Swagman Roadhouse
Great Specials and Local Service!
Swagman Mount Magnet Roadhouse has been part of the Mount Magnet community since the 17th October 1997. Situated in the town of Mount Magnet, you can find this site on the main street cross road between Geraldton, Gold Fields & Mid-West.
Mount Magnet is a small town with a population of approximately 450 people. The mining and pastoral industries form the economic base of the Shire with tourism becoming an important contributor to its economy.
Refuel took management of this site in 2018, being now part of their MSO Group. Since then, the store has gone from strength to strength. They take pride in looking after the Local Community by employing locals, sponsoring events and offering truck parking free of charge. Besides that, the store has grown in the last few months. This month we spend some time with Mitch, Retail Operations Manager for Swagman Roadhouse so he can share his tips for success!
What have you done to increase sales?
Being consistent with programs such as Jill & Jack’s Daily and The Common Good Coffee and trialing out all the new offers. Introducing new food offers to our menus. Creating menus based on home cooked ideas, so that customers will have an option from the normal Roadhouse Food. We have also created a Daily Special from our menu that is also supported by our Customer Loyalty Program with a card that customers get stamped when purchasing.
We always participate in supplier incentives which offers the best deals to customers. Our site offers New Product Delivery so customers can try out what’s new in the market. We also make use of Social Media like Facebook to promote our New Sunrise promo and daily food specials.
We have a separate section for Fresh Foods and we plan to add a Food Discounts in line with Fuel. To advertise this, there will be clear signage around the store and Digital Screens.
What has been the consistent focus?
We pride ourselves in having a customer focused approach. Friendly customer service, a clean store and immaculate toilets play a vital role in how consumers perceive our store. Swagman is a one stop shop for Fuel, Food, Coffee and other store convenience products.
What categories have led to the biggest sales growth and why?
Food
Jill & Jack’s Daily and Common Good Coffee. It is crucial that we have a consistent offer.
Energy drinks and water
Ensuring that there are no Out of Stocks for Energy Drinks as this accounts for 40% share of our Beverage Category. Water is also very important and we ensure that we have off locations and that are well stocked at all times.
Tobacco
Still one of our important categories and being part of New Sunrise Local Tobacconist program has benefited us with pricing.
High impulse lines
We ensure that we strategically place high moving items like chocolates, lollies and even energy drink fridges.
Ranging for our regular truckies, travellers and our Mount Magnet Locals. We continuously work and change according to consumer behaviour as people expect more from Fuel Stations. Catering for technology with recent renovations installing power points for charging phones and other equipment for the On The Go Traveller.
How did New Sunrise help?
Swagman has been part of the New Sunrise family since the beginning of 2019. Contributions and support from New Sunrise have been immense through our Retail Development Manager support onsite and remotely. New Sunrise is a connection between suppliers and customers. Jill & Jack’s Daily and Common Good Coffee are big contributors to our Food and Coffee Category. New Sunrise have also been really helpful with creating and updating our digital menus.
The different monthly promotions help increase sales from our regular customers. To support the monthly promotions, we are supplied Point of Sale kits and import files that helps with updating our POS for the new promotion.
The Accelerate Training Program has helped train our staff as we have many backpackers and for many it’s their first job in Retail and Fuel.
The Members Portal helps with a lot of information especially Planograms.
What are your plans for the next 12 months for your store?
We aim to improve and maintain our professional customer service, Improve site layout with changes to our shelving. We will also work on our In-store marketing. Planning a seasonal food menu. We will also introduce family meal deals as part of our offer. With the new Jill & Jack’s Daily cookie range we will have deals with our coffee.
Refurbishment continues with new Local Store signage at the front of the store. We have plans to improve forecourt appearance and landscaping around the store as well as expanding the Refuel Café Brand.
