The Book on Winning Customer Loyalty
By George Anderson
A new book, Scoring Points: How Tesco is Winning Customer Loyalty, looks at how the retailing giant’s Clubcard program has helped it gain insights into the shopping habits of 10 million British households to consistently increase same-store sales while developing an internationally admired online grocery business.
One of the authors of the book, Clive Humby, told the Independent, Tesco was “the first organization to use customer insight to actually run its business well. In the past, people just used customer data to make their marketing more effective.”
Tesco Clubcard members receive quarterly discount vouchers from the chain. Four out of every six vouchers sent out are for items the shopper already buys. The other two are for related items determined by a shopping profile developed for the customer.
Moderator’s Comment: What “how to” advice can you offer on what it takes to start and run a successful loyalty marketing program?
Clive Humby told the Independent that the Clubcard program had helped transform Tesco into a “customer-centric” business. If the retailer isn’t running
a “customer centric” business to begin with, it is unlikely that a card and some discounts will do much to engender loyalty in shoppers. [George
Anderson – Moderator]