The Devil is in the Detail in Retail

Retail, we are reliably informed by those who know, is detail.

That is to say, attention to detail is essential, and if you can take care of the little things, the big things will largely take care of themselves.

At first, this sage advice sounds most helpful and reassuring. It is only when you consider that a large UK supermarket stocks around 40,000 items that you realise the size of the task of looking after the little things is gargantuan.

And so assistance is sought in technical solutions capable of processing huge amounts of data and an army of moderately paid staff charged with keeping things ticking over and customers satisfied.

Inevitably though, automated systems lack a human touch and staff can have a low boredom threshold. This dangerous combination can lead to things that may offend or amuse and will almost certainly end up on the internet.

For example, having popped into the newly opened local Tesco Express, Zeitgeist was surprised to be offered a satanically priced washing powder.

Presumably ideal for a hot wash

While the link between the special price and the Number of the Beast may not deter too many cash strapped Brits, if Tesco want their global expansion plans to run smoothly they might want to pay a little more attention to the detail of numerology and the cultural significance of certain numbers in territories are planning to target.

Similarly, a couple of photos taken in-store of awkwardly labeled food have been doing the rounds on the internet lately and suggest that this is not an isolated case.

Clearly, the item description section has a finite space which can present a challenge when a product has a long name or many ingredients. Abbreviation is the obvious solution but again, failure to take care of the little things can spell trouble.

The first example, again in Tesco, was for Welsh Lady Assorted Fudge. It even offered Clubcard points. Unfortunately the label presented to shoppers looked like this.

No sooner had the fudge gone viral that an equally unappetising lunch offering began doing the rounds.

Given how obvious the humour was in the abbreviations, there is little doubt that mischievous staff have been having a little fun. If this is the case and the labeling is not automated or validated there seems to be little that can be done to avoid recurrences, much to the pleasure of web users craving a childish laugh.

In the meantime, we’d suggest someone goes and checks the shiitake mushrooms and cockles in vinegar just in case.

On Mobile Loyalty

A little over a week ago, consultancy Analysys Mason hosted a webinar entitled ‘Mobile loyalty schemes: best practice examples and key learnings’. Zeitgeist listened in…

Speaking in the webinar were Tom Rebbeck and Helen Kapapandzic. One of the key messages in the webinar was the distinction between customer retention and true loyalty campaigns. Retention can be achieved through short-term measures (e.g. discounts), loyalty is about longer-term investment. Keeping a customer loyal can benefit both the business and also the end user. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal referenced by the consultancy, there are myriad benefits to longevity at work, in marriage and by staying with the same providers and businesses. Loyalty it was noted, however, can only support other elements of a service that must already be in place.

For telcos, the key is in reconciling operator wants with customer needs. In the telecoms market in the Western world, where seemingly everyone has a mobile handset of one sort or another, the strategy has moved from winning new customers to keeping current ones. The market is saturated with a flat if not slightly falling rate of growth.

Churn is likely to increase this year over last year in the UK, but not in France. When Zeitgeist asked the reason for this disparity, he was told the reason was that telcos in the French market had focused a significant amount of marketing specifically on decreasing churn. In the UK, the increase is due to the beginning of the expiration of 24-month contracts (such as those affiliated with iPhones), which conversely made churn decline in 2010.

The webinar continued with a roundup of some selected case studies currently being employed by telcos around the world. These took the form of either financial or social-based schemes, and sometimes both. Aircel, for example, was an invitation-only service, offering special invitations to events, exclusive offers, and worked on a points-based system. Proximus seemed to be the most fun offer mentioned, focused as it was on younger customers, who would always be incentivised as there was always a prize guaranteed.

Vodafone’s loyalty scheme, with sponsorship of Formula 1 racing and the London Fashion Weekend, is deservedly well-known. With a simple thank you, and no requirements to join, it serves as an attractive loyalty tool. The loyalty scheme from Starhub seemed to be one of the most innovative and well-developed, a Quintessentially-esque programme, replete with triple play offers.

While it is tempting to think of customer loyalty schemes for telcos as similar in construction to those of supermarkets, the reality is in fact very different, as the consultancy pointed out. Tesco’s enormously popular Clubcard, as recently written about in The Economist, is there for the business to get as much information as possible on customer buying habits, to the extent that it could effect your insurance policy. Telcos already have a significant amount of data that illustrates user behaviour based on a much smaller range of products (SMS, data).

Those schemes that didn’t work, which the team at Analsys Mason came across, were ones involving points-based schemes that were extremely complicated, and might involve getting out an Excel spreadsheet. This kind of thing can be too time-consuming, and ultimately appeal to customers who are already loyal. As a trend, some operators were discontinuing points in preference of social, or simply overlaying it to create social engagement. Of course, as we all know, the key to a successful B2C campaign is often about personalisation. The difficulty though lies in the fact that it is usually easier to measure top-up schemes than emotional ones. This, however, does not alter the importance of personalisation. Rewards to drive tenure, celebrate anniversary of contracts or personal birthdays are all small touches which could be much more widely employed, said those at Analysys Mason.

In all it was an engrossing and stimulating lecture on consumer preferences, technological development and trends in communication. Zeitgeist looks forward to the next one.