Why Some Gas Stations Give Discounts When You Pay With an App

A gallon of gas costs about $2.25, on average, meaning Americans are saving more than $1 per gallon compared with this time last year. Even with that discount, a retailer on the East Coast has figured out the formula for increasing gas sales and making customers more loyal: Offer even more discounts through an app.

Cumberland Farms, which operates about 550 gas stations and convenience stores in the Northeast and Florida, released versions of its mobile app in 2013 that connect to a customer’s bank account to facilitate payment at the pump and dole out coupons. Since then, the apps, including one for regular customers and another for businesses, have generated about $400 million in sales, said David Banks, Cumberland Farms’s chief information officer. “We are selling significantly more gas because of it,” he said. “Customers have become more loyal, and we’ve picked up more customers.”