In August of 2005 the price listed as the price for a
gallon of regular unleaded gas was $2.29. That same day
Kellie Courtney of Cleveland paid only 89 cents a gallon.
Marion Charvat paid $1.09 a gallon. Marion filled her
Volkswagen Jetta for only $12.45. How could they buy gas
so cheap? They did it because they are smart consumers.
Here's how they did it.
The reason that Kellie and Marion were able to purchase
gas at such a low price is that they treated gas like it
was any other item that they would go to a store to buy.
They shopped around and they found a way to purchase their
gas at the store that they found had the absolute lowest
cost. They found a frequent shopper program that allowed
them to lower their gas cost. They found it at a grocery
chain called Giant Eagle.
Giant Eagle does business in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland
and West Virginia. Recently Giant Eagle added a new
component to their frequent shopper program. It is called
Fuelperks. It is a program that offers discounts on gas at
Giant Eagle's own stations for shopping at Giant Eagle
using their frequent shopper card.
For every $50.00 of purchases using the frequent shopper
card the consumer will get a 10 cent reduction in the price
of gas for one tank fill up. Purchase $100.00 worth; get
20 cents off a gallon. Purchase $500.00 worth and get
$1.00 off a gallon. Buy enough groceries and you can get
gasoline for free.
A large family that has to buy a lot of groceries every
week will very quickly earn large discounts at the gas
pump. The prices at Giant Eagle are in line with most of
the other groceries in the area and their regular price on
gas is in line with other gas stations so you really are
getting a legitimate discount on gas.
You have to buy groceries somewhere; you might as well buy
it a store that gives you a substantial discount on gas
while you are at it. That is one way to beat the gas
pump.
Treat gas like anything else that you buy. Look for the
best deals. Look for frequent shopper programs in your
neighborhood that allow you to build up discounts you can
use towards gas. Look for gas discounts and incentives
anywhere you see a gas pump. Look for stores that may be
branching out into the frequent shopper area or stores that
now sell gas that didn't before.
In order to compete with the new grocery gas stations many
gas convenience stores are beginning to implement frequent
shopper programs that will result in lower gas costs. But
more and more traditional stores that never sold gas before
are realizing that discount gas is a big incentive to get
shoppers. Giant Eagle is one example of a traditional
grocery store branching out to sell gas at a discount.
According to the Food Marketing Institute, just 18% of
grocery stores built in 2003 had gas pumps; last year, more
than 60% of new stores were built with gas stations. They
have seen the value of offering gas to their customers as a
loss leader.
The mega retailers are another place you should look for
bargains. As in many areas Wal-Mart / Sam's Club are
jumping into the gas business big time. The VP in charge
of fuel for Wal-Mart says he is looking to extend Sam
Walton's marketing strategy to gasoline by building gas
stations at every Sam's Club throughout the country. In his
view, putting in pumps should be "standard practice. It
just fits our business model: we want to bring everything
[to consumers] at the lowest price."
So how can you lower your gas costs? Treat gas like any
other item you purchase. Look for deals, discounts and low
prices. Comparison shop. Find the retailers that offer
the best program for you. Look for gas bargains at some of
the non traditional outlets like grocery stores or mega
stores. Then maybe you will be able to buy that tank of
gas for 89 cents a gallon like Kellie Courtney did.
By Scott Siegel
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