Spain’s fuel brand Repsol is a leading global energy conglomerate, with operations in thirty seven countries, boasting an impressive nine decades in business. As well as an award-winning retail network of more than 3,500 service stations, Repsol operates Repsol Más, an incredibly comprehensive, generous and compelling loyalty programme which is clearly delighting the one million customers who visit its stores daily.
In this article, we’ll review the benefits Repsol has created for Repsol Más members, a programme which includes some innovative and exciting ideas we haven’t seen anywhere else in the world.
One of the 3,500 Repsol Service Stations in Spain.
Loyalty in Repsol:
The Repsol loyalty programme first launched in 2015 and uses the brand name Repsol Más (which means ‘more’). To enjoy its benefits, members first need to choose between two cards that they then scan in store to avail of their personalized offers on fuel and services as well as in-store discounts. One card is simply a programme membership card for tracking and rewarding behaviour, the second is a payment card first, a rewards card second.
Here are the benefits of each:
Repsol Más Card:
This is the basic loyalty card and it awards customers with Travel Club Points (in partnership with Air Miles Spain) completely free of charge. It also includes personalized offers on fuel and in-store purchases as well as ‘thousands’ of car wash prizes in their monthly competitions. Repsol Más members earn Travel Club Points as their rewards currency and they enjoy a preferential 5% discount when redeem their Travel Club Points for flights or hotel stays.
Repsol Más Visa Card:
A credit, debit or prepaid card that offers a 5% discount on purchases in-store along with immediate, generous fuel discounts between 3 and 7 cent per litre depending on the issuing bank and the type of fuel purchased. The card/account fee is waived immediately in the first year, and for each subsequent year if the customers spends over a minimum threshold.
The Repsol Más Visa card has also been developed to track purchases on the loyalty programme, combining the benefits of payment and loyalty tracking in one transaction. Customers avoid the need to scan or swipe a second card at the till, saving precious seconds from each transaction.
As a nice final touch, customers on social welfare benefits or over 65 years of age are also given an additional 1 cent per litre saving on fuel.
Loyalty Offers and Rewards:
From a rewards and benefits perspective, the Repsol Más programme focuses on three areas of value – My Car, My Shopping and My Leisure. These distinct areas are exciting and relevant for customers of all demographics, which ensures that no matter whether they’re scanning to minimise fuel costs or to enjoy some extra rewards, the comprehensive range of benefits ensures they’re highly motivated to continually engage.
- My Car: As well as the fuel discounts mentioned above, Repsol Más members enjoy €2 car washes. This offer is available to customers paying by Visa or Mastercard (only) and is limited to four washes per month. From an environmental perspective, Repsol Más also rewards customers with a €250 fuel voucher if they convert their car to the more efficient ‘Autogas’ system, which reduces their environmental impact as well as their ongoing fuel costs. The fuel savings range up to 40% cheaper than traditional fuels, and Repsol also generously provides interest-free finance of up to €3,000 over twelve months for members to spend on the car’s conversion.
- My Shopping: As the leader in the fuel industry in Spain, it’s no surprise that Repsol has partnered with other leading global and national retailers, driving sales of gift cards for a selected range of online and offline giants whose customer profiles are appealing to Repsol. Two of these exciting brand partnerships include the leading Spanish department store El Corte Inglés, as well as Amazon.es. For each retailer, buying one of their gift cards earns the customer 8% back in the form of a fuel voucher – cleverly leveraging the extensive store traffic to drive these buyers to Repsol stations when they next need to re-fuel. Other partners offer even more generous rewards, such as 10% back in fuel vouchers on spend in Decathlon stores and 12% back in the fashion brand Zalando.
- My Leisure: The lifestyle benefits of the Repsol Más programme span the consistently popular categories of movies, music and food. Whether it’s €6 back in fuel vouchers for a subscription to the music service Deezer, €3 back for every movie ticket, exclusive Disney merchandise or simply rewards for buying travel or entertainment with their partner Atrapalo, it’s clear and compelling to customers where they can enjoy refueling at a reduced price by consistently shopping with both partner brands and Repsol directly.
Loyalty Beyond the Loyalty Programme:
It’s often important to remind ourselves that a loyalty programme is not the only way to earn customer’s loyalty. Of course, a well-designed, managed and compelling loyalty programme will engage customers, but never at the expense of the core product or the customer experience in-store. In this area, as with all others we’ve seen, Repsol has set itself standards to work only with the best in the market.
After over twenty years already in business working closely together, Repsol and El Corte Ingles recently announced an exciting extension to their partnership plans, with plans unveiled to open over 1,000 additional Supercor stores in the next three years in addition to the 100 already in operation. The benefits include allowing El Corte Ingles to leverage its negotiating power and expertise from its core department store business across to the supermarket business, becoming the purchasing centre for Repsol’s network of service stations. Together, the retailers can now access a range of more than 35,000 food and drink products, in addition to more than 60,000 non-food products.
A Supercar Store – Operated by El Corte Ingles for Repsol Spain.
Loyalty Through Digital Innovation:
Last month, Repsol announced that it expects to double its investment in its digitization program this year alone to €150 million euros, with annual benefits worth €300 million euros per year until 2020, rising to over to €1 Billion in 2022.
The plans include agreements with global technology companies such as Google, Salesforce and Microsoft and one of the first products to launch is ‘Waylet’ – a digital wallet and universal payment app that lets consumers pay by phone, earn points and save in any one of the Repsol stores in Spain as well as other partner stores throughout the country. Other benefits include:
- The ability to manage payment cards, points, event and cinema tickets and discount coupons easily and quickly in one place.
- Payments are made in Repsol stores and partner stores – sometimes without needing to get out of the car.
- Games and prizes which include exclusive benefits in each category based on engagement with the App.
- Useful information on nearby stations, other discount stores, driving routes and other recommendations.
Launched in mid 2017, Waylet has ambitions to grow as a powerful payment channel both in Spain and internationally. In another clever move we haven’t seen elsewhere, Waylet asks members to act as brand ambassadors and even offers them a financial incentive of €30 credit for every merchant they successfully recommend who joins the platform and accepts the wallet and its mobile payments in their store. An extension of the idea for ‘member-get-member’, this has become a ‘members-get merchants’ campaign.
With over one hundred and thirty digital projects across the business currently, one article simply won’t do them justice, however other ideas that Repsol have announced we’re excited about include:
- A carsharing partnership that promotes the use of plug-in hybrid cars for extended distances.
- The company is also working with a brand called ‘WeSmartPark’ which connects empty spaces and drivers looking for parking through its free app as well as rewarding users for safe driving.
Inspiring Returns on Investment:
As consumers, we’re inspired by offers and rewards – sometimes tangible, sometimes simply enjoyable. However as business-people, we’re inspired when value is created for shareholders.
Whether it’s their award-winning station designs, their digital innovation or their customer-centric approach to loyalty, Repsol has achieved incredibly impressive returns that prove that its strategy is sound, with the latest company accounts showing a stunning €2.17 billion in net profit for the first nine months of 2018.
Both personally as a consumer and professionally as a loyalty consultant, I am certainly impressed by the loyalty leadership in Repsol in Spain.
About Us:
Liquid Barcodes is a leading global loyalty and digital marketing technology company specialized for the convenience store and foodservice industries. Our proprietary cloud-based technology platform allow retailers to create and manage their digital marketing campaigns with a proprietary process we call the “customer connection cycle’ to engage, promote and reward customers activities in real-time across digital and media channels.
How we do it:
We have developed the most advanced loyalty and digital marketing technology platform specifically for convenience store and foodservice retailers globally.
Retailers use our self-service dashboard to create and manage loyalty driven marketing campaigns that increase purchases with their existing customers, as well as effectively target and acquire new customers through partners or paid media channels.
One core component of live loyalty is gamification. We have gamified branding, loyalty and promotions. We believe this approach is essential in order to get customers’ attention and ultimately truly engage them with repeatable actions thereby winning their loyalty.
Check out some of our exciting/proven results here:
About Me:
Chief Content Officer, Liquid Barcodes and Independent Loyalty Consultant
With over twenty-five years marketing experience, I specialise in loyalty marketing consulting, managing consumer loyalty propositions, strategy and operations. In addition to working with Liquid Barcodes, my clients have included Telefonica O2, Three Mobile, Electric Ireland, Allied Irish Bank and The Entertainer, as well as Avios – the global points currency for some of the world’s top airlines. I am also a judge for the Loyalty Magazine Awards.
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