7-Eleven Australia has released a mobile application that allows motorists to ‘lock in’ the lowest price for fuel for up to seven days based on their location and near real-time fuel price data.
The app - designed to compete against fuel discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths - searches prices at outlets closest to the user, using the device's physical location. The app cannot be used without the device's location services turned on.
Once the app locates the lowest price, the customer can then register for a 7-Eleven digital wallet and select a voucher for the type and volume of fuel they would like to purchase, between 10 and 150 litres.
Motorists can redeem the voucher within seven days at any of the chain’s stores by scanning a barcode in the app in-store.
The discount barcodes can only be redeemed once, even if a customer purchases more or less fuel than the amount chosen in the app, and only one voucher can be used per fuel type per transaction.
To prevent misuse, prices will only be on offer for 15 minutes and are liable to change if customers do not register for a fuel voucher within that timeframe.
Users can check pricing 100 times each week, and can only lock in two prices within a 24 hour period.
The company also noted there could be a slight delay between when prices are changed at the pump and when the app is updated.
Because the fuel is paid for when the voucher is redeemed, motorists are free to not use a voucher even if they have accepted one.
Likewise, if the price at the pump at the time a customer fills up is below the voucher price, the customer pays the bowser price.
The app, which is available for iOS and Android, has been in planning and development for over 18 months, and was launched following a five-month pilot involving all 628 stores nationwide.
The launch of the fuel discount voucher app comes less than a week after NSW Innovation Minister Victor Dominello announced he intended to introduce legislation that would force service station operators to disclose their price data in real time to a consumer price map app.
