Prices at the station fluctuate in both directions all the time. Often, they vary by 5 cents and more within a single day. Regional differences (Munich City versus Ottobrunn) are also often significant, even if we are talking the same time of day and the same brand.
First and foremost, this strikes me as illogical. Why would a litre of diesel fuel from the same concern cost several cents more at Ottobrunn than in the centre of Munich at the same time of day – and vice versa? And why three cents less in the evening? And then four cents more on the next morning? Why all those ups and downs?
I used to believe the reason was a nervous market. Assuming that speculation, market bottlenecks and the like are the reason for this phenomenon, I wrote an article about it.
Now I have a better explanation:
In our world of numbers and excel tables, I am sure all petroleum concerns have a detailed overview telling them which petrol station has most customers at what time. So it must be a logical consequence to adapt the prices to the customers’ behaviour. And that means you always introduce steep price rises when the demand is highest at the right place – and a cut in prices when the demand is less.
To the buyer, this looks like market activities and competition (and once in a while low prices), but in reality all it does is produce high margins. At least, to me it seems to be a wonderful – if somewhat bold – means of optimizing your budget results.
And it is also something easily automated. I am sure it is not very difficult to write a program that adapts the prices to the individual sales profile of a petrol station.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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