Retail-based loyalty card programmes and CRM concepts: an empirical study

Abstract

Through both theoretical and empirical methods, a market survey was done on the potential use of loyalty card programmes in the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area that focused on supermarket and retailer-based loyalty card programmes, resulting in 200 completed questionnaires among web-enabled professionals. Statistical analyses, via regressions, paired tests and chi-square revealed many layers of complexity, especially concerning the comparative success of loyalty card programmes between supermarkets and more durable goods-based retailers, with supermarket programmes being more successful in their focused marketing attempts compared to the relative market saturation of durable goods retailers. Recommendations for customer relationship management and their overall improvement of business planning and operations are made.