Creating future growth for a multinational energy corporation

At a time when the world’s relationship with fossil fuels has fundamentally changed, how do you enable future growth for a multinational energy corporation? That’s the challenge a joint Lippincott and Oliver Wyman team took on with Galp, the largest oil and gas provider in Portugal.

Galp was addressing an existential question: how were its customers changing and what future impact and opportunities would arise because of this significant global shift? This is the story of an innovative retail concept that would thrive in an energy-efficient future, and the journey Lippincott and Oliver Wyman led to help Galp arrive there.

Our first step was to conduct robust Jobs to be Done consumer research, which revealed the foundation for our recommendations. We found that the brand’s existing network of legacy service stations provided an opportunity for innovation that would meet consumers’ needs. This was supported by an increasing demand for choice, speed, convenience, and flexibility across industries in Portugal. In tandem, we saw that consumers were looking for a brand that could meet a variety of their day-to-day needs, such as savoring “me time” or driving confidence in their purchase decisions.

With these insights, the innovation phase and our ideas took shape. We identified clear opportunity spaces that a new retail concept could encompass, including multi-mobility (not just cars, but bikes and beyond), a one stop-neighborhood shop, a daily wellness station, and more.

We also needed to determine what the customer experience should look like. So we developed new experience principles that would provide the strategic foundation for customer interaction, store design, digital and communications. These tangibly express how the brand drives connection and progress in a way that’s unique to Galp. With these principles in hand, along with the understanding of the customers’ Jobs to be Done, we created two new, distinct retail formats to meet evolving customer expectations and complement Galp’s existing network.

The first concept, the Mobility Hub, repositions Galp from a fuel-based provider to a broader multi-energy mobility provider, providing seamless access to a network of mobility options. This includes mobility on Demand with electric vehicle charging modules, rentable bikes and scooters, a “Try-before-you-buy” electric vehicle fleet and home energy bundling sign-up. All this is paired with accessible essentials that add convenience to and enhance customers’ daily lives.

The second concept, the Lifestyle Hub, offers two formats. One for smaller urban markets, and a larger flagship format with a broader offering. The smaller format acts as a hub for daily needs, particularly for urban on-the-go lifestyles. Features include a signature Galp bakery that offers Portuguese treats, along with coffee and other indulgences, a daily essential curated assortment of innovative, seasonal, fresh and delicious meal solutions, faster, self-service journeys with mobile order, pick-up options, and vending, and mobility on Demand with rentable bikes / scooters, and a “Try before you buy” Electric Vehicle fleet.

For each concept, we created a store design that resets expectations around what a ‘convenience store’ looks and feels like, prioritizing integrated technology with a curated layout and amenities that enable customers to choose how they want to shop. A crisp color palette, highlighting Galp’s signature orange, future-proofs the design for years to come, and simplifies retrofitting and maintenance across Galp’s existing network.

Currently, Galp is piloting the smaller Lifestyle hub in-market.