In a world where customer preferences are ever-changing and they always want to try out something new, loyalty is everything to retailers. That is why A.S. Watson Group, the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, is further investing in its loyal customers to give them unparalleled levels of rewards. Last month, the Group announced it is rolling out new VIP loyalty programmes worldwide to enhance customer connectivity and plans to extend to all of its 24 markets by early 2019.
With 130 million loyalty members across the globe currently, the new VIP programme is an additional and invitation-only tier of membership which aims to reward and retain top customers. Malina Ngai, Group Chief Operating Officer of A.S. Watson Group, says, “We appreciate our customers, no matter how much they spend in our stores, and we know they love to feel valued. Our existing loyalty programmes reward everyone with great offers, but our VIP programmes thank our most loyal customers for shopping with us with amazing benefits and even more tailored rewards.” Getting Closer with Customers Since 2010, A.S. Watson Group has invested in CRM programmes in all of its key operating markets in Asia and Europe. Since that time, the Group has grown incredibly fast to an amazing 130 million members worldwide.
The Group understands that great products, prices and service are not enough to remain close to customers. Customers are increasingly making decisions based on how retailers connect with them and make them feel. Data insights and analysis of existing CRM programmes show that around two thirds of customers who qualify as “VIP members” in a year continue as such the following year.
These VIP members spend up to eight times more than average members each year, and this year the newly qualified VIP members’ spending saw a year-on-year double-digit increase. Now, the Group is launching VIP programmes around the globe to connect with its VIP members more closely and reward these highly valuable customers, offering an extra layer of advantages, many of which are personalised to the individual, such as exclusive invitations to product previews, members only Zumba dance events, family movie days, early access to sales and promotions and more bonus points.
Moreover, there are a variety of additional benefits that are tailored to what’s valuable to the lifestyle of the local customer. Examples of this can be seen with free health and wellbeing classes offered to some VIP customers, such as invitations to fitness training classes for Watsons China and invitations to yoga in the sky and cooking classes for Watsons Malaysia VIP members.
Other additional benefits include free movie tickets with Watsons Thailand, free exclusive gifts with purchases and sample boxes with The Perfume Shop in the UK and opportunities to be brand ambassadors and invitation to exclusive beauty workshops and shopping nights with ICI PARIS XL. Using Data Technology to Enhance Customer Connectivity In line with the launch of the Group’s CRM programmes in 2010, A.S. Watson has established a CRM function and focus on building CRM capabilities.
This year, the Group launched DataLab which unites over 100 CRM experts around the world to share insights and best practices. With four billion customers each year and 30 million items sold every day around the world, A.S. Watson Group collects on average 4,300 terabytes of customer data every three years.
To convert such enormous amounts of data to a useful tool which helps build closer relationships with customers, DataLab is using the latest technology to extract vital customer insights. This will help A.S. Watson better understands its VIP members, and provide more personalised, exclusive offers; all of this is done to achieve even stronger customer connectivity. Malina added, “We’re continuously investing into data technology and in doing so have launched DataLab, which does not only help us generate customer insights that are useful in enhancing retention and increase customer spending, but also enables the Group to make smarter decisions, blending science, experience and intuition. With cutting-edge data technology, we are turning transactions to interaction and that is how we are staying connected with our customers.”