Ace Hardware to use Teradata CRM for loyalty programme

WM Circle Logo

By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on May 24, 2004

Ace Hardware to use Teradata CRM for loyalty programme

The US-based cooperative of independent hardware retailers, Ace Hardware, is to adopt the Teradata CRM suite including campaign and promotion management, analytics, and communications applications, beginning immediately and being completed by the third quarter of 2004.

Ace Hardware has been operating a Teradata data warehouse for almost four years and uses the system to drive its customer loyalty programme, the Helpful Hardware Club. At the same time, the co-op realised that it needed to automate and streamline its marketing processes while increasing the number of campaigns it could carry out. At the same time it wanted to raise the level of sophistication of its campaigns, and improve analytics and usage of customer information.

The CRM system will be used by Ace to provide a detailed understanding of customer purchase behaviours and preferences, and to personalise offers to suit customers' needs. The solution's scalability will also enable Ace to support the Helpful Hardware Club's growth in the future.

Fierce competition "The home improvement industry has become increasingly competitive, both from retailers within our trade channel and with companies from other retail channels offering more and more of our core product lines," said Mike Bodzewski, Ace's vice president of marketing, advertising and retail development. "To continue to thrive in this environment, we need technology that helps our marketers make better decisions more quickly, and enables the use of customer information across all our business processes."

More loyal According to Ace, the new applications will help develop more personalised offers for loyalty programme members and build stronger relationships between Ace retailers and their customers, eventually resulting in greater customer satisfaction and retention.

"After a review of the leading CRM vendors, Teradata had the knowledge of our business and the functionality required to provide the solutions our users are demanding," explained Mike Altendorf, vice president of information technology for Ace Hardware.

Founded in 1924, Ace Hardware now sees annual retail sales of over US$13 billion from its 4,800+ retailers which include hardware, home centre, and lumber and building materials outlets. The co-op operates fifteen distribution centres in the USA and is represented by stores in all 50 states, and 70 countries worldwide.

For additional information: ·  Visit Ace Hardware at http://www.acehardware.com ·  Visit Teradata at http://www.teradata.com