Canadian Retailer - Spring 2016 - 29

Feedback and improvement

Personalization and authenticity

Canadian consumers are also eager to share their
Indeed, only 18 per cent of consumers surveyed
shopping experiences via social media, such as Face- strongly agree that loyalty program experiences are
book and Twitter. This represents an unprecedented consistent with their brand or company experiences,
opportunity for brands to actually communicate with and 45 per cent of consumers agree that it would be
their customers and to get instant feedback on what easy to replace a program with one from the competipeople like-and, just as crucially, what they don't tion, further illustrating the need for brands to build
like-about programs.
more unique experiences.
Scene, a rewards partnership between
Cineplex and Scotiabank, makes the most of "We at Shoppers spend a lot of time listening to
social media input when sourcing new pro- social media channels and digesting feedback, but
gram partners and creating new rewards. A we also realize that it's just as important to listen to
few years back, Scene's social media forums
revealed that customers overwhelmingly what customers are saying to our store associates.
wanted to earn and redeem points at part- In fact, our associates are our 'secret sauce'. They
ner restaurants and with the purchase of act as instant ambassadors of the program by being
Cineplex gift cards. Heeding this feedback,
Scene made those enhancements to the enthusiastic supporters of Optimum, by conveying
program and customer appreciation and the value of Optimum to customers, and by being
participation grew rapidly.
knowledgeable in answering questions about the
"We at Shoppers spend a lot of time listening to social media channels and di- program. Your staff has to be engaged in a loyalty
gesting feedback, but we also realize that program for it to succeed."
it's just as important to listen to what cus- DAVID HARRINGTON, Shoppers Drug Mart
tomers are saying to our store associates,"
says Harrington. "In fact, our associates are our 'se"Brands with established loyalty programs now
cret sauce'. They act as instant ambassadors of the must make the shift to an experience-based model
program by being enthusiastic supporters of Opti- that is consistent with the overall brand. The line bemum, by conveying the value of Optimum to cus- tween the brand experience and loyalty experience
tomers, and by being knowledgeable in answering will blur as the loyalty program becomes embedded
questions about the program. Your staff has to be in a brand's efforts and become a part of its core activengaged in a loyalty program for it to succeed."
ity," explains Robinson. "It's more important than ever
While the number of programs in which members that companies focus on their best customers to deare enrolled continues to grow, from about 10 pro- sign a more personalized and authentic experience, to
grams per person in 2014 to more than 11 per person help build more meaningful bonds with customers."
in 2015, the number of programs in which members
Most importantly, brands with successful loyalty
are active has declined. Why?
programs focus on three aspects that drive customer
"Canadians have a huge loyalty appetite, but we satisfaction: delivering on a brand's promise to the
have a finite loyalty capacity. Consumers are bom- consumer, meet consumer needs, and provide an
barded by a plethora of marketing information every emotionally rich and personally fulfilling experience.
day, but they only have so much bandwidth to pay
Customer loyalty programs are a mutually benefiattention to them all. They naturally focus on pro- cial relationship between retailer and consumer, and
grams that differentiate themselves from the rest as they continue to develop the bond between cusand are most relevant to their personal needs," Rob- tomers and brands that speak to their personal needs
inson explains. "While points and discounts drive will grow stronger. After all, the best ones are those
behaviour, companies need to engage with consum- where both parties gain something of value.
ers at a deeper level if they want to extend program
loyalty into genuine brand loyalty. This necessitates For retail industry research, including the latest conthinking beyond a program's monetary incentives to cerning customer loyalty, visit www.retailcouncil.org/
focus on how it can better serve customers or make research. To download The 2015 Loyalty Report from
their experience with the brand more enjoyable, in- Bond Brand Loyalty, visit http://
cluding fulfilling customer needs."
info.bondbrandloyalty.com/the-loyalty-report-2015.

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

SPRING 2016 | CANADIAN RETAILER

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http://www.retailcouncil.org/research http://http:// http://info.bondbrandloyalty.com/the-loyalty-report-2015 http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Spring 2016