Retailers are operating a number of different types of electronic marketing programs. Thirty-seven percent of retailers are operating a loyalty program. The larger retailers are much more likely to offer a program of this type. Retailers collect vast amounts of data about consumers which they use for many purposes such as determining future benefits in the loyalty program, category management, or tailoring store assortment. Types of data collected include customer-generated data such as name and address as well as store generated data including purchase frequency, average transaction size, and brand preferences.
Many retailers offer participants in their loyalty program direct mailings.
Mailings include many items both general and targeted such as circulars, coupons, store or company information and newsletters to name a few. Retailers are using their online offerings as a way to communicate with their customers on a much more personalized level. Offerings on company web sites include store information, recipes, menu planning, food safety information, and community news among others. Many of the respondents are also attempting to tie their loyalty program into their online marketing programs by making available loyalty program registration or information on their web sites. Number of hits to the company web site or number of weekly visits per customer are measurements retailers use to determine the success of their online marketing programs.