Gas station stores go beyond convenience

In recent years, the concept of mobility has undergone intense transformations. The emergence and popularization of services that simplify the displacement within cities and changes in consumer behavior that today seeks more solutions for their consumption journey than necessarily for products, have led sectors such as automobiles to look to a future in which the car may no longer be at the center of its strategy and offers need to multiply for a demanding and volatile consumer. The climate of renewal splashes in other markets that orbit this ecosystem. In recent months, for example, large gas station networks have announced moves in their convenience networks, which have gained more space within the strategy. Earlier this year, Ipiranga announced that it would test its convenience model, the am/pm brand, outside the gas stations. The company has more than 2,000 stores in the country and is the third largest Brazilian franchise chain, behind Only O Boticário and McDonald's, according to the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF). According to Marcello Farrel, director of am/pm, the action is part of the expansion of the brand's business and aims to integrate convenience to new moments of user consumption. "This expansion movement puts our offer of convenience on another level in the face of mobility retailing, besides being a vector of business growth," says the executive. Already in March, it was the turn of BR Distribuidora to present a reformulation of its brand. Developed by branding and design consultancy GAD', the project promises to be the most significant change in the image of the offices and convenience stores in 22 years. The main goal of the action is to improve the user experience at all your brand touchpoints. In the BR Mania units, the company intends to promote a redesign of internal circulation, signage, uniforms and even packaging. Shortly before, in August 2019, Mexico's Femsa Comércio announced the purchase of 50% of the shares of Raízen Conveniences, a division of the joint venture formed by Shell and Cosan. The agreement was valued at R$ 1.12 billion. In addition to leveraging the strategy of shell select convenience stores, the move was the first step towards the start of operations of the Oxxo proximity store network in Brazil, which has no date yet to happen. With more than 18,000 units in your home country, the flag will compete in the fast consumer market with flags such as Minuto Pão de Açúcar, Mini Mercado Extra and Carrefour Express. At the time, Raízen said that the 12% increase in shell select network revenues had been one of the factors that drove the expansion of the company's operations and that the joint venture would bring greater growth capacity to the brand. No wonder, the company sought a partner who had expertise in the retail market. Details of how the operation will take place in Brazil have not yet been released. Taís Farias