How Fuel Retailers Can Build Long-Term Customer Loyalty

22 September, 2025

Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, the fuel retail and convenience industry is moving in a new direction. Traditional pump-first thinking is giving way to fully integrated, service-led forecourts where convenience, speed, and choice matter as much as the fuel itself.

Consumers are not only arriving to refuel, but they’re also going into the convenience store to purchase food or beverages, collecting car wash tokens, scanning loyalty cards, doing grocery shopping etc. They are moving through the site with purpose.

The most successful fuel retailers understand this behaviour. They don’t treat customer loyalty as a one-time transaction or as a digital points card, but as a series of consistently good experiences, delivered every time.

Dover Fueling Solutions^® (DFS) helps retailers deliver those experiences through a connected suite of technologies, from advanced Wayne^® and Tokheim^® fuel dispenser technology to the DFS Order Kiosk^™ powered by FLYX and Prizma, DFS’ centralised platform that links forecourt and store systems. Together, these tools help build operational consistency, streamline service, and create journeys worth repeating.

First Impressions Start at the Dispenser

The dispenser – whether conventional fuel or clean energy – is often the first point of engagement between a retailer and the consumer. It sets the tone of the entire experience while on the forecourt. If the dispenser, or refuelling process, is slow, unclear, or inconsistent, consumers notice, and they remember. But when the experience is seamless, responsive, and even informative, it becomes part of a broader service standard that encourages return visits.

DFS’ dispenser portfolio in EMEA has been developed with both performance and communication in mind. Large-format displays, fast-response interfaces and improved accessibility help ensure a smooth fuelling experience.

Site Control Without the Complexity

Managing a modern fuel site involves more than just fuel. Car washes, loyalty schemes, mobile payments, unmanned terminals, and point-of-sale (POS) systems all add value, but also complexity. Prizma, DFS’ connected mobility and convenience hub, helps fuel retailers simplify this ecosystem.

By unifying control of multiple touchpoints into a single interface, Prizma enables retailers to streamline operations across single or multi-site setups. This is especially valuable in EMEA, where cross-border retail often involves managing language preferences, regional regulations, or differing fuel offers.

With real-time analytics and remote diagnostics, retailers can address issues before they impact customer experience. Prizma also integrates with back-office systems and supports a wide range of payment methods, making it easier to deliver a smooth, joined-up journey from pump to store. That operational consistency enables the seamless integration of fuel rewards programs in EMEA, supporting personalised offers, loyalty apps, or card-based schemes. By removing friction across the site, Prizma helps create the kind of experience consumers return for.

Reducing Queues and Improving Service Flow

Self-service technology is gaining traction across certain parts of EMEA, particularly at forecourts with integrated convenience stores. In many European markets, consumers are already familiar with self-checkout in retail and hospitality settings, making forecourt adoption more practical. Yet, it’s not consistent across the region, as some sites in Middle East and Africa markets operate without a c-store, and full-service fuelling remains standard in many areas.

For forecourts where self-service is viable, the DFS Self-Checkout Kiosk helps reduce queues, shorten transaction times, and ease staffing pressure during busy periods. DFS Order Kiosk™ powered by FLYX supports made-to-order food and beverage transactions, improving flow and upselling opportunities without slowing down the front counter. Sites using the system have seen basket sizes increase by up to 35%.

These solutions help keep sites moving, and that directly impacts customer loyalty. When wait times are shorter, transactions are smoother, and service feels efficient, consumers are more likely to return. Operational consistency isn’t just good for throughput, it’s what builds repeat business.

Delivering Consistency Across the Forecourt

Loyalty doesn’t come from a single promotion or an app download. It comes from consistency: a dispenser that works, signage that makes sense, a self-checkout that doesn't stall, an offer that arrives just when it's relevant. These are small signals, but together they create a standard that consumers notice and choose to return to.

DFS helps enable that standard across the entire forecourt. Whether it’s through Prizma’s centralised control, the flexibility of the DFS Self-Checkout, the ease of the DFS Order Kiosk, every interaction is designed to strengthen the customer experience and support retail technology loyalty in EMEA.

Fuel retailers don’t need short-term incentives to build customer loyalty. Consistent service, connected systems, and seamless transactions are what drive long-term engagement, strengthening fuel customer loyalty.