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Daughtridge Retail Case Study

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Customer case study

How Daughtridge Retail found the cause of a hidden volume decline

Volume was slipping and no report could say why. Tony asked a sharper question and found the loss hiding in one overnight window.

  • CompanyDaughtridge Retail
  • LeaderTony, VP
?

Before

“Volume is slipping. We don't know why.”

One question to Cortex AI

After

Where
1 - 5 AM
How much
−37%620 → 390 gallons a night
Why
New 24-hour competitor
01The challenge

Every report said things were fine

Fuel volume at Daughtridge was falling month over month, but every usual check came back clean. Most teams would have waited another month. Tony didn't.

Figure 1

What the usual checks showed

What Tony's team saw when volume started slipping

✓

Pricing

Unchanged

✓

Foot traffic

Normal

✓

Back-office reports

No cause found

↓

Fuel volume

Falling

Three green lights, one red one, and nothing to connect them.

T

So Tony asked Cortex AI

Break down fuel volume by time of day for September, compare it to last year, and tell us exactly where we're losing volume.
02The finding

The answer: one overnight window

Cortex broke the day into time windows and compared each one to last September. Three were steady. One wasn't.

Figure 2

Fuel volume by time of day

Average gallons per day, September 2025 → September 2026

  • !1 AM - 5 AM620 → 390Down 37%
  • ✓5 AM - 9 AM890 → 885Steady
  • ✓9 AM - 5 PM3,100 → 3,080Steady
  • ✓5 PM - 12 AM2,200 → 2,195Steady

Where the volume went

−37%

between 1 and 5 AM

~230 gallons lost a day ~7,000 gallons a month

The 12-1 AM hour was not included in the source breakdown.

03The cause & response

A new neighbor, and a plan to win back the night

A new 24-hour site had opened down the road six weeks before the decline began. Once Tony's team could see it, they aimed every move at the hours they were losing.

Figure 3

The cause, and the response

One specific cause, four moves aimed at it

DDaughtridgeLosing late-night drivers
2.1 miles
24New 24-hour siteModern, well-lit canopy
Opened 6 weeks before the decline Open through the 1 - 5 AM window

Tony's response, all aimed at 1 - 5 AM

  • Win backOvernight promotions

    Fuel offers for the 1 - 5 AM window

  • RewardDouble loyalty points

    For late-night fill-ups and repeat visits

  • CompeteTargeted pricing

    Pricing built to recapture overnight volume

  • WatchHourly volume alerts

    Catch the next shift before habits set in

Leadership takeaway

The instinct behind it

Tony wouldn't accept “no clear reason” and kept asking until the answer was specific enough to act on. That is what forward-looking independents are doing, and we're proud to work alongside him.

Wondering what might be hiding in your own numbers?

We'd be glad to share what we're seeing across independent operators.

Talk to our team