FUEL LOYALTY PROGRAM REVS UP WINN-DIXIE'S SALES

STEPHANIE LOUGHRAN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie here has seen encouraging results from its first fuel loyalty program, according to Mickey Clerc, Winn-Dixie spokesman.

"We were hoping it would improve sales, and so far we've been happy with it," he said, but he declined to reveal specific sales data.

Customers receive fuel discount vouchers worth 50 cents to $2 by purchasing specific quantities of certain grocery items, such as four two-liter bottles of Coca-Cola, or two 32-ounce jars of Kraft mayonnaise.

Thirty-one Winn-Dixie stores in Mississippi rolled out the test program last November to shore up customer loyalty at the grocery stores and Winn-Dixie's Pump and Save fuel centers, according to Laura Narzem, director of marketing, Fuel Marketing Solutions, Dallas, the supermarket's partner in the program. FMS has proprietary technology that enables customers to redeem the discount coupons at the Pump and Save gas stations, she explained.

FMS provides shelf-talkers to promote the 500 to 700 participating products, Narzem said. A license from Catalina Marketing, St. Petersburg, Fla., allows Winn-Dixie to issue the vouchers at the point of sale.

Other retailers offering FMS programs include H.E. Butt, San Antonio; Meijer, Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif.