Aral POS Advisor
Interactive product advice at service stations throughout Germany
In June 2012, ARAL AG tested a new advisory service at selected service stations throughout Germany: motorists could use a terminal to find the right product for their individual vehicle from the oil, windshield wiper, light bulb, antifreeze, car wash and care product ranges and buy it on the spot or have the relevant product information sent to them by text message and e-mail. The terminal-supported on-site advice was of benefit to both the end consumer and the service station employee.
Drivers were able to find the information they needed quickly and easily and thus find the right product. There was no need for advice from a gas station attendant or a car mechanic. Nor was in-depth knowledge of their own vehicle a prerequisite for successful use. A quick glance at the vehicle registration document was all that was needed to obtain the required information on the vehicle's engine or year of manufacture.
| Client | Aral AG |
|---|---|
Project duration | 2012–2017 |
Project Details
The target group for the Aral POS terminal was primarily motorists looking for the right product quickly and reliably to solve an acute problem (oil needs changing, windshield wipers are worn, light bulb is broken, or similar). Since many service stations nowadays no longer offer a workshop service, technical advice is often not easy to obtain. In order to still be able to guarantee the quality of advice and service to a high degree and to be able to map a product range competence, advice at the POS has been digitalized. Advice from service station employees is thus no longer mandatory and is at most used to confirm the selected product.
However, service station staff themselves quickly emerged as a secondary target group. Many employees have included the terminal themselves in their daily consultation and have thus been able to become even better acquainted with the entire breadth and depth of the product range.
Technically, the application was mapped by a TYPO3 CMS, in which the content for the control of the application, the output of the product information as well as the logic of the product selection were editorially maintained. The content was transferred to the terminals via mobile radio, on which an Android operating system was installed in combination with the POS software Sitekiosk. The software controlled the output and also measured usage behavior on the device itself: which areas are accessed and how often? Which products are scanned? At what point is the session interrupted? In addition, users had the opportunity to send in logs, criticism and suggestions for improvement via a feedback form.
The Aral POS advisor had the following specifics:
- Content management via a TYPO3 CMS, output as a web application in the browser and stationary on Android tablets (via Sitekiosk application)
- Fully automatic import of product information
- Barcode scanner at POS
- Motion sensor coupled to the screen saver and a loudspeaker (attention enhancement)
- Measurement of user behavior for ongoing optimization
- Feedback channel: Feedback option via integrated contact form