The Challenge

The innovations team for Gas+ identified a potential problem at their gas stations.

High-volume queues were starting to form at forty-five of their locations, but with no obvious reason for their formation. They needed decreasing.

The flow of gas in the gas-stations could not be increased, as the retailer would have needed to install extra fuel islands with an estimated cost of an extra million dollars per island. They needed to source a cost-effective solution.

With an estimated 800,000+ transactions a day, Gas+ is the largest gasoline supplier in the world. With increased wait times for Gas+ customers and a loss of potential revenue for the retailer, a workable solution for was needed.

After further research, they identified the current payment system is having a significant impact on efficiency causing a headache for their customers and increased queue times.

A multi-step process – customers needed to confirm their identity with a membership card. Then they had to make their payment by their method of choice causing them to pull out their wallets many times contributing to the extended queues that formed behind them.

This process resulted in an increase in wait times by 3-4 minutes per transaction. If they used a quicker process, it would increase sales for The Top Retailer by 5-10%.

An automated solution would solve their efficiency problems as well as boosting sales. Also, it would create a valuable experience for their customers.

However, there was a problem for Gas+. Their current method of making payments made use of multiple vendor APIs. To create a new modern system and to improve efficiency, they needed to construct a product that was able to work with the existing hardware by creating a new infrastructure around it.

But because of the complexities of untangling the current vendor APIs in use, Gas+ was having difficulty in making the upgrades they needed.

The Solution

Makeen Technologies worked alongside Gas+ and its internal resources understanding their wants and future vision for their customers. We agreed on a solution that used the right hardware and software for their needs ensuring a solid foundation for our collaborations.

Through our expertise in working with legacy systems we were quickly, and easily, able to provide clarity to the system. Untangling the code and enabling Gas+ to retain their current hardware which they had already invested time, and effort into.

Taking on all development activities for the customer, Makeen’s developers, QA team and UX resources developed and tested a comprehensive system that worked with the existing legacy hardware modernizing the system, and providing a robust infrastructure to complement the legacy hardware.

Managing to deliver a working prototype for review in only two months the end-to-end solution is based around the latest in RFID technology delivering an efficient system and one that provides customers with a valuable experience.

With the help of an RFID chip attached to both the customer’s windscreen for pre-authentication along with another in the gas-tank for final authentication, the customer can authenticate customers as members via an external radio frequency enabling seamless, automatic authentication, with no need for the customer to interact with a separate system.

Additionally, with the help of a dedicated mobile application customers have the ability to sign up for the systems online platform. With the option of uploading their preferred payment method for a fast, and easy final payment.

Then as members of the system, after driving up to a fuel island and being authenticated, customers can pay for their gas through their mobile device.

Removing the “wallet fumble” process of the earlier system and replacing it with a fully automated one.

The Outcome

Successfully deployed, Makeen Technology’s collaboration with the top retailer provides customers with an automated solution one that is  secure and easy to use. Alongwith meeting the goal of Gas+ own efficiency needs.

Being able to tackle customers problem of working with their complex legacy hardware has also enabled us to deliver a system that makes use of existing vendor APIs and provided The Top Retailer with a prototype solution, within two months.

Key Benefits

• Streamlined the process of authentication through to final payment allowing a seamless experience for customers and increased efficiency.

• Makeen Technologies was able to untangle the client’s old legacy hardware taking overall vendor investigations and writing comprehensive code.

• Providing an end-to-end fueling system utilizing an RFID mechanism, allowing customers to use their vehicles for payment authentication along with their mobile devices with the preloaded payment options to speed up overall queue time.

• Queue times cut by an estimated 3-4 minutes.

• An estimated sales increase of 5-10%.