Opinion: 3 ways retail stores could benefit from having EV-charging stations – EQ Mag Pro
The electric vehicle (EV) market is booming – electric passenger car sales increased by 186 per cent in 2020 and enjoyed a record year in 2021. It’s predictedthat74 per cent of new cars sold in North America will be electric by 2040.
Similarly, the UK has set a benchmark towards achieving 100 per cent of new car and van sales being electricity 2035. In Norway, electric cars already make up 84 per cent of new car sales, highlighting the success of their adopted policies. There are over 12 mln EVs on the road today, and this number will continue to grow.
In this context, retail stores need to adopt new strategies to ensure they maintain and grow their customer footfall rates by providing electric vehicle charging facilities at their sites. The big question is, how can retail store owners benefit from this growing number of EV drivers?
By tapping into the charging segment, businesses can increase their bottom line. They can generate charging revenues, offer more convenience, improve their sustainability credentials, increase the time customers spend at their sites, and attract new clients looking for a place to charge. This is a good opportunity for shop owners to differentiate themselves and leverage the trend– in the UK alone, non-food stores’ sales plunged 7.1 per cent in December and continue to decline. The trend started long before the covid-19 pandemic and recent inflation.
Paying for charging
The first and most obvious opportunity is benefitting from providing commercial charging. The EV market is growing rapidly, and many agencies want to support that expansion by offering EV charging rebates for businesses –up to 100 per cent of the EV charging infrastructure and installation costs. However, installing an EV charger at your own expense would allow you to earn a premium by reselling the energy. At L-Charge, we calculate this to be around 30 per cent annually from initial investments. Yes, energy prices are skyrocketing this year – recharging an EV today is 43 per cent more expensive than a year ago – but EVs are still much cheaper to run than petrol and diesel cars, and the demand is growing. Charge point owners know it, EV owners know it – this is fast becoming the primary driver for the accelerated growth in electric vehicles!
Buying while charging
The second opportunity is attracting EV drivers. Whilst most charging takes place at home, it doesn’t stop charge point owners and operators from earning as EV drivers are looking for any opportunity to charge their vehicle during the day. Even a rapid charger takes around 10-30 minutes to charge a car. This drives additional customer spending- while waiting, the customer could decide to buy something from the store, even if it is just a cup of coffee.
Data that L-Charge has collected from EV-owners shows that 80 per cent of EV-users shop at local retailers while charging their vehicles. Among them, 60 per cent said they had bought snacks and coffee, while 20 per cent said they had bought groceries. Also, around 55 per cent reported that the availability of charging stations influenced their decision to shop at a particular location, meaning that by offering EV charging stations at commercial properties, retail businesses can bring in more repeat customers and increase sales.
There were a few business owners who thought ahead and rushed to provide charging services, however being early entrants, they set up slow chargers, which are now considered to be less advantageous. It could appear to be a redundant investment, but it’s not. It could seem a failing investment, but it’s not. Today it is easy to extend existing charging infrastructure with marginal expense – via the addition of boosting equipment. L-Charge have recently rolled out boosters into the Indian market and they have received a warm welcome.
Advertising while charging
The third opportunity is enhancing customer interactions. Suppose the charging service is equipped with advertising screens or has the ability for direct interaction with drivers via an app. In that case it can allow retail store owners to understand their customers better and offer them extra services or goods directly or sell this marketing communication channel to other businesses.
EV charging stations can potentially be a powerful outdoor advertising platform, giving brands access to an upwardly mobile, tech-savvy and affluent urban consumer base. Adweek suggests that brands across categories will now be able to advertise at EV charging stations to capture the attention of tech-savvy and affluent consumers. To achieve this, it is also important that EV charge point operators allow for the installation of digital outdoor signage close to their infrastructure, as AMI has recorded that digital signage generates, on average, 400 per cent more views compared to stationary signage.
As we can see, there are multiple ways to benefit from electric car charging stations at retail locations. It is important to understand what kind of charging stations are available on the market and which of them have features most relevant to the operating nature of the retail business. L-Charge found that grid-independent super-fast charging is the best solution for this purpose.
Source: PTI
