(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- In an interview with Muscat Daily, Eng Mohammed Farid al Darwish, chief executive officer of Al Maha Petroleum Products Marketing Company, said that the company is working on a number of initiatives to make its fuel stations attractive destination for shopping and other pleasure activities. Darwish said fuel stations in Oman have the potential to become an engine of growth for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Oman's oil marketing companies are working towards making fuel stations a preferred destination for shopping and a host of other activities. What are your views in this regard?
We are a consumer-centric organisation. Fuel stations are all about end-users and they are the ones who could drive the business. So when all the companies are working to lure end-users, you need to be aggressive to defend your business and need to plan ways to attract more and more people to fuel stations. This could be done by providing excellent services at the outlets or selling quality products to consumers.
The important thing is that we need to attract consumers to our fuel stations, which effectively means we have to create destinations for them. We are working on a number of initiatives in this direction and soon we will make some announcements.
Can you elaborate more on what initiatives your company is planning for near future?
We are working on plans to boost our retail business, and one big step in this direction is 'Souq al Maha', an initiative designed and developed by us. This new store comes in line with modern trends in the concept of 'fast-shopping' retailers at filling stations. I would rather say, we have revived an old trademark which was not used very prominently. We are using this trademark to reinforce our brand identity.
'Souq al Maha' will be our newest re-branding of retail outlets inside fuel stations. One flagship store has already been opened in Amerat in Muscat and soon such flagship stores will be opened at some more fuel stations across Oman. We are planning to open more and more such stores but cannot give exact timeline as there are number of factors on which it will depend. If we try to open the same type of branded outlets at other filling stations, we have to see whether the same design can be accommodated there and people executing the project also need to be sure that existing fuel retailing services are not disturbed. The requirements of other shops inside the fuel stations also need to be taken care.
We also have a five-year plan in which various activities are planned including increasing the number of outlets in the country and expanding our operations to other countries. Expanding operations to other GCC countries is the easiest way, but we are thinking about more; including exploring some African countries where we have good connections.
Are you planning all your fuel stations to have the same 'Souq al Maha' format?
We have to follow a right mix of different formats as we have to keep a number of things in mind, such as the location of the fuel station, whether it is on a highway or inside the city, and also the amount of land available for developments, and as we are working with a number of partners their interests also have to be kept in mind.
Moreover, we are going to increase the number of fuel stations but all these new stations cannot be opened following the same format. I cannot tell at the moment how many new fuel stations will be added in a fixed time-frame. Now highways and expressways will soon see opening of new kind of stations, which will be bigger in size and will house a number of services.
Fuel retailing business has remained more or less same for many decades, so why are companies now feeling the need to make all these changes in operations?
The government plans to promote fuel stations as active economic entities providing a whole range of services. And oil marketing companies are also very much interested in supporting the government's plan. It is our responsibility to support the small, medium and micro enterprises in the country, providing them an opportunity for the growth. I believe fuel stations have the potential to become an engine of growth for SMEs in the country, and going forward they can play a greater role in supporting entrepreneurs by finding a variety of motivating alternatives for SMEs in the country.
Besides this, we are a marketing company, so we have to do something to make consumers happy, satisfied and meet their expectations. Consumers have a tendency to get bored with routine formats, so we have to keep innovating new ideas to get consumers' attraction.
Moreover, I am also excited about the idea of usage of renewable energy to improve efficiency. Sooner or later electric vehicles are going to be a reality, so we have to prepare for that also. In future, we may also have fuel stations with charging facilities for electric cars.
But, one must be aware that fuel stations are not designed for hosting charging facilities, which effectively means doing lots of re-engineering at the facility to accommodate wires, cables and other infrastructure to fit in the premise.
Other oil marketing firms believe that retail segment will be a key driver of sales going forward as margins as well as growth of fuel sales are declining, what are your views on this?
I am not much worried about fuel sales as till all the cars in the sultanate start using alternate, people will keep on buying fuel. Sales growth has been falling for the past few years as consumer behaviour is changing, and people are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. I don't want to call them (other oil marketing firms) rivals as when I see them doing something good, it also gives me an inspiration to try something new. All of us are doing the same business and are planning to do the same thing.
Fuel stations in future will not sell petrol or diesel only, there will be automotive services, battery and car-tires sales and services outlets, oil changing and lubricating services along with a food and beverages section. We are also planning to set up fuel stations with such facilities or we may also consider converting some of existing ones that are located on highways and expressways into these new format stations. We have submitted the plan to the authorities for their approval and now waiting for their nod.
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