Tip. 3 Keep close to your customers and keep them happy

Supermarkets can be very successful at keeping close to their customers.

Tesco’s is a good example of this as they have their own Reward club cards which give their customers points depending on how much they spend. With these points you can then get gifts or pay with items from these points. They brought this out in 1995 and ever since has become the world’s most successful retail loyalty scheme.

“Just to give you an indication of the sheer size of the database Tesco tracks the shopping habits of up to 13 million British families and have done so for more than a decade.” 
(Fletcher, 2008)

To achieve such shockingly high figures Tesco’s must be doing something right for this many people to hand over their information to have a club card at this supermarket.

The information on these cards is useful to Tesco’s as it will show customers buying patters. This could be for a certain age groups or gender which could be useful to be able to send information to these customers with new products that are similar to products they regularly purchase.

"The success of the Clubcard - and the insight it has given Tesco into its customers' spending habits - has been widely cited as one of the major reasons for the retailer's huge success over the past decade."

(Fletcher, 2008)

Reward is a positive experience for customers too "The strategy is simple: Give high-paying customers an incentive, and they'll come back and buy more."  (Krotz) is the advice that Microsoft gives the businesses. There is no doubt that rewarding customers and building their loyalty can help make innovation successful by providing a ready market for new products and services.

References 

Fletcher, R. (2008, June 16). Tesco Clubcard founder prospers abroad. Retrieved January 19, 2012, from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/2791717/Tesco-Clubcard-founder-prospers-abroad.html

Krotz, J. L. (n.d.). Reward your best customers. Retrieved January 19, 2012, from Microsoft Business: http://www.microsoft.com/business/en-us/resources/marketing/customer-service-acquisition/reward-your-best-customers.aspx?fbid=hq3p0A4VS-j