April is upon us which means we’re heading into International Customer Loyalty Month. We here at RevTrax are taking this month to reflect on our own company best practices in customer service and the essentials of providing a seamless customer experience while we continue to seek innovative ways to improve on our customer-centric solutions.
Last week at Shopper Marketing Summit, our team networked with some of the best-in-class retail executives, CPG brand marketers and various other shopper marketing professionals. One interesting session in particular, “Going Global – What Shoppers Wants; Retailers Need; What Brands Must Deliver,” began with Wendy Liebmann stating; “we need to look beyond our borders and traditional ways of doing business” in an effort to stay competitive and relevant to our customers.
Presenting alongside Liebmann was Alex Gourlay, recently appointed EVP, President of Customer Experience & Daily Living with Walgreens following 35+ years working with European pharmacy company Alliance Boots.
Gourlay focused much of his discussion on the success of the Boots’ loyalty card scheme, one of the largest and most valued loyalty programs in the UK with an active membership of over 17.9 million, and how it helped the company build customer intimacy with the Boots brand.
In the UK he noted, they do not perceive stores as a final destination to low prices. They focus on providing an environment that incentivizes consumers to buy an additional item to earn rewards. The ‘treats’ program, as Gourlay’s team referenced the scheme, allows customers to ‘treat’ themselves to reduced price purchases once enough points were earned.
Boots customers are so committed to the card and to earning points towards ‘treats’ that the program became an integral part of their shopping habits. Customers have even voiced ‘they can never have enough points.’ Gourlay noted that creating this level of customer intimacy was one of the reasons Boots and Walgreens have been so successful.
Customers today have high expectations and look for a special experience from a brand. What are you doing to build customer intimacy of your brand?
