Kerbside convenience: our moves to reimagine retail
Our convenience business provides customers on the move with quality food and beverage-led offers in convenient roadside locations. As customer needs evolve and change, so do we. Here’s a regular update of what’s happening in this fast-moving sector
Latest news in redefining convenience
New deal has the X factor
bp Australia has acquired X Convenience, the South Australian-based fuel and convenience retailer.
The newly completed deal adds 49 convenience sites across South and Western Australia to the bp network. We’re now supplying bp-branded fuel to X Convenience’s fleet customers and consumers, while retaining the X Convenience brand and shop offers that customers love, including barista-made coffee, hot dogs and burgers.
Customers can now use their BP Plus fuel cards and BP Rewards loyalty cards at all bp-branded X Convenience sites.
“Today is a landmark day for bp Australia. We are thrilled to welcome the X Convenience team to bp and supercharge our quality fuel, convenience and card offers through our refreshed network in South Australia.”
Paul Augé, senior vice president, mobility, convenience & midstream, Australia and New Zealand
A year of retail transformation for bp South Africa
Over the past year, we made some great strides adding value to our convenience business in South Africa – and celebrated our centenary of doing business there, too.
From transforming our retail sites to expanding our customer loyalty offer, our progress included:
- Opening 11 new bp sites, including two on major highway corridors.
- Launching the BP Rewards loyalty programme, which enables customers to earn instant cashback on selected fuel and convenience retail purchases.
- Updating old infrastructure and upgrading 90 sites.
- Launching a new concept for upgrading bp Express stores with an enhanced shop offer and a refreshed look and feel, including wildbean cafe.
- Resetting our relationship with our convenience partner, Pick ’n Pay.
“We had fierce targets to meet in 2024, and I would like to give credit to the bpSA leadership and broader team who really showed up to deliver credibly in a challenging market.”
Nokwanda Khumalo, general manager, mobility & convenience, South Africa
Luxembourg gets first wildbean cafe
Aral, bp’s retail brand in Luxembourg, opened its first wildbean cafe near the border with Belgium. It’s one of the largest wildbean cafes in the world, featuring a 20-metre (66-foot) counter and selling more than 160 products.
More than 10 million customers per year visit the site, which also has a MyAuchan shop. Customers can try products, including homemade burgers and pizzas made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients, all with the recently awarded ‘Made in Luxembourg’ label.
This opening is part of bp’s wider aim to expand our strategic convenience sites worldwide to around 3,500 by 2030. Aral is the largest provider on the Luxembourg forecourt market with 57 sites.
“We want to be the first choice for customers on the roadside and that means providing fresh, quality food and drink alongside the energy offer we are known for.”
David Phillpot, bp vice president of convenience, Europe
New app for our US brands
bp America has launched the new earnify™ shopping and rewards app, which can be used for savings on fuel and convenience store purchases, as well as to earn points towards future purchases.
bp has more than 8,000 retail locations in the US spread across numerous brands – Amoco, ampm, Thorntons and TravelCenters of America.
The app will replace the current BPme Rewards programme and users can earn points on every dollar spent at most bp and Amoco locations, both on fuel and in-store items. There are plans for it to be rolled out further to select ampm sites and Thorntons in 2025.
bp is working to add new features to the app, including a digital wallet for paying, the ability to order ahead and targeted adverts.
“We’re making it less about the four walls of convenience and more about the entire customer experience.”
Greg Franks, SVP mobility & convenience, Americas
India’s fastest-growing coffee chain
The 100th wildbean cafe in India has opened its doors as part of bp’s effort to open 300 wildbean cafes in the country by 2025.
Wildbean cafe is the fastest-growing coffee chain in India, with around one opening a week since November 2022. The 100th wildbean cafe is at the Jio-bp head office in Mumbai, home to 2,000 Jio-bp and Reliance employees.
It comes as wildbean cafe launched its first branded products across our 100 sites. These include ready-to-drink cold coffees, Makhana (a popped lotus seed), and lentil-based Popped Chips, with more new products being added over the next few months.
India’s wildbean cafes can be found at key metro stations, office campuses, as well as in shopping malls. These are in addition to our Jio-bp retail sites, alongside our fuel and convenience offers.
TravelCenters of America celebrates 300th travel centre milestone
TravelCenters of America Inc. (TA), a bp brand, celebrated the opening of its 300th travel centre in Walton, Kentucky. The opening is a milestone in TA’s plan for growth, complementing bp’s existing convenience and mobility business.
TA is on track to open 20 new locations this year and also has plans to potentially:
- Add 1,600 new truck parking spaces.
- Install biodiesel blending infrastructure and bp pulse EV charging stations at select sites throughout the country.
With a nationwide network of now more than 300 sites across 44 states, safety remains a priority for TA.A new safety campaign driven by TA CEO Debbi Boffa included a recurring panel focusing on how to make TA’s sites safer.
The panel found that lot layout is key to avoid safety problems, from fender benders to security events. By the end of 2024, TA aims to have re-engineered all of its lots based on a safety traffic management plan.
Other initiatives include measures to increase the roadside safety of the thousands of TA technicians who go out on hundreds of calls a day to assist drivers, trucks and trailers that have broken down on the highway.
bp is investing in the future of mobility
In recent years, bp has made significant investments in the future of mobility in the US, starting by introducing its bp pulse electric vehicle charging business to the US in 2021, and acquiring TravelCenters of America for $1.3 billion in 2023.
The investments are a massive expansion of bp’s convenience & mobility business, and, over time, will be part of the company’s transition into an integrated energy company that delivers long-term value for shareholders – and everyday people.
Take a look at four reasons why here.
Stapylton travel centre upgrade
bp in Australia is on a mission to transform our larger travel centre sites this year and through 2025. Stapylton, in Queensland – one of the first sites to receive a major retail upgrade – has just reopened.
The site is conveniently located just off the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and now has a refreshed wildbean cafe – including new, made-to-order food options – new store layouts and a complete new fuel system that will allow more product availability for customers.
Other new facilities include a truckers’ lounge with showers, washing machines and toilets.
“After months of work to upgrade our site at bp Stapylton, we’re re-opening with an offer that will provide our customers with a more convenient place to re-fuel, pick up snacks and grab a barista-made coffee on their journeys.”
Paul Auge, vice president of mobility and convenience at bp Australia and New Zealand
New stores in Australia and New Zealand
Wildbean cafe is ‘driving people cravey’ across Australia and New Zealand.
With an average of one million customer touchpoints at Aussie and Kiwi retail sites every day, we’re committed to providing customers with end-to-end mobility needs.
Whether it’s refuelling, charging up, grabbing a barista-made coffee or the variety of fresh food options, our customers can conveniently stop in or grab something on the go.
Our refreshed wildbean cafes are rolling out across Australia and New Zealand, with optimized store layouts to help customers find what they’re looking for.
At select sites, we’re trialling an extended food menu, where customers can opt for made-to-order food such as toasties and loaded fries.
Expanding partnership with Auchan in Poland
bp has signed a deal with Auchan, a leading retailer in Poland, to add 120 Easy Auchan stores to our retail sites in the country.
It follows a successful pilot scheme at nine sites, during which customers were able to try out popular new food choices, including fresh-baked bread, organic products, a wide range of fresh products, and a lot of products labelled with the Auchan brand.
Expected to be complete by the end of 2025, the expansion builds on bp’s existing convenience partnership with Auchan in Luxembourg. The deal also complements our ‘food for now’ offers in Poland under the wildbean cafe brand.
“The partnership with EasyAuchan enables us to access great-value products under a brand that is known and recognized, and bring that to the customer in a way that is easier than if we were to do it on our own.”
Jo Hayward, VP for convenience, Europe
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