​Self-service fuel stations for Oman when customers are ready: industry official

Muscat: Self-service fuel stations will come to Oman when customers are ready for them, the CEO of Oman Oil Marketing has said.

"If automation is done the right way, it must be done beautifully so that it can benefit everybody properly. But if not, then I believe we must wait for the right time," said David Kalife.

"In terms of our equipment, we are already fully automated and are investing big money in terms of automating and streamlining our processes, so much so that competitors are also looking at us," he added.

However, Kalife added that while self-service stations did well in the United States and the European countries, it was important to see whether that demand was present in the Omani and other GCC markets.

"When you talk about self-service, the question is 'how'," he said. "We are ready and have an open mind, but we have to see if the customer is ready. One of the competitors tried that in the UAE and it was not well received, and if the customer does not like it, then you cannot do it.

"If you want to do it, it must be seamless and you must look at customer service," explained Kalife. "We have a responsibility towards our people — not just our customers but the stakeholders. If you are bringing in automation, you must see how this affects the customers and look at what you are offering in terms of service to support that."

He also added that bringing in a service or feature for which the market was not ready would be more expensive to undo or rectify in future.

"You must make sure that such a thing is sustainable because if you bring in such a major change, then you must make sure the market is ready for it," said Kalife. "You cannot bring in such an important change and then roll it back, because that will have a very negative impact and you cannot make such a blunder."