Loyalty Programs Gain Value When Customers Are Treated like Royalty

Loyalty programs in any industry can make or break a brand's reputation. From the way a company manages personal data to how it markets to recurring customers, a loyalty program requires tender loving care. This ensures the customer will feel valued, appreciated, and like a part of the company’s community.

Tim Mason, CEO of Eagle Eye, knows a thing or two about loyalty programs. With more than 30 years' experience within the grocery and retail industries, he’s held senior executive positions at Tesco, the largest multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer in the UK. He also led the launch of Tesco Clubcard in 1995, creating the world’s first major grocery loyalty program. And in September, Mason published an updated edition of his business book, Omnichannel Retail – How to Build Winning Stores in a Digital World, coauthored by Sarah Jarvis.

Here, he shares advice for creating winning loyalty programs, competing with giant eCommerce retailer Amazon, and what he’s most looking forward to in the New Year. Let’s dive in.

Loyalty programs can be amazing when we get it right. But they can also be terrible when we get it wrong. What does it take to make a robust loyalty program?

The piece of advice I would give to anything in business is what we call, "following the golden rule". And that's treating people the way they'd like to be treated. If your program recognizes and rewards them appropriately and you make it clear how you’re using their data to make their lives better and create more value for them, then I think people really support these programs.

Across the APAC region, what are some really exciting loyalty trends that you're currently seeing?

Amazon is here now. And it’s doing well. Clearly, that puts more pressure on all businesses to improve their digital component and capability. Member pricing and subscriptions are interesting. With new AI-based analytics, a lot of work needs to be done on improving data analytics and personalization that comes out as a result of the analytics. That's particularly where Eagle Eye helps in terms of being able to get the individual messages through.

Eagle Eye is growing across the APAC region, which is exciting. What are you looking forward to in the year ahead?

Winning new business. When I was working for a retailer, we had an incredibly good run based on marketing. Marketing can create value for consumers and, therefore, create value for businesses. Like every other walk of life, marketing is becoming a thing where technology and marketing are inseparable. That's what we bring to the party.

At Eagle Eye, we improve the quality of marketing, largely by enabling people to do more personalized marketing, which is the big difference. How can we make marketing relevant to the customer because it's designed for that person – you understand their life and give them things they want and enjoy.

How is Eagle Eye making crossroads in personalization globally, and what are some of the issues retailers face when learning to embrace the digital world?

We have a great team down here. We're starting to make inroads in Asia. We're doing the same thing in Europe and the US. It's a common theme. Many of the issues that retailers face are similar – physical retailers have to bring to bear the digital components to create a complete experience for consumers. And that's how we can help.

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