Woolworths (aka Woolies) are really getting their act together. The big supermarkets in the UK introduced a loyalty card to their customers about 20 years ago. This year Woolies introduced their version – the Everyday loyalty card. After Coles introduced their card, it’s a distinct case of better late than never. And from what I can gather it’s been a great success, which isn’t a surprise.
Woolies has around 4.5 million people signed up to the loyalty program, and is sending an estimated 1 million emails each week to the 3 million who have registered their personal details, according to The Age. Their offering is centred on petrol, with the card a simpler alternative to dockets for providing customers with fuel discounts. Their tie-up with Qantas has apparently given their card a strong boost.
More importantly, Woolies now have the buying habits and shopping patterns of its customers in a mega-database, which it can, in turn, use to target customers with promotions and offers (and this is important) that are relevant to them. This drives loyalty differentiation.
Having registered online for my Everyday card, I recently received this very good DM piece from Woolies. Essentially it was a solid promotion targeted at and relevant to me: it offered me a good credit card deal with 5% off my groceries for 3 months (this was pertinent because I usually buy my groceries with a credit card) and 40c/litre off my next fuel visit (again, this was attractive because I top up each week).
Above all that though, the look and tone is so right. It’s colourful with not too much text. The informal, un-corporate-like tone is pitch perfect. The first line says, “Hi Alex, Here’s a new offer from Everyday Money that I thought you’d be interested in.” There's no off-putting hard sell here. Just a “thought you might be interested in this” sentiment. And with its “Yours Sincerely, Deborah, Everyday Rewards” sign-off, I was left with the feeling that Deborah was a pal, not a faceless corporate big wig. Nice work Woolies.
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