Somerfield's card reaches 60% usage & 3m members
The UK-based supermarket chain Somerfield says it has signed up some three million members in its Saver Card loyalty programme, and has announced that 60% of its sales are now linked to the card.
When Somerfield launched its Saver Card customer loyalty programme in early 2004, The Wise Marketer's coverage of the launch (see March 9th, 2004) noted that, in the UK supermarket sector, it was a programme with a difference; one in which loyalty points were replaced by instant rewards (tailored discounts and bonuses at the checkout). While this model has been extensively tried and tested in the US and in other parts of the world, it was new to most UK customers. For example, a customer who usually buys fresh meat is likely to be given a discount tailored for that category.
A year later, some three million customers have signed up for the card and more than 60% of sales are linked to it. Card holders spend three times more than non card holders. Around one million customers are targeted each week with offers tailored to their behaviour in store, with respondents showing a 13.5% improvement in retention.
Family too To join the Saver Card programme, customers register at their local store and receive a bar-coded plastic card and two key fobs. They are encouraged to pass on the extra cards to other members of the family. Data collected by the registration process includes the customer's name, address, e-mail address, password, telephone number, mobile phone number, date of birth, and household size by age group.
Saver Card was developed and implemented with Catalina Marketing. Internationally, Catalina monitors 250 million transactions each week from 200 retailers. It also holds the world's sixth largest customer data warehouse.
According to Sheridan Thompson, Client Service Director at Catalina Marketing: "The first year of the Somerfield Saver Card has been a tremendous success. With nearly 20 million different offer combinations generated every month, we ensure that Somerfield customers receive relevant offers that reflect what they buy and how they shop. This is driven by in-depth insight and sophisticated targeting to provide a fully functional customer communications programme."
For additional information: · Visit Catalina at http://www.catalinamarketing.com · Visit Somerfield at http://www.somerfield.co.uk