allows you to choose in what proportion to spend accumulated points when paying for goods or fuel at the network's gas stations. The customer can pay with points either the full cost or only 50% of the price of the selected product. And now you can choose any product! Whether it's branded hot dogs, sandwiches, car care products, or toys – in fact, everything that is in the branded store at the station. The list of items does not include only alcoholic beverages and cigarette products.
Participants of the PRIDE loyalty program from the WOG gas station network can use their points to pay for fuel, as well as WOGCAFE and WOGMARKET goods, with the exception of tobacco and alcohol products. Participants can pay with points for either the entire purchase or part of it.
The MOTTO CLUB program does not allow paying with points, but their number directly affects the discount in the next month (from 0.3 to 1.2 UAH/liter depending on the purchased volume and type of fuel).
Parallel provides a very wide range of services and goods that can be paid for with bonus points accumulated during purchases. Fuel, all goods in the mini-market (except tobacco products and mobile top-up vouchers), car wash services, goods from the catalog on the website – this is the full list of expenses that can be paid with saved hryvnias.
The BRSM, OKKO, Amic and Glusco networks also allow spending earned points only on goods and fuel at their gas stations. KLO allows paying with points at the rate of 1 bonus – 1 kopek in any restaurant of the Fishka network and Borshch cafe, in any Podorozhnyk and Villa Market store (except tobacco, alcohol, starter packs, scratch cards and insurance policies), in any Lviv Chocolate Workshop shop, as well as in any bakery of cheesecakes and strudels Lvivski Plyatsky.
Additional options
But besides similar common points, each gas station network tries to attract customers with something special. Thus, the Parallel gas station network regularly raffles off valuable prizes, up to cars. Motto offers their customers other gifts – in the form of additional discounts. BRSM also encourages customers to buy drinks and sandwiches in order to increase the fuel discount. KLO gives discounts when buying coffee and gives discount coupons for shopping in supermarket chains. At Shell gas stations, you can find genuine branded goods of Ferrari and BMW brands, offered for points or at a discount. Also, loyalty card holders are offered to collect unique collections of toy models, for example, now these are Ducati motorcycle models.
WOG has introduced an online store service. So, you can pre-purchase a certain number of liters of fuel or cups of coffee and tea to your account and use them when convenient. Many motorists buy 20-30 cups of coffee once a month and then spend them over the month.
Branded mobile applications
Most market operators can boast of mobile applications for their loyalty programs. One of the smartest applications is Shell. The app can show the way to the nearest gas station of the network, while choosing any of the navigators that the user prefers, allows you to manage accumulated points and order goods in the online store.
The Fishka program application helps not only to register in the system and monitor the balance of points, but also to learn about new promotions in time, choose and order rewards for bonuses, and choose partner points of the program. The Glusco and BRSM applications have fewer functions; they allow you to track and accumulate points, as well as edit personal data and view the coordinates of all gas stations of the network. The My Amic application allows, among other things, to buy fuel to your personal account and refuel without contacting cashier operators. Through the mobile application from WOG, you can not only pay for fuel at the pump, but also buy drinks at the coffee machine, as well as track accumulated points, but also calculate the required amount of fuel for a trip, keep statistics of all purchases at gas stations, etc.
Summarizing the review of loyalty programs of Ukrainian gas station networks, we can say that market operators of petroleum products are trying to increasingly enter the life of every motorist, sometimes becoming almost a family member. At the same time, they constantly improve their loyalty programs. And if a year ago the largest operators OKKO and WOG had unconditionally the best programs, now Shell has become a worthy competitor, seriously modifying its program. And if we also take into account the international fuel quality standards in this network, we can assume that the fight for the customer will unfold with renewed vigor, from which consumers will ultimately only benefit.
Dmytro Hrybenko
