Hats Off To Crunch

Hats off to Crunch retail who have had great success with their loyalty but then I’m not surprised just look at these offers....

 

 

 

 

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

Address: Unit 1, Enterprise & Research  Incubation Centre,

Institute of Technology, Kilkenny Road, Carlow.

 

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual

named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or

copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received

this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.

 

E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information

could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain

viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in

the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If

verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

 

Please note: the contents of this email are not to be taken as representing the views

or opinions of Customer Connect Loyalty Ltd or its associated or subsidiary

companies from time to time, save where the same are provided to you and

evidenced in writing and duly signed by a current Director of Customer Connect Loyalty Ltd.

 

The technology is no good on its own!

Please preplan your programme-for Clients of Customer Connect Loyalty we willgive you all of the planners and promotions required for this, just call us.

Iwould like to add 1 more section and that is to Preplan your programme for the 6 months ahead with the various promotions that are possible.
the biggest issue we find is that retailers start their loyalty programme with a fanfare and then it goes nowhere once the excitement wears off.

There are three stages to a loyalty programme and retailers need to know where they are;

1 Infancy.
2 Adolescence
3 Maturity

Infancy-
Symptoms=Low redemptions, High initial customer interest-database building, low promotion uptake.
Adolescence-
Like any adolescent child there are two directions your programme can go in;
A. inaction and low or no promotions leading to boredom and that statement that drives me crazy "oh the loyalty is not really working".
OR
B- Action with constant promotions and incentives leading to greater membership and increased redemptions and in turn increased turnover. 3,
Stage 3-Maturity-
-Regular Key performance analysis,
-Rotating Rewards
-Regular texting/sms/email campaigns
-Loyalty promo days, E.G. shop Wednesday for double points and loyalty only offers,
-E.G.loyalty members all day today get a chicken for 3 euro plus dual pricing etc.
-High redemption rates 60% plus
 However most local or small retailers and even some big retailers do not preplan their loyalty actions for the year and instead create them on the hoof. This leads to adhoc inconsistencey and poor results.
As an example we now sit down with our clients and get them to preplan their loyalty actions for 12 months. They pick from a large variety of promotions and plot them over a period of time taking into account seasonality and other factors. Why?
Because the technology wont grow your business-Its what you do with the technology that actually matters.
A loyalty programme capability and a few free points will do nothing for your business but if you use the data wisely and have the right plan in place it works really well whether you are a small retailer or a department store. We have had clients who regularly get sales boosts of 30% on promotion days yet because they are well planned they may only hit the margin for that day by 1%.
If you would like further infor please do not hesitate to contact me...

Finbarr Malone
CEO Customer Connect Loyalty
http://www.customerconnectireland.com/
http://loyaltyinaction.blogspot.com/

A Three-Step Approach for Retail Loyalty Program Success

by Michael Koploy ERP Analyst, Software Advice
October 05, 2011

Deep discounting with online services like Groupon and LivingSocial allows retailers a way to quickly attract new customers, and many retailers have jumped on the daily deals bandwagon. I wrote about daily deal companies back in July, and concluded that these programs do have their place and merit.
However, many retailers are paying the Groupons of the world to access a group of customers – only to have those buyers never return after redeeming their deals. With this type of quick-sale model, it can be difficult for retailers to follow up with customers and retain them.
Retailer-managed customer loyalty and rewards programs can help establish the right platform to retain and analyze key customer data, while cultivating an ongoing relationship with buyers.

Effective Loyalty Programs Offer More than a Free Sandwich

Many retailers have some form of a loyalty and rewards system in place, but far too often these are punch card rewards. While free sandwiches are great on the tenth visit (who doesn’t love a free sandwich?), paper punch cards fail to capture rich data about who customers are and what types of products they are purchasing.
With customer-spending data to analyze, retailers can make better decisions about product inventory and future sales/promotions to offer. Central to a successful retail operation – and loyalty program – is having the right point of sale (POS) software in place, and many of today’s POS systems offer customer relationship management (CRM) and loyalty program features to provide retailers with the tools they need.
Whether retailers are looking to develop a new loyalty program or rejuvenate an existing one, here are some best practices to keep in mind.

1. Create a Program that Drives Loyalty

First and foremost, a good loyalty program needs to be exclusive (but easy to join), offer rewards of high perceived value (but not at the retailer’s expense) and present your brand in a positive way. A few other key points to consider:
Discount your items for members only. Promotions should put the retailer in a position of gaining repeat customers. Providing non-members access to discounts reduces the allure of loyalty programs and dilutes their effectiveness and appeal. Ensure that promotions are for registered customers only, and use them to entice new customers to join the program. Retailers will need a POS solution that can identify loyalty members using a membership number at the time of sale to provide rewards and track purchases.
Premium (pay) programs should always provide a premium service. Customers have been spoiled by premium rewards programs such as Amazon Prime, but there’s a reason people pay $79 per year for the service. The program offers great shipping rates on purchases, and this encourages customers to return and spend more. Today, traditional point accumulation programs shouldn’t have a fee. Only premium programs should. Some of the country’s largest chain retailers are realizing this. Best Buy recently removed the yearly fee for their Reward Zone points program, and now provides a rewards program based on points per dollar spent.
Offer rewards that are worth something. If your program has a prize at the end of the tunnel, make it worth customers’ while. That means retail rewards programs shouldn’t match the Dave and Buster’s arcade model. That is, don’t make customers spend hundreds of dollars to receive a generic, cheap and uninteresting reward. Instead, provide a reasonable reward of higher perceived value that also encourages continual spending and participation – like future discounts.

2. Develop Program Membership

Developing a strong program oftentimes sells itself, but taking the initiative to get the program snowballing goes a long way, too. Most important in developing a large loyalty membership is making the program easy to join, easy to use and easy to share with customers’ friends and family.
Reduce the point of entry for program access. In 2011, leaving a membership card at home shouldn’t bar customers from receiving purchase credits. Allow customers to use their email address, phone number, account number or a unique user name to connect purchases to their loyalty account. It’s a win-win because the retailer gets more valuable data, and customers receive more reward benefits.
Entice customers to return – and bring a friend along, too. These rewards hit on multiple levels: they provide incentive to return to your store, as well as bringing new customers in. For example, a local burrito chain in Austin recently ran a promotion where if a customer brought a friend on the next visit, both could eat for $10. Loyal customers are some of your strongest brand ambassadors, and sharing a good experience is likely to rub off on friends. Email marketing features within POS solutions allow you to easily reach out to members and have them connect with friends for additional rewards.
Integrate with social media and check-in applications. There are a number of social media opportunities for retailers out there, but it takes more than just inputting your information on your Yelp page or securing twitter.com/yourbrand. Ensure that these media are actually encouraging browsers to join your rewards program. For example, put a promo code up on Twitter, or offer a discount for loyalty program members when they check-in with Foursquare. Using the database within the POS system, retailers can track which promotions are most effective, and which customers redeem them.

3. Collect and Analyze Good Customer Spend Data

Once you’ve developed a great loyalty program, mining data to discover trends, weaknesses and strengths is one of the greatest benefits of a loyalty program – as well as one of the most frequently ignored or underused. This is where POS systems with strong CRM and loyalty-specific functionality become a great asset.
Play to different customer types. Sales expert Mark Hunter describes five different types of customers that are all important to a store’s success. The discount shopper is much different than the need-based or loyal customers. Creating multiple reward methods – or individual plans – can expand the depth and reach of a program, leading to data that is more indicative of the average store customer. Retailers using CounterPoint by Radiant Systems have the ability to customize multiple loyalty programs and set parameters such as point ranges per purchase and redemption methods.
Allow for multi-channel rewards redemption and access. If you’re a multi-channel retailer and have both a physical and online presence, customers should be able to redeem and receive credit for both types of transactions. A great example of this is Barnes & Noble’s reward program, which allows customers to receive a percentage discount on all items both in-store and online. POS systems with integrated e-commerce portals can log customer purchase information in its internal database.
Make promotional decisions based on sales analysis. Analysis of your sales can identify your weakest or slowest moving items, making them potentially great promotional items to your loyalty members. Alternatively, you can find the items that sell the fastest and allow loyalty members first chance at purchasing them, further developing the value of the program. Reporting tools that pull customer data will be useful in determining future promotions. In addition, retailers using Retail STAR from Cam Commerce can assign specific reward values on either a per-item or per-department basis, allowing retailers to create a very personalized program.

I’m interested in what loyalty programs you’ve found effective, and what are the key factors to consider in managing these programs? Please share your experiences below.

Point Stretcher Promotion

We've had great success this week with the Point stretcher promotion, one of our clients has doubled redemption. This has resulted in points earned being only 50% of points burned and footfall up 20%

Automated Emails Designed For Our Hotel Clients to Their Specifications

Automated New Member email Designed For Crowne Plaza Hotel Dundalk

images

Pictures

Pictures

Pictures

Loyalty Promotions

Hi Everyone,

 

As a result of some requests we have been getting I have listed out some promotions that you can run in addition to your texting and rewards schedules. The most important thing to remember is that the loyalty points should become part of the everyday currency of your store. Earning and redeeming should be part of the enjoyment of the shopping experience and you as butchers get the opportunities to up sell and lock in your customer.. I have posted some pictures and examples on the blog which you can find on the  http://loyaltyinaction.blogspot.com/   

 

 

1.     Double Points on certain Days

·         Everyone loves something for nothing and it's a great line for your staff to be able to throughout. This is ideal for picking up that midweek lull. Incentivise your shoppers by offering double points on your quietest day. Another benefit is that this spreads your business more evenly from a staffing point of view

 

 

2.     Rewards Schedules

                        For most of you it's probably time to change your rewards schedules i.e. the list of rewards people can use their points to claim. Why not either keep what you have and add on some summer                     BBQ specials or change the poster altogether. I have attached some posters that one of our clients got designed. We can design these for you (price TBC) nut it may be cheaper and quicker              to get your local graphic designer to do them for you? We will certainly be happy to help you in anyway we can if you're stuck.

3.     Bonus Points

·         I was in a clients store yesterday and they were offering Bonus points and the customer reaction was great. Smaller items midweek eg mince are idealfor offering bonus points and this encourages your shopper to come in to you rather than a convenience store e.g. Centra. This also helps to remove the emphasis away from Price!

 

 

4.     Bonus Point Discounting

            Bonus points are a great way to discount a product, so instead of discounting say 20% of a product price you can add extra points. Example Legs of lamb 20% off (normal price €30)       discount equals €6 or 20%. Why not offer 100 bonus points with every leg of lamb. This equates to a discount of €1.

 

5.     Bundled Offers Plus Points

·         This is a great way to increase average spend. By offering bonus points on bundled offers that are set just above the current loyalty member average spend we can encourage customers to rise that extra few percent! Example your average loyalty member spend is €12 then double points offered on a meal deal with a spend of over €15 euro. This is a great upselling tool.

 

6.     Meal Deal Promotion – We Discount The Price Not The Points!

            If you are running a meal deal offer that's discounted to €20 be sure to show the normal full retail price of this if you can and then  offer the full points. Example, the meal deal would cost €26             if bought separately but is on offer at €20. " You get 26 points for the meal deal that is costing €20"

 

7.     Dual Pricing:

            Re organise a section of your dairy wall for Loyalty promotion products. Example if you have 5 chicken fillets for €1 and 250 points then why not price them in the dairy wall at this. So have a range of products in the dairy wall that are priced as follows; 5 chicken fillets €5.99 and on a Flash Sticker have OR €1 when you trade 250 points.

8.      

 

9.     Threshold Selling

·         Threshold Selling is term coined by Finbarr Malone of Customer Connect Loyalty and it refers to a scheme whereby once a customer reaches a certain spend level in your store on a trasaction eg €50 then their points are doubled on that transaction. Combined with the rewards schedule mentioned earlier this is a powerful tool.

 

 

 

 

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

Address: Unit 1, Enterprise & Research  Incubation Centre,

Institute of Technology, Kilkenny Road, Carlow.

 

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual

named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or

copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received

this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.

 

E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information

could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain

viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in

the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If

verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

 

Please note: the contents of this email are not to be taken as representing the views

or opinions of Customer Connect Loyalty Ltd or its associated or subsidiary

companies from time to time, save where the same are provided to you and

evidenced in writing and duly signed by a current Director of Customer Connect Loyalty Ltd.

 

Great Results

This large 8x4 redemption poster earned over 100 redemptions in it's first were with a points burn of over 30,000. !
Imagine the word of mouth, 100 people talking about these offers!

Redemption offer

Dont Forget About Emotion

Hi Everyone,

It's easy to get so involved in the intricacies and technicalities of loyalty programmes that the most important part - the human aspect - gets neglected.

The technology involved is a marvellous tool - without it, loyalty programmes as we know them would not be possible.

But we must remember that loyalty (and its opposite, the desire to simply walk away) are both intensely human emotions. And, unless the programme generates the right feeling in people, it won't work.

That’s why programmes that “actively work” for the customer by impressing them every week are successful and those that don’t involve emotion but instead juts rebate 1% are unsuccessful.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

 

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual

named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or

copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received

this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.

 

E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information

could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain

viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in

the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If

verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

 

Please note: the contents of this email are not to be taken as representing the views

or opinions of TCI Training Ltd or its associated or subsidiary

companies from time to time, save where the same are provided to you and

evidenced in writing and duly signed by a current Director of TCI Training Ltd.

 

Fishing

For me loyalty systems are like fishing with a net that covers an attentive market. Running your business without loyalty is like fishing with a single line and hook. You have no coverall net. Just one bite at a time.

Regards Finbarr

Sent from my phone.

Miserly

Just thought this was good…

 

Leaving a plush night club one evening, a miserly gentleman walked past the doorman without tipping him. Nevertheless, the doorman helped the man into a taxi with a flourish and said pleasantly.

"By the way, sir, in case you happen to lose your wallet on the way home, just remember that you didn't pull it out here."

 

 

 

 

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

 

 

Butchers Loss leaders? Are You MAD!!!

Hi All,

I’m constantly astounded at great craft butchers I see offering premium product at a little above cost. Let’s have a look at the consequences of this;

                                Positives                                                             Negatives

1.       Gets punters in                                                 No money made

2.       Gets sales up                                                     Reduces your overall gross margin

3.       Builds footfall                                                    Increases labour costs

4.       Competes with the supermarkets            Removes focus away from what your specialist at

5.        I have to do something!                               Only offer discounted product to people who are spending with you.

The difference between having a general offer to everyone and having an offer to your own loyalty customers is that it costs you less on your margin because;

1.       Its only your punters getting the offer

2.       You’re not giving the offer to “Offer Hawkes” these are margin eaters

3.       Why should you have an offer open to a passerby who won’t ever buy from you again?

Finally, Isn’t it better to save all of your discounting ability for the people who are with you regularly. If you decrease the available audience for an amazing offer from everyone to just your customers then you can  increase the value of that offer to your customers

Any questions call me anytime on 0872368956. Any comments just let me know…

Sincere Regards

P.S. please forward this on to anyone who you think might benefit.

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

discounting madness-why take off 20% when you can just take off 2%

Hi Everyone;

Why would you take 20% off your margin when you trying to shift selected products just to shift stuff with short dates or just to try and increase footfall when you could just offer double points or triple points on the same products and get just the same sales boost?

Based on a 1% rebate (which as those of you know can only ever end up at a maximum of 0.64% using our unique guidance). Offering double points on a product that you want to shift will cost you 2% off the product margin when you offer double points. Yet with a good loyalty scheme in place your customers will respond to a double points promotion just as quickly as a 20% off promotion.

2% or 20% I know which margin cut I’d take.

Regards  

 

Finbarr Malone M.Sc. Hospitality

Director

T (353) 1 485 3203

F (353) 1 5261012

M (353) 87 2368956

E finbarr@customerconnectireland.com

Client grows sales by 18%on previous year.

Hi

We've had another client show growth in his business as a result of operating our loyalty program following closely our instructions.

If you are not getting sales growth from your loyalty then something is wrong, sorry but its that simple.

Let me know if we can help contact us on sales@customerconnectireland.com

Finbarr

Tescos

So loyalty doesn't work....

Hmmmm....,

Have you spoken to anyone in Boots or Tescos about that?
Or in any of our clients that follow our system?

Regards Finbarr

Sent from my phone.