Ampol Executive General Manager Retail Kate Thomson spoke to Convenience World about the company’s growth strategy and its focus on the future of roadside retailing and convenience as these evolve with the transition to alternative energy sources. She also points to the company’s emphasis on adding value to customers’ journeys to make Ampol the place that they’d like to stop.
Can you provide an update on Ampol’s convenience retail growth strategy?
The growth strategy is progressing well. The revitalisation of our brand has been an important part of that strategy, establishing ourselves as a brand that Australians know and love.
We’re close to completion now with 1275 Ampol sites rebranded across the country, and we’re also focused on improving our network of sites both through the rebrand and tier one sites.
That’s redevelopment of our existing highway service centres, such as [in NSW] on the M4 at Eastern Creek, on the Hume Highway at Pheasants Nest, and on the M1 between the
Central Coast and Newcastle. We see those tier one sites as a strong growth opportunity for Ampol, and we remain focused on maximising returns from our network and identifying new sites on high-volume highway locations as a key part of our strategy.
From a convenience market share perspective, we’re seeing growth in our company-operated and controlled network. We continue to look for opportunities around first-to-market NPD.
An example of this was in April when we launched the Four’N Twenty Loaded! Rolls. We launched at a really great price point of $2, and that resulted in our stores gaining share in that category. We continue to progress with those types of opportunities.
What categories are showing the strongest growth, and the drivers for these?
We’ve really focused on segmenting the range across our network from a beverage perspective with a focus on availability of product and driving a core range. We’ve given more space to grow in categories such as energy, and we’re seeing some great results.
We’ve experienced good growth in chilled perishables. MetroGo stores performed particularly well in that category.
Ready meals are also a growing category. We’ve had some exciting new products for our customers landing this winter.
Confectionery is also a category where we’re seeing growth. We’ve branched into ‘better for you’ in that space as well, with products like Funday Natural Sweets, which we’ve launched recently as an exclusive range of healthier treats that are attracting new customers to the channel as well.
Read the interview in full in the August issue of Convenience World.
