PetrolPlaza Talks: TanQyou. The Dutch retailer changing the game
We speak to innovative Dutch retailer TanQyou and its CEO Jan-Harmen Akkerman. As a newcomer to the industry, they looked at the value of a service station differently from the beginning. We discuss the role of fuel retailers, mobility ecosystems and the future of the industry.
After a successful career in the IT sector, Jan-Harmen Akkerman founded TanQyou in 2015 as an innovative network of unmanned fuel stations in the Netherlands. Seven years later the company now operates a network of 40 sites across the Netherlands. In 2020, the technology behind TanQyou surpassed its own retail brand with the conception of moveyou, a platform that provides whitelabel MaaS and data services to 27 brands and around 2,000 sites in the European fuel market.
“From day one we didn't just see our gas station as a single site but as part of a wider mobility proposition and that's why we built out platform technology. We developed our own technology for the TanQyou brand but by the end of 2019 we started delivering our services in white label form to other fuel retailers in Western Europe,” says Akkerman.
The innovative Dutch retailer and supplier believes a lot will change over the next decade with energy and mobility merging into one single proposition. Customers are more aware of their ecological impact and cleaner energy options are on the rise.
“Over the next 10 years energy and mobility will merge into one role and one proposition. You will have an energy and mobility supplier that delivers, possibly through a subscription-based layer, all the options. In one app you will connect solar panels, wall charger and pay for fuel.”
With large oil companies creating complete ecosystems through acquisitions, TanQyou started preparing for a connected, digital customer journey years ago. With their app a customer can pay for fuel, find parking, connect to an EV charger, jump on public transport and use other last-mile transport options such as bicycles. Check their journey here.
The mobility and energy sector will follow a similar revolution to that of TV and Netflix, according to Akkerman. Single propositions such as selling fuel or EV charging will not be enough to survive. "In the period of 2030 to 2035, you will see that all-in-one suppliers will stand up on a subscription-based layer.”
TanQyou also bring their innovation to the forecourt with fascinating site designs, facial recognition for payments at the pump, smart LED systems, parcel pick-up services and clean fuels such as HVO100.
