New Affinity Solutions Study Commissioned by GSTV Uncovers Link Between Fueling Behavior and Elevated Consumer Spending
Analysis of hundreds of millions of card transactions reveals fuel purchase as predictive of a fourfold increase in spend across major retail categories
DETROIT, MI and NEW YORK, NY (May 11, 2022) – Today, Affinity Solutions, a leading consumer insights company, and GSTV, the national video network engaging and entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers, unveil a new analysis that shows a predictive relationship between a fuel transaction and increased retail spending. Key findings include that, in the three hours after fueling, consumers spend 3.7 times more money, transact 4.2 times more frequently, and are over four times more likely to make at least one additional purchase compared to those not fueling that day.
“GSTV came to us with a hypothesis: since consumers often stop for fuel as part of a larger shopping trip, a fuel transaction might be a good predictor of immediate future spending,” said Phil Lore, EVP & Chief Revenue Officer at Affinity Solutions. “Our analysis, spanning hundreds of millions of credit and debit card transactions, across 20 million accounts, bears this out. As marketers look for data-driven opportunities to increase media performance, these findings identify a uniquely pivotal moment along the shopper journey to strongly influence consumer decision-making.”
Of particular interest to marketers, Affinity Solutions quantified the lift in spend propensity for more than a hundred of the country’s top retailers and restaurants, offering advertisers unique insights to help them develop strategies to drive more in-store sales. The analysis quantified the increase in spend at specific key retailers following a fuel transaction including Walmart (+5.0x), Kroger (+4.9x), Target (+4.0x), Walgreens (+3.8x), Taco Bell (5.8x), Home Depot (5.2x), and Chick-fil-A (6.6x), among others. The study also found that a fuel transaction predicts substantially higher levels of spend across major categories, including quick service restaurants (+5.3x), home supply (+5.2x), grocery (+4.8x), big box (+4.0x), casual dining (+4.0x), and pharmacy (+3.6x). Spend behavior was analyzed in the three hours immediately following a fuel transaction from 4/1-7/31/21 and compared to active accounts without an observed fuel transaction that day.
“Advertisers have long understood the importance of reaching viewers at precisely the right moment. This research sheds new light on just how important certain moments can be,” said Eric Sherman, EVP, Insights and Analytics, GSTV. “Affinity Solutions has uncovered a “fueling multiplier” -- an amplification of an ad’s potential impact based on its temporal and geospatial proximity to elevated consumer spending, creating a unique messaging opportunity for marketers.”
The analysis period for the study came more than a year after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic during a lull in cases when there was widespread vaccine availability and prior to the uptick of cases from the Delta variant. In addition to comparing post-fueling behavior to those not fueling that day, the research also looked at changes to post-fueling spend behavior over time, specifically comparing April through July of 2019 against the same period in 2021. The study saw post-fuel consumer spending rise almost 50% in the three hours following a fuel transaction.
The release of this new data and insights comes on the heels of GSTV’s recent announcement of GSTV AMPLIFY, a retail media network that offers CPG marketers the ability to complement and strengthen existing omnichannel brand plans and strategies. With multipliers of spend likelihood defined across categories and key retailers, the new data from Affinity Solutions further demonstrates the value of the unique moment on the consumer journey that GSTV offers to marketers. To learn more about how GSTV reaches consumers in proximity to key retail channels, visit GSTV.com/amplify.
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About Affinity Solutions
Affinity is the authoritative source of truth for news outlets, not-for-profits, research firms and businesses in the US and the only source for purchase insights that can be analyzed by demographic, geographic, lifestyle segment and political affiliation. We power consumer engagement predicated on actual purchase data to help marketers move at the speed of the consumer and improve people's lives. Affinity is powered by Panorama, which is an always-on, privacy-safe platform, within a safe-haven environment. Panorama deterministically matches actual purchase data, and complementary data sets, for audience scoring and validation that drives precision marketing.
To learn more about Affinity Solutions visit www.affinitysolutions.com
About GSTV
GSTV is a data-driven, national video network entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers. Reaching more than one in three American adults monthly, GSTV engages viewers with full sight, sound, and motion video at an essential waypoint of their consumer journey, and GSTV is the only consolidated and scaled digital media platform in the convenience and fuel channel. Analysis of billions of consumer purchases demonstrates that GSTV viewers spend significantly more across retailers, services, consumer goods and other sectors following a fuel transaction. While offering consumers entertaining and informative content, GSTV drives immediate action and creates lasting brand impressions, delivering measurable results for the world’s largest advertisers. Visit www.gstv.com for more information and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Martech Zone: GSTV: Target Consumers at the Pump with Location-Based Video Experiences
By: Douglass Karr | Martech Zone
Every day, millions of Americans get in their vehicles and go. Fueling up drives commutes, commerce, and connection; and that’s when GSTV has their undivided attention.
Daily, at tens of thousands of locations, their national video network owns a unique moment that matters, when consumers are engaged, receptive, spending more today and influenced for tomorrow and beyond. In fact, GSTV reaches 1 in 3 American adults monthly, engaging viewers with full sight, sound, and motion video at an essential waypoint on their consumer journey.
GSTV Overview
Case studies of GSTV include social engagement, retail sales lift, increasing ad effectiveness, store and dealership visitation, lift in consumer spending, building viewer awareness and tune-in, and lifts in website visitation.
GSTV Short Form Video Example
Chances are that you’ve seen and responded to these short form videos that drive a call-to-action. Here’s a great example for retail establishments to get someone who is pumping gas to walk into the store and make a purchase:
GSTV Reach
GSTV engages adults with hundreds of millions of individual 1-to-1 interactions to entertain, inform, connect, and deliver a moment that moves today and matters tomorrow. Benefits of their target audiences include:
Spending – A young, active, affluent audience, who spends +1.7x more following a fuel transaction
Real People – A Nielsen audited network, with no bots, no fraud and no DVRing
Brand Safe – Premium content curated for a general audience
Engagement – Traveling, dining, listening, shopping, spending, and more while engaging at a pause point in their journey
Capabilities through GSTV’s 95 million unique visitors includes the ability to target first party audiences based on their demographic, geographic, and behavioral data.
GSTV helps marketers achieve quantifiable business results and maximize their ad spend. GSTV has delivered double-digit increases in retail visitation, millions of dollars in sales lift, and significant increases in brand metrics for some of the world’s largest advertisers.
GSTV Extends Content with Loop Media
Loop Media, a streaming media company focused exclusively on premium short-form video, announced a content partnership with GSTV to produce and share short-form music videos, top new music videos, movie trailers for new releases, and top movie trailer compilations.
This short form streaming content provides opportunities for brands and marketers to effectively target consumers outside the home.