Dive Brief:
- Circle K has added Upside’s c-store merchandise offers to more than 4,000 of its convenience stores in the U.S., according to a Tuesday press release.
- The two companies have also renewed their partnership for fuel-related offers, which target new or infrequent visitors and encourage them to visit a particular store through Upside’s app, at 5,200 locations.
- Partnerships with programs like Upside give retailers a broader digital reach and can help introduce more people to their brands.
Dive Insight:
While not all sites using the fuel offers are also including in-store offers at this time, the two companies are in active discussions about the potential of expanding these options across the rest of the business units, an Upside representative said in an email.
Retail technology company Upside offers personalized cash-back offers to its more than 30 million consumers, using the reward to get people to try locations they normally would overlook. While best known for its fuel cash-back offers, Upside has also begun adding merchandise offers in an attempt to get these new customers to go past the pump and also visit the store itself.
"Circle K is constantly looking for ways to introduce its brand to new customers," said Matthew Solly, head of global fuels and car wash category management at Circle K. "Thanks to our collaboration with Upside, we’re engaging with consumers whom we might not have otherwise reached.”
Circle K first began working with Upside in 2019, the spokesperson confirmed. It started with 4,000 stores at the time, but the partnership grew over the past few years to 5,200.
About 40% of people who come into stores as a result of Upside’s c-store product are new customers, the press release said.
Upside’s cash-back offers are available at more than 1000,000 retail stores and restaurants in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. C-store chains like Road Ranger, Kum & Go and Stinker Stores have stores on the app.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard operates more than 5,700 c-stores in the U.S. It is the second-largest c-store company in North America behind 7-Eleven.
