1
2
Introduction
Why Research Shopping Centre Loyalty?
An Industry Challenge
Methodology
Research Platforms
Respondent Profiles
Key Facts Summary
SECTION 1 – The Shopping Centre Owner/Manager Perspective
SECTION 2 – The Tenant Perspective
SECTION 3 – The Shopper Perspective
References
3
While loyalty programs are a proven way to
measure performance and collect customer
transaction data in sectors such as
supermarkets, airlines and food & beverage,
they are still viewed as a relatively new concept
for shopping centres. Perhaps this is due to the
complexities of having multiple tenants and
historically, a lack of technology to support
them.
Recent technological advances in this space
have made it possible to launch successful
centre-wide loyalty programs to include all
tenants, and be managed by a relatively small
team. This paper is designed to explore the
effects of shopping centre loyalty on sales,
customer experience, marketing and overall
shopping centre and retailer performance.
Considering that 61% of the shopping centre
industry is planning to implement a loyalty
program by 2019 (40% within the next year),¹ it
is surprising that there is little information or
any best practise guides available on this
specific subject. This paper was created to
provide owners, asset managers and
marketing managers with more information,
driven by extensive research into how the
industry is using it today, and what the future
holds.
Further to this, with so many measurement
metrics available, there is little consensus on
which to use within shopping centres. Metrics
such as ‘sales densities, commercial value and
the annual value of the customer’² are popular
within the asset management function, but are
not used as frequently within the marketing
function. This paper takes a closer look at
shopping centre loyalty as a performance
metric. We will also look at the performance
results for those shopping centres who have
implemented a loyalty program.
Centre-tenant collaboration is a struggle for
some centres. We will explore how loyalty
programs may be able to help both parties
work towards a mutual goal, and whether
loyalty data sharing can improve this
relationship.
‘Big Data’ is a term that many shopping centres
struggle with. Even basic database and CRM
management can be tricky with legacy
systems and departments working in silos. We
have done some research to see how the
leading developers are managing and
analysing their loyalty and sales data. And
what impact this has on their understanding of
the customer and their marketing efforts.
4
Coniq, loyalty specialists and technology
providers for the shopping centre industry,
undertook extensive research to understand
the different perspectives on shopping centre
loyalty. Shopping centre owners/asset
management/marketing, tenants and shoppers
were researched.³
The aim of the research was to discover the
benefits, uses, challenges and opinions on
shopping centre loyalty, along with how loyalty
data is used within the centre and whether it is
effective.
A combination of research platforms5 were
utilised using a mix of quantitative and
qualitative research. These were split between
three streams of research 1) Shopping centre
professionals including owners, developers,
asset managers and marketing managers, 2)
Retail brand managers, and 3) Shoppers (end
users). This was designed to discover different
perspectives and gain a 360° view on whether
loyalty programs can add value for all
stakeholders.
Research included surveys, industry polls
within online events, shopping centre exit
surveys, and a Coniq hosted Asset
Management Workshop (with thanks to the
ICSC). Also, a roundtable discussion, hosted by
Coniq, in conjunction with trade publication
Shopping Centre magazine.
Research was carried out among over 500
shopping centre owners, managers, retailers
and shoppers across the world.
The ‘Owner/Manager’ research stream4 was
split by shopping centres (80%), outlet centres
(38%), retail parks (10%) and town centres,
BIDS (10%) (Some respondents covered a
combination of retail formats). Retailers were
split evenly by large, medium, small and across
different price points and sectors.
The research was structured to answer the
following questions:
- What is the
loyalty program adoption rate among shopping
centres? What drives shopping centres to
implement loyalty programs? How effective are
shopping centres at measuring performance
and collecting shopper data? What are the key
challenges and how are they overcome?
- Do tenants benefit from a
shopping centre loyalty program? What are the
barriers to joining a loyalty program and how
are they overcome? What impact does loyalty
have on tenants?
- Do loyalty programs
encourage shopper loyalty and which aspects
of shopping centre loyalty programs do
shoppers like/dislike? Do they visit more or
spend more when they are part of a loyalty
program? Which channels are most effective?
5
25% of the industry has a loyalty program in place currently.
61% expect to implement a loyalty program by 2019 (40% within the next year).
38% of decision makers/ influencers are planning to spend around 10% of their budget on a loyalty program, with 29% expecting to spend between 10% and 50% of their marketing budget on loyalty programs, with many unsure how much to budget for loyalty.
The main reasons stated to implement a centre wide loyalty scheme are to ‘increase sales’ and to ‘gain shopper data.’
Perceived hurdles to implementation include
gaining ‘tenant acceptance’ and ‘more education needed.’
92% of shopping centres believe loyalty programs add value to tenants and shoppers, 78% think it is valuable for centre management and 90% think it is valuable for marketing.
Over 72% believe loyalty programs have the ability to improve the shopping centre industry.
80% feel that POS technology is essential for a loyalty program to be successful.
69% feel that increased collaboration with tenants is essential for a loyalty program to be successful.
71% of tenants surveyed are interested in implementing a loyalty program, but some have concerns about the practicalities of doing so.
Initial concerns prior to launching a loyalty program were mainly surrounding the ‘implementation of technology and interference with existing processes.’
95% of the surveyed retailers who have
implemented a loyalty program say the program is a ‘valuable marketing tool,’ 65% say it provides them with ‘valuable insight.’
90% stated they want to ‘remain in the scheme for the foreseeable future’.
90% of those using a loyalty program felt that the technology was ‘easy to learn’ and ‘quick to use’.
50% of shoppers would rather use their mobile app to find out about the latest rewards.
A physical card is essential for activation phase, with 84% using a loyalty card to register.
61% of shoppers’ stated they would be more likely to register if they were told about the loyalty program by retailers at the point of sale.
Reaching the higher tiers of the loyalty program incentivises 60% of shoppers to spend more.
82% of shoppers enjoy ‘receiving email communications about the program.’
Two thirds of shoppers said they expect a shopping centre loyalty program to ‘feel exclusive.’
Customers who are in an exclusive loyalty club spend 20% more money on average than those who are not in a club.
6
Shopping centre owners and managers realise
the importance of collecting data to better
understand their customers. They agree that
data should provide ‘insights into the shopper
journey’, ‘shopper expectations’ and ‘how much
they spend per visit’.
A recent discussion roundtable6 hosted by
Shopping Centre magazine and Coniq found
that shopping centre owners and managers
now agree that data, information and
knowledge is most useful for ‘communicating
with consumers in a more personalised way.’
Using data to ‘get to know customers’ and to
interact with them based on what they like is
an effective way to encourage shoppers to visit
a shopping centre over a competitor’s.
The decisions shoppers make influences
retailer sales and ultimately the shopping
centre’s performance. Data can help identify
whether the centre’s marketing activity needs
to be adapted to better reflect customers’
needs.
According to a shopping centre owner
participating at the roundtable, “data is useful
to understand what shoppers want, identify the
gaps between those needs and the centre’s
current offer, and then find ways to fill those
gaps.”
Why are shopping centres implementing loyalty programs & are they deemed to be successful?
How do shopping centres measure performance?
Does retail format/size affect loyalty program adoption rate?
7
Despite footfall counters, exit surveys and
retailer turnover reports being the most used
methods to measure centre performance, the
survey7 found that only retailer turnover reports
were deemed as an ‘extremely effective’ way to
measure performance. Footfall counters and
exit surveys were recognised as less effective.
Interestingly a slightly higher percentage of
those who found footfall counters and exit
surveys less effective were from an asset
management perspective, reinforcing previous
research completed by BCSC8. This leads us to
believe that retail sales are one of the most
important determinants of success, although
the information can be hard to gain with the
current leasing model, particularly in full price
centres.
A shopping centre owner stated that ‘Loyalty
programs that measure spend amounts at the
tenants point of sale, offer an alternative
approach to gaining some sales data.’
Shopping Centre Loyalty programs are still
relatively new for shopping centres, with only
around 25% of retail destinations surveyed
having implemented a loyalty program, though
numbers are predicted to grow substantially by
2019. 61% are planning to implement a loyalty
program within the next 3 years, and 40%
planning to do so within the year.9
In terms of loyalty program adoption, there
seems to be a fairly even split between outlets,
shopping centres and town centres.
8
Interestingly 55% of those with loyalty
programs are larger centres (those with over
100 tenants); while 20% of medium-sized
centres (50-99 tenants) and 25% of smaller
centres (less than 50 tenants) have a centre-
wide loyalty program.
These findings suggest that having a high
number of tenants does not act as a barrier to
implementing a loyalty program, though we
found that smaller centres are likely to want to
put a slightly lower percentage of their total
marketing budget towards implementing a
loyalty program than larger centres. (See
section ‘How much should loyalty programs
cost’ on page 12)
The research shows the top four reasons for
owners/managers to implement a loyalty
program are:
1. Gain shopper data 2. Improve shopper experience 3. Build brand awareness and loyalty 4. Measure centre performance
Interestingly, reasons for implementing loyalty
programs appear to be slightly different
between traditional shopping centres and
outlet centres.
Shopping centres’ top three reasons are:
1 Increase sales 2 Gain shopper data 3 Improve shopper experience.
Outlet Centres’ top three reasons are:
1 Gain shopper data 2 Increase sales 3 Build brand awareness and loyalty.
Although the selections are not hugely
different, it is interesting to note the difference
in motivation for different retail formats.
9
Geographically, centres in Central Europe and
Northern Europe see ‘gaining shopper data’ as
a more important reason to implementing a
loyalty program than ‘increasing sales.’ By
contrast the less mature markets of Eastern
Europe or those who have experienced a longer
economic downturn like Southern Europe saw
the ‘increase of sales’ as their top reason for
loyalty.
Interestingly Africa and Asia, though smaller
samples found ‘improving the shopper
experience’ and ‘measuring performance’ as
their main reasons. South American centres
cited ‘brand awareness’ as their priority when
implementing a loyalty program, interestingly
they also stated this is an area that they would
most like to improve on.
10
Overall, all respondents agreed shopping centre
loyalty is beneficial for all stakeholders. Of
those surveyed, 92% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’
that loyalty programs ‘add value to tenants’
and ‘add value to retailers’, 92% ‘strongly agree’
or ‘agree’ that ‘loyalty programs add value to
shoppers’, though slightly less with 78%
‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ that loyalty adds
value for shopping centre management. 90%
agree that ‘loyalty adds value for shopping
centre marketing managers’.
Over 62% of owners/managers are now aware
of the importance of ‘gaining shopper data’ and
87% on average see value for all stakeholders
involved. So what are the perceived challenges
to implementing a loyalty program? And do
these challenges change once centres start
running their own programs? Also, how can we
overcome them and make loyalty programs
more accessible for shopping destinations?
When asked to rank the challenges in order,
over 75% of shopping centre owners rated the
top challenge to implementing a loyalty
program as ‘gaining tenant acceptance’ along
with cost and budgetary concerns for the
smaller centres.
There was also a lack of knowledge into what
was available and how to actually ‘create and
implement a loyalty program’, as many centres
had not done this before. 65% selected ‘more
education is needed’ as one of their top
challenges.
11
Whether you intend to go with a service provider or go it alone, read this eBook for Coniq’s top tips to launch a loyalty program for a shopping centre.
Loyalty programs are relatively new to the
shopping centre industry. An effective way to
lessen the risk when working on unchartered
territory is to collaborate with a partner
company such as Coniq, who have trodden the
path many times before.
Find a partner who provides a tenant
engagement team who can get tenants
involved in the program from the start and
keep them engaged over time. From our
research we found that only 7% of shopping
centres communicate on a weekly basis with
their tenants, with many communicating much
less regularly. A tenant engagement team can
improve this by working with the brands, on
behalf of the centre.
If you decide to work with a service provider,
find one who has many brands on their
portfolio, as they will already have some ‘buy in’
power with retailers before they start.
It is also important to make sure the
technology is retailer agnostic with minimal
installation, to avoid any barriers to
involvement. It must also be really easy to use
by shop staff, and should measure spend and
customer data at the point of sale (POS). Again
a service provider such as Coniq can provide
this.
Sharing the performance data is also important
to keep tenants engaged and optimising their
offering. It will keep them motivated when they
see their results. We find regular infographic
style reports are most digestible and shareable.
12
98% of respondents found that being effective
at ‘marketing the program’ was of most
importance to implementing a successful
shopping centre loyalty program. ‘Capturing
spend data’ (96%) and ‘Personalised and
attractive offers’ (96%) were joint second, being
‘extremely important.’ ‘A mobile app’ and
having ‘staff promoting the program in the
centre’ were also highlighted as very important.
70% found ‘kiosks’ and a ‘physical card’ were
important.
Surprisingly 11% of respondents believed a
‘physical card’ was ‘not important at all’, all of
whom had not implemented a loyalty program
before. A majority of those who had
implemented a loyalty program before stated a
‘physical card’ to be ‘extremely important’.
Showing there are some differences between
what is assumed and what actually works in
practise.
Further research shows both cards and apps
to be equally important.
There seems to be no real consensus within
the industry on how much retail destinations
should budget for loyalty programs, with 33%
‘unsure of how much they should budget.’
38% of decision makers/ influencers are
planning to spend around 10% of their budget
on a loyalty program, with 21% expecting to
spend between 10% and 20% of their
marketing budget on it. 8% expect to spend
between 20% and 50% of their budget on a
loyalty program.
Research shows that outlet centres are more
likely to allocate slightly more budget towards
a loyalty program than shopping centres
would. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was a
slightly higher percentage allocation of
marketing budget towards a loyalty program
from larger centres in comparison to smaller
centres.
A marketing consultant in the retail industry
commented “Loyalty programs tend to have a
higher upfront cost to set up and generate
awareness. But once they are complete,
maintenance certainly tends to be less. It is
important for centres to realise the benefits as
soon as possible to justify the initial cost.”
13
Research indicates that implementing and
running a successful loyalty program has a
direct impact on the performance of a
shopping centre.
Coniq’s reporting data across 20 shopping
centres shows that ‘frequency of shopper
visits’ can increase by around 30% within the
first 8 months of a shopping centre loyalty
program being implemented, while conversions
can grow by 15% in that same period.10
Those Shopping Centres professionals, who
currently run a loyalty program, believe that the
program helps them ‘perform better’ and plays
a key role in ‘establishing and strengthening
their relationship with their tenants’.
When asked what is needed to ‘make loyalty more prevalent in the industry’, ‘more integration of technology at the PoS’ was rated as important by 80% of respondents, which suggests a key focus is needed on this area. This is a key factor to allow all retailers to be involved in the program, and critical to data sharing.
This goes hand in hand with the need for an ‘increased collaboration with tenants,’ with 69% stating this is important. 84% of respondents believe loyalty programs have the ability to improve the relationship between centre management and tenants.
Better sharing of data needs to occur between centres and tenants along with increased collaboration with tenants. Both of which a loyalty program can improve.
14
Over 70% of owners/managers with a loyalty
program stated they were ‘very effective’ or
‘extremely effective’ at measuring the
performance of their centre. Interestingly, a
majority of them also rated their relationship
with their tenants as ‘very effective’ or
‘extremely effective’.
Almost 80% had established a strong
relationship with their tenants through ‘regular
communication’. Many stated ‘sharing loyalty
data with tenants’ and ‘regular communication’
as the most effective ways to improve the
relationship between both parties.
By contrast, the shopping centres without a
scheme in place saw themselves as being
much less effective at measuring their overall
performance, only 14% of them thought they
were ‘extremely effective’, and when
communicating with their tenants, only 24%
had regular communications they deemed
‘extremely effective’.
These findings suggest that sharing data and
communicating with tenants may have an
impact on performance. Loyalty programs
provide more visibility over performance data,
and in particular transaction data, giving
centres increased confidence to prove that
they are performing effectively. By working
together towards one mutual goal (shopper
loyalty), tenant relationships can be improved,
despite it being seen as a challenge.
In an Asset Management workshop hosted by Coniq at the ICSC Asset Management Seminar alongside the ICSC Retail Strategy and Trends conference in Berlin in November 2015, a group of around 50 Asset managers were asked to create ‘a shopper engagement program’ for a fictional shopping centre, with the goal to build a database and increase spend. 5 groups out of the 6 mentioned a loyalty program as a key way to achieve this.
Interestingly how a loyalty program was created differed substantially across the groups. Some had ideas to drive customers to register for the program with offers such as free/discount parking that would be exclusive to loyalty members.
All groups stressed the importance of retailer inclusion in the program, and suggested using ‘technology to track sales increase at point of sale.’ It is important that the technology does ‘not interfere with retailers’ existing technology’ and for it to be ‘easily implemented and used by staff’. Beacons were highly disputed with many different opinions as to whether they were ‘worth the expense’, and whether they were ‘actually accurate’. Asset managers were concerned with ‘spamming customers with too many notifications’, and stressed the importance of ‘gaining correct email addresses’. They did however all agree that ‘personalisation, if done correctly could be very effective’.
Generally all of the asset managers were very involved and enthused by talking about marketing and loyalty. They realised the importance of understanding and implementing marketing strategy to increase the value of the asset.
15
Previously, in the owner/manager section, we
found that 92% owners/managers believed
that loyalty programs ‘add value for tenants’,
and engaging with tenants is important for
loyalty success, yet they also stated ‘tenant
engagement’ was one of their greatest
challenges.
We interviewed over 70 tenants before and
after joining a shopping centre loyalty program
to understand whether tenants had concerns
and if/how they were overcome.11 We also
wanted to find out whether they liked the
shopping centre loyalty program* that they
were enrolled in, and whether it had achieved
the results they hoped for.
71% of retailers interviewed who were not part
of a loyalty program were interested in
becoming a part of one in their centre, but had
concerns about the practicalities of doing so.
They said that if they were resolved, they would
be excited to see the data and results.
The majority of retailers who are currently
enrolled in a shopping centre loyalty program
are happy with it and would like to continue
using it, with over 90% of them wanting to
‘remain in the scheme for the foreseeable
future’.
The top benefits of a loyalty program from a
retailer perspective are to:
1) Better understand their customers 2) See a direct increase in sales at the point of sale 3) Have more control over marketing at store level
65% of the surveyed retailers said that the
centre loyalty program provides them with
‘valuable customer insight’, while 95% of them
said that the program is a ‘valuable marketing
tool’ provided by their centre management
team.
Do retailers want to enrol in a centre wide loyalty program?
What are their concerns and how are they overcome?
Which retailers see the best results and why?
Do retailers want to enrol in a centre wide loyalty program?
What are their concerns and how are they overcome?
Which retailers see the best results and why?
16
Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the key
concerns for retailers, before taking part in a
loyalty program, was around the
‘implementation of the technology’; concerns
were surrounding the risk of interference with
existing processes and systems at the point of
sale.
However, 90% of retailers enrolled in a loyalty
program which uses scanners that sit beside
the till with no interference with existing till
systems felt that the technology** was ‘easy to
learn’ and ‘quick to use’. They also said the
‘customer app and website’ are ‘user-friendly
for the customer.’
Research shows that tenants, who have experienced being a part of a centre wide loyalty program, find it successful. This suggests that most concerns happen in the initial phase due to a lack of knowledge and uncertainty. Perhaps more education into how the technology works and by providing successful case studies to brands from other centres up front, help this initial conversation.
Coniq find that having a dedicated tenant engagement team*** can gain an average of between 70-90% of tenants enrolled on a loyalty program before the program is launched.
Retailers who are engaged with the program see significantly better results than those who are not actively providing rewards and using data available to them.
Both sharing performance data with tenants and providing staff incentives are proven to increase motivation at a store level and increase overall program performance.
17
Around half of the retailers who were enrolled
on the loyalty program stated that the program
‘encourages loyalty’ by increasing the
‘frequency of customer visits to their store’.
Many of these retailers mentioned they could
see more customers coming into their store as
a direct impact of the program.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the retailers who had
seen the best results had actively engaged with
the program by providing relevant and
attractive offers. They had used the data they
received from the centre to optimise their
performance. They also saw the importance of
‘engaging shoppers at the point of sale’.
Centres with a tenant engagement team keep
retailers incentivised and communicate
regularly with store managers to encourage
them to optimise their offers and align with
their brand strategy.
18
Before they are part of a loyalty program,
retailers expressed different concerns about
joining according to the size of their business.
Smaller independent retailers are more
concerned about the practicalities of
implementing a program and the toll it is going
to take on their resources. Their key challenges
are having enough staff to manage the
program, implementing and using the
technology. To overcome this, smaller retailers
may need more reassurance that the
technology is ‘easy-to-use’ and ‘point-of-sale
agnostic’. A demo of the technology may be
useful at this point to show it working and to
demonstrate ease of use.
Larger retailers, before implementing a loyalty
program, are more concerned with being able
to ‘measure the program’s success’ and
‘proving its effectiveness in gathering shopper
data and driving sales’ – larger retailers need to
prove ROI to their head office. Sharing the data
back to the retailer proves helpful here. This
will allow the retailer to optimise their program,
and to measure their performance within the
centre.
Coniq finds that weekly or fortnightly reporting
using infographics is an effective way to
engage retailers in the program. The reports
keep retailers motivated to optimise their
offers, and then to share their success with
head office.
All types of retailers, before taking part in a
program, stated that a ‘centre wide loyalty
program’ would be beneficial for ‘store level
management’ as the program acts as a tool to
provide store managers with ‘more data’. They
said this would provide them with ‘more control
over the performance of their store’. In addition,
they saw a loyalty program as a ‘strong
motivator for staff on the shop-floor’.
Staff should be encouraged to engage with
customers by proactively scanning the loyalty
card or app of those who are already members,
and encouraging new members to sign up to
the program for the first time.
19
In the current omni channel environment, the
customer journey is no longer linear; it has
become more complicated. Customers are
moving across offline and online channels to
shop and access information – brick-and-
mortar stores, websites, apps and social
media. Neinver recently referenced this as the
‘Omni Channel Eco-System’ in which all of
these channels should connect for a single
customer view12. Loyalty programs certainly
play their part in this eco system allowing sales
information to feed in real-time into one central
CRM. In turn this allows shopping centres to
create memorable experiences and include
offers and promotions that are personalised
and relevant to each customer. These should
also be easy to use and to redeem across any
channel.
With the ever increasing quantity of
information and digital communications
received by customers, loyalty offers also need
to be targeted, creative and innovative to make
their mark/have any impact.
So how do shoppers find out about loyalty and
do they use it? What are, according to them,
the most successful offers and what would
they change, if anything?
Coniq conducted research among the
members of a shopping centre loyalty
program13 to better understand what drives
shoppers to a centre, and whether a loyalty
program encourages them to visit the centre
more.
The research shows that one of the most
effective ways to encourage shoppers to sign
up to a program is within the centre. In fact
61% of shoppers stated they would be more
likely to register for a loyalty program if they
were told about the program ‘by retailers at the
point of sale’. At that time, retail staff can
explain the benefits of the program and answer
any questions shoppers may have, when they
are at their most engaged point of the
purchasing journey. Supported by onsite
promotion, this is the most effective way to
sign-up new members, and indeed most new
registrations currently happen in store.
Do shoppers want to join a shopping centre loyalty program?
Which channels are most successful in activation and management for shoppers
Which tactics are most effective?
Do shoppers want to join a shopping centre loyalty program?
Which channels are most successful in activation and management for shoppers?
Which tactics are most effective?
20
New registrations will typically do so with a
physical membership card, but an increasing
number of shopping centres now offer a
smartphone app to shoppers. Research shows
that both are critical for program success, with
members moving from using their card in
activation phase, to their smartphone app to
manage their offers and redeem rewards.
The app allows shoppers to easily redeem their
rewards, and keep up to date with the
program’s new offers and promotions in a
more accessible way.
In fact, 50% of shoppers would rather use their
app to find out about the latest rewards, and
two thirds of shoppers rely on email
communications to keep up to date.
A small but growing number use Apple Wallet
to store their virtual loyalty card and offers,
with around 5-10% redeeming rewards using
their Apple watch within the shopping centre.14
Loyalty programs with simple and easy-to-
understand dynamics tend to see higher
shopper uptake and usage. From
understanding how to earn points, through to
checking their progress and knowing what
rewards they are aiming for, the process
should be as easy and seamless as possible.
It is important to offer as many redemption
options as possible to maximise program
adoption and usage. A combination of branded
loyalty card and digital app works best as it
covers most customer needs.
When it comes to keeping shoppers motivated,
a tiered system is proven to be an effective
approach. Reaching the higher tiers of the
loyalty program incentivises 60% of shoppers
to spend more.15 The key to increase shopper
activation numbers is to offer small rewards
within easy reach in the first tier, with the next
tier offers visible to unlock, keeping members
engaged and motivated to reach the next tier.
Overall average customer usage
split is even for app vs card over time
Card/App usage for new members vs returning members (Coniq’s data from 20 shopping centre loyalty clients)
21
According to Gi Insight in a recent study16, 64%
of shoppers said they were happy for a
company to hold and use their data as long as
it uses the information to send them “relevant
and timely offers and communications'. In fact,
the vast majority of consumers see schemes
as an essential foundation for an ongoing
relationship – so much so, 76% do not want to
hand over their data to a business unless it has
a “proper loyalty scheme”. However, this should
not be abused. It is important to communicate
clearly to customers how you will use their
data, ensuring their ‘opt in,’ and all data
collection regulations are adhered to.
Regular communication is necessary as 82% of
shoppers enjoy receiving email
communications about the program.17
Communications should be targeted, and
offers relevant for each customer segment.
This is where the behavioural, demographic
and spend data gathered through the program
can be used to optimise performance.
22
Customers want retailers and shopping
centres to make them feel special. Increasingly,
they want experiences they will remember.
Two thirds of shoppers said they expected a
loyalty program to feel exclusive.18
High value customers who make up to 30% of
a shopping centre’s customers can account for
up to 75% of the total spend.19 A VIP club or
Gold tier within a shopping centre loyalty
program is a proven way to reward these
important customers. Once high spending
customers have been identified, it is possible to
increase frequency, spend and dwell time. One
way to do this is by providing exclusive events
and experiential offers such as fashion preview
evenings, a VIP Lounge, and free beauty
treatments etc.
Customer loyalty data20 shows that customers
who are in an exclusive loyalty club spend 20%
more money on average than those who are
not in a club. If a customer visits a ‘VIP’ or
exclusive lounge, their average dwell time is 18
minutes longer than those who don’t visit the
lounge.
To maintain shoppers’ interest in the scheme, it
is important to communicate with them
regularly, increase the number of participating
tenants and keep the offers/rewards new,
innovative and targeted. This is good news for
shopping centres as it is relatively easy to
create a strategy around exclusivity without a
huge investment of budget. Shopping centres
can target specific groups, such as students
and provide them with special events e.g
Trinity Leeds provides special ‘student lock-ins’
to boost membership registration and usage of
a specific segment. Special shopping areas or
events are particularly popular with high value
gold tier members.
23
This study shows there is a definite benefit for
all parties; shoppers, tenants and centre
owners to implement shopping centre loyalty
programs and that loyalty provides an
opportunity to improve areas such as
measurement, tenant relationships and
customer experience.
Shopping centre loyalty has been proven to
drive increased frequency and spend. It may
also help shopping centres to measure their
marketing activities more accurately. As
adoption grows we will start to see marketing
managers starting to use loyalty performance
metrics within their monthly reporting.
Loyalty will play an important role in creating a
single view of the customer with its opportunity
to link online and offline. Advancements in
technology are heavily focussed on linking
these two worlds and loyalty is likely to play an
important part in this.
We should start to see more collaboration
between shopping centres and tenants with
the adoption of loyalty programs across the
industry, with shopping centres following suit
of Outlets.
Centres need at least 50% of their tenants
involved for a successful program. Therefore
communication and engagement with tenants
is essential. Data sharing from the centre to the
tenant will become very important here.
Loyalty is unchartered territory for many
shopping centres. There are companies who
specialise in this area who know best practise
to ensure success. From recommendations on
technology through to engaging tenants,
planning the program and marketing strategy
to launch and optimise it.
As shoppers increasingly want innovative
experiences, shopping centres always need to
find new ways to be creative with utilizing their
space. By providing exclusive experiences to
their highest spending customers or using
experiences to boost registrations, loyalty data
can provide more visibility on which campaigns
are most successful providing insights into
how to best to optimise their space.
Finally by linking online communication to
offline offers and promotions, loyalty helps
drive further footfall and spend to shopping
centres allowing centres to increase their
overall performance.
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1 Coniq original research, 2016. Survey completed by 125 shopping centre owners/managers, asset managers and marketing specialists, 2 British Council of Shopping Centres, 2015. ‘Marketing metrics for shopping centres: a best practice guide’, 3 See research details below. 4 See research details below. 5 See research details below. 6 Shopping Centre Magazine, November 2015. ’Data by design.’ Available at: http://content.yudu.com/Library/A3xur2/ShoppingCentreNovemb/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl= 7 Coniq original research, 2016. Survey completed by 125 shopping centre owners/managers, asset managers and marketing specialists, 8 British Council of Shopping Centres, 2015. ‘Marketing metrics for shopping centres: a best practice guide’, 9 Coniq original research, 2016. Survey completed by 125 shopping centre owners/managers, asset managers and marketing specialists, 10 Original research based on Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016. 11 Original data based on research amongst Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016. 12 Neinver, 2015. ‘NEINVER commits to the omni-channel model.’ Available at: http://www.neinver.com/en/article/neinver-commits-omni-channel-model 13 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below) 14 From a sample of Coniq shopping centres who provide Apple Watch redemption 15 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below) 16 GI Insight, ‘The essential components of a single customer view.’ Available at: http://www.gi-insight.com/whitepapers/the-essential-components-of-a-single-customer-view/ 17 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below) 18 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below) 19 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below) 20 Research based on 50 shoppers in shopping centres across Coniq’s client portfolio, 2016 (See research details below)
* Coniq’s marketing and loyalty program
** Coniq’s easy to use, PoS agnostic technology and platform
*** Coniq’s marketing and tenant engagement teams who provide ongoing support
Shopping centre survey (125): Marketing (30%), Asset Management (30%), Centre Management (20%) Owner/developer (20%) Roundtable (19): Marketing (33%) Owner developer (33%) Real Estate Consultants (22%) Asset managers (12%) Webinar polls (200) Centre manager (25%) Owner/manager (30%) Centre marketing (25%) Retail consultants/press (20%) Asset Management Workshop (50) Tenant survey – 70 tenants Shopper survey – 50 shoppers
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ABOUT US CONIQ
Coniq are specialists in shopping centre marketing, loyalty and shopper engagement. Coniq's proprietary data-driven marketing and loyalty platform supports multi-tenant redemption, and makes executing campaigns easy for marketers. Supported and managed by Coniq's marketing and tenant engagement teams, the Coniq platform makes it easy to launch, manage and analyze a centre-wide loyalty scheme
across both online and offline channels.
Founded by entrepreneur, Ben Chesser, Coniq works with over 20 shopping centres, over 650 retail and hospitality brands, and many town centres. Coniq's clients include Land Securities, Value Retail, Hammerson, and the Heart of London Business Alliance. For more information, visit www.coniq.com
For more information, or if you want us to help you launch your centre wide loyalty scheme in as little as 4 months, book your first consultation and demo via this link: http://j.mp/Coniqdemo