Loyalty Programs Don’t Guarantee Success

Sophisticated loyalty programs have become the rage as retailers try to engage their customers and get the edge on their competitors but, as Coles found, they don’t always succeed.

The Coles My5 program has been abandoned as being “too complicated” according to commentators. The program was linked to FlyBuys and allowed customers to choose their specials. A 10% discount was offered on five products of a customer’s choice as long as they spent $50 in the one transaction. Signing up was just too complicated and customers soon lost sight of what they were signing up for.

The lesson on loyalty programs? – keep it simple.