How did 2018 shape up for the P&C industry? Convenience World asked key figures to reflect on the past year. This week: Caltex Australia Executive General Manager Convenience Retail Richard Pearson.
Last year, 2018, was a landmark year for Caltex as we established a number of strategic foundations that provide a strong base for the future growth of the business. Each pillar of our transformation has been based around making life easier for our customers and team members. This is the essence of what convenience means to us. Any transformation of this scale and complexity requires a huge level of hard work and resilience and I would like to thank all my team members for doing such a great job.
We now have 55 The Foodary sites. This breakthrough format has been positively received by customers throughout the country and I’m really excited by how much growth The Foodary can deliver. We agreed a long-term commercial partnership with Woolworths. We’ve already launched Everyday Rewards in our sites and extended the number of sites where customers can redeem the 4₵-off-per-litre docket. Bringing the Metro format to the petrol and convenience channel and launching our wholesale partnership with Woolworths during 2019 will add further momentum to our growth trajectory.
The team has also done a great job of changing the way we run our sites as we transition from franchise operations to company run. This has been a complex and challenging process and I acknowledge our franchisees for their commitment to the process for the benefit of customers. This change enables Caltex to innovate faster, operate more simply and deliver a more consistent offer to customers. All these factors are critical to our future success.
As ever, the fuel market was highly competitive and unpredictable in 2018 as oil prices fluctuated significantly. Innovation will be increasingly important in this market. An example of how we intend to take the lead in this space was our launch of FuelPay, a fantastic new app that enables faster and simpler payment for fuel, which has been well received by our customers.
I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in 2018 and energised by the opportunities ahead. The market will continue to change, and customers will demand more and more from us. I’m confident that the team at Caltex will rise to this challenge and march on together through what I’m sure will be an exciting year ahead.
