AFRICA’S retail giant Shoprite plans to boost its customer loyalty programme as it switches its focus inwards and divesting from parts of the continent.
Shoprite this week said its Xtra Savings Rewards Programme had reached a 17 million mark since inception in October 2019.
The group said it had put R2.1billion in savings back into the pockets of consumers in the six months ended December through 9 000 monthly grocery deals.
Chief executive Pieter Engelbrecht said the rewards programme had made a significant difference for the business and its customers.
“To say we are optimistic with regard to the future for our business as a result, would be an understatement,” said Engelbrecht.
South Africa has seen an explosion of rewards programmes with retailers attracting new customers while strapped consumers embraced them for instant savings.
Shoprite said it was moving towards enhancing customer experience through the launch of its virtual network k’nect mobile by the end of the month.
The launch of k’nect comes after Pick n Pay launched its PNP Mobile and Boxercom.
Engelbrecht said the group’s delivery app Checkers Sixty60 had grown from strength to strength to become South Africa’s number 1 grocery delivery app. Sixty60 had been rolled out to 157 stores by the end of December 2020 from 87 stores in June.
Shoprite entered the loyalty programme race against retailers who were already ahead of the game. Clicks’ Clubcard has dominated the landscape, earning accolades as the most used loyalty programme in 2019 according to the Truth Brand Mapp 2020 report.
Pick n Pay Smart Shopper and Dis-chem Benefit were second and third place, respectively, while Wrewards, the Woolworths’ rewards programme was fourth and FNB’S e-bucks fifth.
Engelbrecht said the group registered two million sign-ups in the first week of the loyalty programme.
“One of the reasons we could launch the Shoprite rewards programme in record time was because of the way the Checkers rewards programme was built,” he said.
“We could leverage on top of that platform. We did not have to start all over. Therefore, at a record time, under 12 months, the Shoprite Xtra Savings rewards programme was launched totally virtual in 825 stores with exceptional response from customers.”
Shoprite recorded a 4.7 percent interim sales growth during the six months ended December to R83.4billion despite liquor sales taking a knock on Covid-19 restrictions in its South African supermarkets and currency devaluations eroding in its footprint across the rest of the continent.
An analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Shoprite loyalty programme was long overdue and showed how powerful their brand was.
“Through the loyalty programme and online shopping, they will have much more detailed customer data to work with, therefore they can provide targeted promotions that are unique to customers. This type of promotional behaviour from Shoprite would improve their customer experience,” said the analyst.
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