When a vendor approached Maverik, they hoped new visual merchandising would raise revenue. MarketDial helped turn that hope into a reality.
Maverik, Inc., or “Adventure’s first stop,” was started in 1928 and is still privately owned today. With over 300 locations in the United States, this western-based company is the largest, independent fuel marketer in the Intermountain West. Each of the 300+ Maverik locations offers a full convenience store experience in addition to its fuel services.
The challenge
Maverik was approached by a vendor to change the visual merchandising for Mars candy products. These particular candy products represented a significant portion of the overall category revenue for Maverik, and the supplier believed that visually remerchandising the products would increase sales by five to six percent.
Maverik was hesitant to invest in remerchandising the entire fleet of stores without hard data to prove a positive relationship between the visual merchandising collateral and sales. To increase confidence, A/B testing would need to be done.
What would have taken me weeks of work, was done automatically within seconds,” stated a Maverik data statistical analyst. “MarketDial saved weeks of time.”
Maverik Data Scientist
Previously, building a test could take several weeks or months. The methodology to create tests required employees to be extensively educated on the process and the learning curve proved frustrating. If the experiment was more complex, additional professional services were needed to complete the planning phase.
The solution
MarketDial’s software was the solution. Maverik used MarketDial’s software side-by-side their current methodology for this experiment. MarketDial walked Maverik through their software and implementation methodology. Together, they created not only the test Maverik wanted but also the test that would bring the most accurate results. In six simple steps, the test was created in a fraction of the time required with their current process.
With information about each store location imported into the software, sample stores were selected according to their ability to predict the future behavior of the entire fleet. Instead of testing in 30 stores as originally planned, the software identified a sample of 25 stores that optimized the test design and reduced the overall cost to execute.
Without the software, Maverik had unknowingly overspent in multiple areas including employee training, merchandise shipping, and compliance costs. The recommendation of a smaller sample size considerably reduced the cost and complexity of this experiment and helped Maverik quantify future savings that could be realized through the continued use of the MarketDial software.
What was even more surprising, was how quickly a test could be created using the MarketDialplatform. Within minutes, sample stores were picked without the need for manual calculations.
What would have taken me weeks of work, was done automatically within seconds,” stated a Maverik data statistical analyst.” MarketDial saved weeks of time”
The results
The test ran for 90 days. The results revealed significant lift not only in sales revenue (+4%), but also units (+4%) and overall profit (+3%). With high confidence, Maverik could confirm their hypothesis and start initiating the tested visual merchandising change company-wide without a doubt of what the outcome would be.
The benefits
With the help of MarketDial’s software and high-touch service model, Maverik was able to create a higher-quality test in an easier, more efficient way. MarketDial’s software benefited Maverik by saving them both time and money in the test and in the long-term rollout.
The partnership between MarketDial and Maverik encouraged and empowered employees to use A/B testing in multiple applications including price changes, visual merchandising, staff changes, promotions, marketing spend effectiveness and more.
Maverik’s use of the software didn’t stop with the data. Their relationship with MarketDial’s support team helped maximize the utilization of the software. From teaching and training to real-time guidance and assistance, the MarketDial team contributed not only as data providers but also as thought partners.
The success of A/B tested visual merchandising improvements was the first stop on Maverik’s new adventure with MarketDial.
Want to hear how other retailers have benefitted from testing with MarketDial? Check out these resources:
Woolworth’s innovates to improve its customer experience
Kum & Go uses MarketDial to validate customer loyalty and sales lift
