All Focus On Feature articles
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON FORECOURT SECURITY: A £100m-plus problem
In the past, drive-offs were the scourge of petrol stations. Yes, they still happen, but not as often as no means of payment (NMoP) incidents.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON HEALTH & SAFETY: Risky business
Just the other day I was filling my car with petrol when the cashier called out over the loudspeaker system asking someone to stop using their mobile phone on the forecourt.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON WET-STOCK MANAGEMENT: Gauging the situation
If you read the regional press regularly, you’ll notice quite a few stories about emergency works at petrol filling stations due to water in a fuel storage tank.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SUGAR CONFECTIONERY: Novelty value
If you opened a packet of Swizzels’ Love Hearts you probably wouldn’t expect to find a message on the sweets saying: ‘Check UR Boobs’. But if you were handed a pack by breast cancer survivor Rachael Griffiths, that is exactly what you would get.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON RTD AND ICED COFFEE: Frappé fraternity
As I write this, it’s hot – nudging 25°C – which means consumers will be reaching for iced drinks, including coffee.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON CAR WASH AND VALETING: Polished performance
Stories abound across the industry about the resurgence in the popularity of car washing and valeting. Dealers have been investing in new kit and reaping the rewards.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SOFT DRINKS: Finding flavour
When Lilt transitioned into Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit last year, taking its famous ‘totally tropical taste’ with it, who knew it would be such a hit.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON IN-STORE SERVICES: Added extras
The services available from forecourts nowadays are ever growing. There is fuel obviously (petrol/diesel/electricity), air and water, a car wash, ATM, a decent convenience store, food to go, customer toilets… and much more.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON CRISPS AND SNACKS: Game on
If Thierry Henry knocked on your door and asked if you had any Walkers Crisps, what are the chances of you saying yes? Obviously you’d have them in your forecourt shop but what about at home?
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON RETAIL TECHNOLOGY: Action stations
If you want to see retail technology in action, look no further than Madigans Court Spar forecourt on Antrim Road, Belfast, which has invested in technology in a big way, offering customers the option of self-checkouts, using electronic shelf-edge labels and also the Glory cash management closed-loop system.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON PUMPS: In full flow?
Pumps that are slow to deliver fuel are a pain for punters but they can also be a pain for retailers, as this may well indicate that the pump is coming to the end of its lifespan.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SUMMER SPORT & BARBECUE: It’s all kicking off
With UEFA’s Euros ’24 in Germany followed by the Olympic Games in Paris, we can expect some serious sales uplifts as armchair fans cheer their nations on this summer.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON PUMPTOP PROMOTIONS: Pump action
We all know the value of impulse purchases; eye-catching items that can push spend up and increase your bottom line. But would you ever have imagined that a ‘cat radiator bed’ would be a good impulse seller?
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SUMMER ALCOHOL: Are you ready?
There was a time when some people sniffed at RTDs (ready to drinks) but they’ve come a long way from their cheap and cheerful beginnings.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON INSURANCE: Terms and conditions apply
Nobody likes reading pages and pages of Terms and Conditions but when it comes to insurance they can be the difference between being paid out for a claim – or not!
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY: Environmental action
The word sustainability means different things to different people. One dictionary definition for it is: “The avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON SOFT DRINKS: Thirst class
Soft drinks is a massive category for forecourt stores and especially for Forecourt Trader of the Year Best Soft Drinks Outlet 2023 winner, Lynch’s EuroSpar Greysteel in Londonderry.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON CHOCOLATE: Loco for cocoa
The national press loves a story about ‘shrinkflation’ – you know, products getting smaller but prices going up. The latest, earlier this week, was a story in both the Sun and the Mirror about Wispa bars being ‘half the size, but twice the price’. Cadbury brand owner Mondelez responded by saying reducing the size of its chocolate bars was a last resort in combating rising costs.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON VAPING: Forecourt retailers face up to vaping uncertainties and opportunities
From April 2025 – Parliamentary approval and a change of government notwithstanding – vaping, one of the most lucrative retail categories for forecourts in recent years, will be subject to a barrage of new regulations. It will mean retailers having to completely rethink how they stock and merchandise the category, not unlike when the ban on displaying tobacco products took effect some years back.
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Focus On FeatureFOCUS ON CAR CARE: Artic action
A focus on car care has paid off handsomely for Top 50 Indie Park Garage Group (PGG).