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Keywords
Customer loyalty, Marketing strategy, Retailing
Abstract
Customer loyalty programs have become increasingly popular in a variety of industries. Marketers use loyalty-building strategies to help improve customer retention and boost share of customer. One of the industries in which loyalty programs have been used frequently is retailing. When a customer walks out the door of a retail establishment, the marketer can never be sure that the customer will ever come back. In this case study we will examine how Things Remembered, a national retailer, did all the right things to implement a successful loyalty program and how they avoided many of the mistakes that cause a program to fail.
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Introduction
Things Remembered provides personalized gift solutions that celebrate life's special moments. They have been providing personalized gifts for over 35 years. Now with over 700 locations in 46 states across the USA, Things Remembered is dedicated to personalized gifts that touch the heart. Customers can personalize pens, clocks, jewelry, picture frames, gift baskets, executive gifts, and much more.
The 700 physical locations is just the start. Things Remembered also operates an e-commerce Web site and a catalog operation providing toll-free customer sales and service.
Things Remembered is a unique business. While it looks like a retail business, it customizes and personalizes its products for its customers. And, unlike many retail businesses, it's specifically focused on occasions for gift giving.
The challenge
The strength of a business such as Things Remembered can also become a challenge. Customers see the Things Remembered brand as being all about occasions. That is good, because the brand is about occasions. However many customers begin to limit the occasions and think that it is just about anniversaries, graduations, Christmas and weddings.
The management at Things Remembered had always examined its repeat customer transaction rate. The team struggled with the fact that the repeat purchase rate was lower than other retailers and was determined to develop a solution to this issue.
Examining the problem
The company conducted customer research to explore how customers see the Things Remembered brand. The research indicated that while customers were happy...