Gulf to Launch New Loyalty Experience Later This Year

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Gulf Oil tapped Stuzo,  provider of customer loyalty and digital payments solutions for fuel and convenience retailers, to empower its new digital loyalty and payments program. 

Debuting later this year, Gulf will launch its next evolution of Gulf Pay on Stuzo's Open Commerce Platform, which offers intelligent 1:1 loyalty, contactless commerce, and cross-channel member loyalty capabilities. Gulf launched roll-back fuel discounts at the pump through Gulf Pay in 2017.

"To meet the ever-changing needs of our consumers, we selected Stuzo to help bring our vision for a seamless and personalized loyalty journey to life," said Gulf Oil Vice President of Marketing & Payments Nikki Fales. 

The new program will utilize Stuzo's patent pending Wallet Steering System to hyper-personalize Gulf's fuel offers and payments program capabilities, delivering more reasons for consumers to remain engaged and provide additional insights and revenue for Gulf's network of branded distributors and dealers, according to the fuel company.

"This next evolution of Gulf Pay empowers our distributors and dealers to personalize the consumer experience — at the pump and in store — and to profitably drive loyalty," Fales added.

Gulf will also incorporate Stuzo's suite of products, including Open Commerce Activate, Transact and Experience to build and scale an industry leading program that delivers measurable business outcomes to its portfolio of retailers, the company noted. The new program will launch to consumers in 2022.

"Our mission is to help Gulf steer a greater share of consumer wallets to the Gulf brand and its distribution partners and drive increased consumer lifetime value," said Jake Kiser, chief customer officer at Stuzo. "We are honored to partner with Gulf on this journey."

The evolution of Gulf Pay is another way the fuel company is enhancing the customer experience. Earlier this year, Gulf signed a multi-year extension of its existing partnership with the Boston Red Sox. As part of the deal, the well-known Gulf sign over left field at Fenway Park will remain in place. Gulf also plans to begin offering Red Sox fans exclusive offers on fueling their way to games through the MLB Ballpark App's Ballpark Bingo game.

This marks the 15th season that the baseball team and the Gulf brand, which has a major presence in New England, will work together in new ways to deliver fans the best experience both in and out of the park, as Convenience Store News previously reported.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Stuzo helps "Everyday Spend Retailers Know and Activate" more customers and data in real-time, leading to more visits, more gallons and bigger baskets. Stuzo's Open Commerce product suite consists of: Activate for intelligent 1:1 loyalty, Transact for contactless commerce, and Experience for modern digital storefronts. The company's managed software services empower retailers to operationalize programs powered by Open Commerce and bring to market custom loyalty, commerce and mobile storefront solutions.

Wellesley Hills-based Gulf fuels consumers through approximately 1,400 Gulf branded locations across 36 states and Puerto Rico. The company also distributes unbranded products to 1,000 private label locations nationwide.