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Woman v. Gas Station Self-Service Pump
Author: Jeannie Walters
January 22, 2008
It’s hard to believe that Pay-at-the-Pump has been around for more than 20 years. While convenient for consumers, Pay-at-the-Pump has created business challenges for station owners, whose profit margin would be much higher if customers come into their stores. Today customers are avoiding the stores for the convenience Pay-at-the-Pump provides.
Enter the next generation of self-service pumps: TV screens that tell us things while we’re pumping gas. So what does this mean to customers?
I was ready to take on this new-fangled pump. The Shell gas station near my house has screens with talking heads that welcome you to the station. The nice welcome was great, but the few minutes of Access Hollywood were even better! Then an ad came on for sunscreen. Sunscreen? It’s January in Chicago. It seemed very out of place and caught me off guard. It got me thinking – wouldn’t it be cool if there were tips on how to deal with the layers of salt covering my car? Or winter weather driving tips? That would be information Chicagoans would welcome during January.
The actual pay at the pump experience has become standard and super easy. There are a few things you have to watch for as a customer, like which gas you choose. Each station seems to be different and you no longer assume the left-to-right order is logically regular, plus and super. In fact, they are often mixed up in no order whatsoever. There’s also the receipt issue. Is it printing automatically? Do you have to choose yes or no? But overall I believe customers are used to making these choices and the whole process is fairly second nature now.
So the fact that now there is something to watch while my gas quietly makes the journey from pump to car is actually pretty cool. Increasing the relevance would really make for a powerful customer experience. Just imagine the NEXT generation of gas pumps. The information shared from the monitor could really be customized, based on the actual individual. “It’s time for your oil change.” Just consider the loyalty implications for the first company to truly get it right. I guess I’ll tackle that one in a few years.
For now, the pumps are pleasantly serving their purpose, although it would be better if the industry came to some standards for the sake of customers. It’s truly not in a customer’s best interest to have the gas octane rankings mixed up for them to figure out.
The good news is that we do figure it out.
| Machine Tested | Usability Criteria | Score / Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Gas Station Self-Service Pump | Orientation / Wayfinding | C: The whole “let’s mess up the order to confuse the customer” thing is just not cool. Put the type of gas in a logical order - lowest to highest Octane rating. |
| Search / Help Features | B: There are ways to call for an attendant at Shell, but I don’t believe this is an industry-wide standard. | |
| Legibility | B: Gas stations could learn from ATM technology to reduce glare and make screens easier to read. | |
| Intuitiveness | A: What’s not to love? Insert credit card, pump gas and get receipt. | |
| Ease of Use | A: Customers have embraced this convenient and quick way to fill up in ways that prove we think it’s easy to use. Today, full-service stations are few and far between. |
And the Jeannie factors:
Cleanliness: D — There are few places ickier than a gas station. But the new ones are brighter and lighter, and many have hand sanitizer pumps available post-fill up.
Feeling secure: D — Pay at the pump can mean feeling pretty isolated. I know I’m not the only one who has passed up cheaper gas for a more secure gas station. Improvement here could be increased lighting, plus easier ways to get the store attendant’s attention.
Convenience: A — The average time it takes to fill up is 2 minutes. Walking into a store, waiting in line and then paying would add at least that much time to the process. Hurrah for speedy transactions!
Environmental Factors: B — Newer gas stations are much more open and spacious. While this feels better, special attention should be paid to the far-flung pumps.
Shell is getting my attention by improving the customer experience with monitors. What else is out there improving this process for customers?
Next up … Auto-Deli!
