AI-powered petrol stations

Five aims to bring change to the oil and gas industry by infusing technology into their petrol station operations.

IMAGINE a petrol station that understands you and knows what you want. All you need to do is find a Five petrol station, drive in, tap on your screen, refuel, then drive off. At the front and centre of a digital nation is an enhanced customer experience powered by technology. Kiple and Seng Group of Companies are coming together as a team to realise the possibilities of powering a digital nation via new AI-based Five petrol stations.

Their mission is to serve drivers with a different experience through enhanced personalised services and convenience, effectively reducing their time to fill their vehicles when they are in a hurry.

‘We want a digital Malaysia that achieves more. Transformational growth is driven by innovation and we are proud to play a role, ’ said Puan

Together, Kiple and Seng Group will deliver a suite of mobile apps and services that are one of a kind in Malaysia.

Five is a new petrol company and the second national petrol brand in Malaysia. Part of Seng Group, the company aims to be the leading energy brand in line with the nation’s progress.

Five aims to bring change to the oil and gas industry by seamlessly infusing technology into their operations, giving Malaysians greater access, affordability and quality experiences.

As Seng Group has done for its current business partners, Five aims to bring its heritage in business management, experience in successful operations and professional knowledge to the masses – thereby giving energy for everyone and more specifically, Malaysians.

They chose a collaboration with Kiple because of their mutual belief in digitally transforming petrol stations. Kiple’s continuous innovation through investment in groundbreaking technology and creating amazing user journeys are what makes the vision a reality.

The initiative bears some resemblance to what Green Packet has achieved as the technology partner of Setel, the ewallet mobile app to pay at Petronas petrol stations. As the white label partner for Setel, Kiple built the back end ewallet for the system which is expected to hit transactions of more than RM1bil this year.

On what AI-enabled petrol station would be like, C.C. Puan, group CEO and MD of Green Packet Bhd which launched Kiple, said:

“We are working to geofence cars that are coming into the stations with licence plate recognition.

“As drivers enter the station, the system instantly recognises their cars from a distance by reading their licence plate. Staff on duty gets alerted that a familiar customer has arrived.

“In true drive-through fashion, the driver selects the fuel, pays via ewallet, orders things from the convenience store with the possibility of getting the purchases delivered directly to the car, ” he said.

Kiple and Seng Group believe the partnership will lead to an end-to-end digitalised user journey that balances both safety and convenience, providing a new standard for petrol stations in Malaysia.

Currently when drivers stop to refuel, they will have to get out of the car to make payment, select fuel type and collect a receipt, all of which in this day and age can be tedious and unhygienic.

Thus, Kiple’s licence plate recognition will transform the whole refueling experience for drivers.

Upon entering a Five petrol station, the vehicle’s plate number will be automatically recognised and the driver will be directed to an available fuel pump.

At the pump itself, the system will instantly identify the driver from the pre-filled licence plate in the app and automatically detects the driver’s fuel preferences. All payments are then activated within the car.

After refuelling, the app will complete all payment and send the receipt to the driver within the app. This will reduce more than half of the time spent at conventional fuel stations.

As customers can be recognised by their licence plates, the petrol station can seize this opportunity to do some push marketing campaigns for those who are seated in the car and motivate them to walk into the retail store.

Upon walking in, face recognition will transform the experience of in-store retail, convenience stores and eateries at the station.

Cashless and contactless technology will power every corner of the store. At entrances, AI face recognition thermal scanners will scan every customer, thus detecting any individual with high temperature who will be prohibited from entering.

These terminals may also act as smart displays that provide personalised and relevant information to customers.

Throughout the store, virtual signage enabled through augmented reality, virtual reality hardware and apps serve as “personalised smart assistants” that guide customers on product selection or other enquiries.

Face recognition also powers other services such as a loyalty programmes and membership reward programmes based on their consumption patterns.

Self-serve kiosks will enable a new line of value added services such as pickup points within the station for online orders. Powered by intelligence campaign management and advertising modules, Five and Kiple will be able to profile customers and deliver personalised recommendations to customers based on their interest.

Finally, Five will make use of new user analytics to make decisions on channel distribution, channel change trend, channel retention map, channel ROI analysis and retail repurchase ration improvements.

The Five mobile app provides for cashless payment.

“We want a digital Malaysia that achieves more. Transformational growth is driven by innovation and we are proud to play a role in Five’s journey to reimagine an end-to-end digital petrol station experience, ” said Puan.

All these are made possible with the Kiple team. Following the success of its We Are Ready campaign to help businesses resume operations seamlessly after the MCO, Green Packet recently launched a followup campaign called #DigitalReady.

This new campaign seeks to re-educate Malaysians and businesses on the digital possibilities that can reshape Malaysia as we move towards economic recovery post Covid-19.

With communities coming together in one ecosystem, the potential synergies that arise from these partnerships will create a digital Malaysia that thrives with life-improving digital possibilities.