European multi-platform loyalty system expands
A card based multi-retailer loyalty system that allows merchants to vary the reward depending on customer behaviour is beng launched in the UK.
The scheme, run by Databac Group has been developed by Carta+ in Belgium, where under the name Loyca, it has proved highly successful.
The developers say that Loyca enables retailers to respond in real-time to marketing information. Retailers can make changes to customer reward programmes quickly and easily, to take advantage of marketing opportunities as they arise without disrupting the programme. It also works with a number of terminal platforms, making it particularly attractive to international retailers where different transaction terminals are in use across their stores.
Because the Loyca system gathers customer data for micro-marketing analysis it can be used to respond to, and incentivise customer spend.
“We are very excited about this system,” said Databac MD Charles Balcomb. “Its performance on the Continent has been staggering – increases in turnover of 30 per cent have been reported – and we are pleased to be able to extend its benefits to the UK market.”
Loyca has already been successfully rolled out at multinational organisations across Europe, where millions of Loyca cards are used in loyalty, payment and private purse applications. These include international food retailer Delhaize (Food Lion), the RES® barter system in Belgium and French art supplies franchise Eclat de Verres.
Using the Blue-Wise software system, Loyca allows retailers to implement their own customer reward programme but the system integrates data management and analysis, providing a highly sophisticated marketing tool.
While the functionality is simple – transactions, such as loyalty points or percentage values on purchases, are recorded on a terminal using a card – the back office functionality turns it into a system comparable to that of the major retailers. Information from the transaction is sent to the front-end server which checks for data integrity, creates a uniform data structure and sends it on to the back-end server for processing.
Loyca uses an innovative ‘Virtual Hardware Layer’ which enables the same loyalty programme to run on different terminal platforms, including Presto from Intellect and Verifone’s Vx570 and Omni 3750.
Its flexible scripting language enables retailers to add features to the programme at any point, such as e-purse, e-ticketing and e-subscription. The ‘logic’ behind the loyalty scheme can be changed quickly and easily, to incorporate on-the-spot changes for events like Mother’s Day, end-of-stock sales or special promotions.
Loyca works as standard with contact chip cards for security reasons, but can be implemented with other card technologies, including magnetic stripe, barcode and contactless chip.
An entry-level version of Loyca is also available as an out-of-the-box solution for independent retailers, fully scalable to allow more sites. This comes complete with 500 customer cards and registration forms, a terminal / card reader and Windows reporting software.
The system is available in English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Greek.