Boost Sales & Savings with T-Media by DFS

May 23, 2025

Most retailers don’t take full advantage of the advertising opportunities available at the dispenser. Customers spend, on average, around five minutes refuelling their vehicle, focusing on fuel volume and the total cost of the transaction as the meter counts the litres.

Those five minutes present the perfect opportunity for retailers to engage with their customers; however, not every dispenser available on the market can display digital media. This means retailers resort to using static signage or messaging – which is difficult and time consuming to update – in the hopes of attracting consumer attention. Often, however, static signage is ignored due to size, damage, or general lack of awareness.

Forecourts are one of the best places for digital media, as retailers have a captive audience while they refuel – for a few moments, the motorist is exactly where you want them. Good dispenser media can turn an ordinary fuel dispenser into an advertising hub – as long as there is a robust content management solution in place, which can effectively drive targeted promotional strategies to enhance the customer experience.

So how can retailers make the most of media on their fuel retail site?

Trust in T-Media^™

Meet T-Media™ by Dover Fueling Solutions® (DFS) – a complete solution for integrated digital media that turns any fuel dispenser into a promotional powerhouse. T-Media™ is a powerful content management solution that provides retailers with the ability to drive targeted promotional strategies which help enhance the customer experience, right where they need it most – at the fuel dispenser.

T-Media makes it simple to upload and change media content and promotions motorists see at every stage of the refuelling process, as advertisements and messages can easily be deployed across a site or network at any time thanks to T-Media’s cloud-based functionality.

This intuitive solution also enables retailers to target consumers more effectively with different messaging for each nozzle on the forecourt, so they can unlock powerful cross-promotional strategies. Advertising content or messaging can also be tailored to the time of day, with easy scheduling of content that maximises relevance to drive additional footfall, sales, and ultimately profit. T-Media is not only physically integrated into the fuel dispenser, it is also linked to the fuelling process, meaning media content is always in sync with the motorist’s actions.

A modern digital experience at a fuel retail site, with timely and tailored media content, can create a sense of theatre and makes an otherwise dull fuelling process more active and engaging. Many retailers underestimate the power of digital media; however, good digital media can help retailers differentiate their site from their competitors. Drawing in customers with relevant messaging that resonates can really drive return visits and increased purchases.

T-Media Can Help Boost Profits and Sustain Savings

Retailers have long recognised the phenomena of impulse buying. Its why checkout counters are packed full of inexpensive, but often high margin items such as sweets, crisps, chewing gum and beverages. It’s also why counters and aisles are filled with static signs to point out bargains or high-margin goods. When it comes to fuel retail, however, many customers’ intention is to simply stop to refuel. Enticing them to take advantage of other offers or come into the c-store can be difficult, but not with an investment in T-Media.

The high-resolution digital T-Media screen commands attention. It’s perfect for promoting products and driving traffic into the c-store — especially if products are on sale or part of a promotion. It can also be used to upsell higher-grade fuels — which have greater profit margins for the retailer — and advertise additional on-site services e.g. car washes.

Retailers don’t need to worry about motorists ignoring these promotional messages either, because the display is located at the same focal point as the sales and volume information, making your adverts hard to miss.

As a cloud-based solution, T-Media enables retailers to remotely manage and deploy media content. For retailers who own several fuel stations, this means there is a significant cost and time saving, as staff are not required to manually update dispenser media at every site. Furthermore, T-Media’s cloud-to-cloud integration via its Application Programming Interface (API) allows retailers to integrate the content on your indoor screens with those on the forecourt. The ability to synchronize inside and outside messaging can enhance the overall customer impact – resulting in increased purchases.

Real Life Examples

Hockenhull Garages

To capitalise on the phenomenon of impulse purchases, Hockenhull Garages took advantage of the idle time motorists spent refuelling and started to engage with customers by investing in T-Media. The result? Significant increases in convenience store traffic and sales.

“Customers typically stare at the meter ticking forward when they fill up. But, when there’s something in their peripheral vision, it can be very effective. Customers come in and say, ‘Oh, we just noticed such and such on your pump.’ They may not have noticed the product if they had just walked into the store.” – Joe Hockenhull, Managing Director of Hockenhull Garages Ltd.

Gebruder Derksen

For Gebrüder Derksen, the answer to generating store traffic and loyalty programme registrations was T-Media™ by Dover Fueling Solutions^® (DFS). T-Media was shown to help Gebrüder Derksen generate impulse purchases, to drive sales uplift on promoted products and services. In fact, their investment in T-Media resulted in a significant increase in shop sales and a 30% increase in loyalty scheme registrations.

“We are certainly seeing an increase in the sales of the products we are promoting. We have also seen a 30% increase in our loyalty programme registrations. It was important to push our loyalty programme… T-Media is definitely a revenue driver and it’s a massive advantage in that we can be certain about getting a customer’s attention at the dispenser.” – Heinz Derksen, Managing Director of Gebruder Derksen.

Conclusion

A lack of digitalization has, until now, limited fuel retailer’s ability to connect with their consumers, drive loyalty, or provide a unique experience while on the forecourt. The consumer of today appreciates, and expects, the benefits tailored experiences bring, so much so, it’s become the “norm” when refuelling. Investment in an integrated digital media solution could be the deciding factor between a customer refuelling at your service station or your competitors.

As fuel retail advertising strategies increase in sophistication, their potential to boost revenue also increases. If retailers can make the most of media on site, then customers will be more likely to come inside the store and make purchases beyond fuel—higher margin purchases, too.

Whether retailers want to boost shop purchases, upsell premium fuel grades, sell car washes, or make substantial savings – reduced labour costs and removal of static signage – T-Media can help enhance customer engagement and loyalty, while boosting per-visit sales and profit.