Rogers makes loyalty easy
According to the 2013 Maritz Loyalty Report, 92% of Canadian consumers belong to loyalty programs and 78% choose to shop where they can accumulate loyalty points.
Compiled by Maritz Research Canada, the report surveyed over 4,000 consumers and 100-plus loyalty programs across Canada.
“Canadian shoppers are a loyal bunch of people,” says Fiona Lake Waslander, general manager of Vicinity, Rogers Communications’ loyalty and automation platform for small/medium businesses in Canada.
“Add the fact that 94% of Canadians want to support small business and that 88% say they feel better when they do, and you can see why a small business’ loyalty program can make a big difference to its bottom line. That’s certainly been the case for I Went to Philly, one of Vicinity’s many small business clients.”
Developing a loyalty program in-house is an expensive proposition, especially when it comes to implementing smartcards and smartcard readers. “This is why Vicinity is such a good match for small businesses like I Went to Philly,” Lake Waslander says. “Rogers has already done all of the homework to build the easiest to run, most secure and most effective loyalty program. A small business just calls us up and we get it running for them, at a cost of just pennies per customer.”
Once Vicinity is installed at businesses such as I Went to Philly, these enterprises can profit from the overwhelming number of Canadian consumers who use loyalty programs faithfully and actively support small businesses.
“We manage everything for them, plus provide our clients with a wealth of real-time marketing information. This allows Vicinity users to boost sales by target-marketing frequent buyers, and win back absent clients with enticing ‘come back and see us, we miss you!’ offers.”
One of Vicinity’s most appealing aspects is the simplicity of signing up new members.
“All the small business owner/operator has to do is to get the consumer’s phone number to sign them up,” says Lake Waslander. “That’s it. Given how busy companies like I Went to Philly are at lunchtime — I’ve seen lineups out the door, right onto the sidewalk — fast sign-up is a must. Julia and Jack Stevenson are too busy making their amazing Philly cheesesteaks to waste time asking customers for their address, email, and other details. That’s why Vicinity only requires a phone number.”
Vicinity is just one of Rogers Communications’ many products designed to help small/medium businesses get the revenueboosting tools they need at a price that they can afford. “We really want to help our customers to do well and succeed in business for a long, long time.”