According to British Gas, they have added 2m additional customers since they introduced Nectar points. 55% of these new customers joined BG's highest value customer segment and BG's overall NPS score grew by 5 points. 2m customers are earning Nectar points for self meter reading which is a nice win/win - the customer gets points and BG have lower service costs. A good example of "rewarding the behaviour that you seek". Chris Allin, Director of Loyalty & Customer Communications at BG explained why they chose to join the Nectar programme at the recent Loyalty World conference . Why did they feel they needed a loyalty programme? Energy utilities is a commoditised market and they needed to differentiate Their customers wanted to be rewarded for their loyalty They needed to drive brand reappraisal in some parts of world – many people still associated British Gas with the un-nationalised company which offered poor customer service T...

"It is the customer who determines what a business is. It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a good or for a service converts economic resources into wealth… What the business thinks it produces is not of the first importance—especially not to the future of the business and its success…. What the customer thinks he is buying, what he considers value, is decisive—it determines what a business, is, what it produces and whether it will prosper. And what the customer buys and considers value is never a product. It is always utility, that is, what a product or service does for him…. The customer is the foundation of a business and keeps it in existence. He alone gives employment."

After registering the  Scan & Go mobile phone app with their Nectar card, users can 'check in' by finding the relevant QR code at the front of the shop. They then scan the barcodes of items they wish to buy, and the app tracks their spend as well as any savings made. Shoppers then have a 'check out' QR code scanned at the till, and can pay using cash or card. The app is being trialled at Sainsbury's stores in Bethnal Green, Clerkenwell, and Tadley, Hampshire.

The huge volumes of data generated by today’s digital businesses, known as “big data” , will drive $28bn of worldwide IT spending this year and $34bn next year, according to a forecast from Gartner, the IT research firm. "Big data" is one of  four “nexus of forces” – cloud, social collaboration, mobile and information – identified by Peter Sondergaard, Gartner’s research director during his keynote speech at the annual Symposium in Orlando, Florida. Mr Sondergaard said   “By tapping a continual stream of information from internal and external sources, businesses today have an endless array of new opportunities for transforming decision-making, discovering new insights, optimising the business and innovating their industries.” He added: “Longer term, we see big data as a complete shift – a shift from today’s ways of accumulating, managing and deploying information as merely a resource to valuing it as any corporate asset.” Mr Sondergaard noted that companies that dev...

Here's a white paper written in 2010 that explains the opportunity open to retailers who wish to "mobilise" their customer loyalty programmes. Nearly 3 years later, nothing much has happened. Tesco, Sainsburys and Go Outdoors have taken small steps. But inertia, the task of coralling disparate internal stakeholders, a need to upgrade scanners and integrate solutions with the point of sale systems are all getting in the way of what otherwise is a great opportunity for consumer and retailers alike. http://www.mobilize-systems.com/media/pdf/white_papers/Mobile%20loyalty%20state%20of%20the%20nation.pdf

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills is working with leading businesses and consumer groups to give individuals more access to, and control over, the data that companies hold on them. The midata project – part of the government's consumer empowerment strategy will allow people to view, access and use their personal and transaction data in a way that is portable and safe. This will help consumers get a greater insight into their own spending habits and improve their buying decisions. It will also let everyone take advantage of the growing number of applications that can process this type of data, helping individuals manage their finances or choose products to suit their lifestyle. The three main objectives of midata are to:  secure broad private-sector participation in the project, with a key number of businesses agreeing to release individual, personal data to consumers let consumers access and use their data in a safe way encourage business...

Most businesses want to improve the insight they have regarding the behaviours and  attitudes  of  their customers  - they want to know what their customers are doing and why are they doing it.  However, very few companies are able do this well as a recent survey from BCG illustrates :  800 managers from 40 companies were interviewed – all with revenues greater than $1.5 bn  - many with revenues greater than $10bn – drawn from a range of business sectors including retail, travel, financial services, technology, telco and consumer goods.   The interviewees  were drawn more or less 50/50 from line managers and those within the consumer insight functio n. There was widespread agreement – 74% - that building insight capability is important,  but interestingly, very few companies, less than 40%, thought that they were doing a very good job – and remember 50% of those polled were responsible for customer insight  Lin...

Earlier this year the World Economic Forum, working with BCG, developed a new report entitled "Rethinking Personal Data" . Here is a summary and the key recommendations made within the report. The explosive growth in the quantity and quality of personal data has created a significant opportunity to generate new forms of economic and social value. Just as tradable assets like water and oil must flow to create value, so too must data. Instead of closing the taps or capping the wells, all actors can ensure that data flows in a measured way. But for data to flow well, it requires the same kinds of rules and frameworks that exist for other asset classes. The reality has been quite different, however. High-profile data breaches and missteps involving personal data seem to be reported almost daily by the media. Tension has arisen between individual perceptions of harm and powerlessness versus organizational feelings of control and ownership. The result: a decline in trust among ...

1. Reposition Argos’ channels for a digital future Stores to be “focused on product pick-up and customer service for transactions that will increasingly be managed online or through mobile”. Shops “will include more innovation with web-based browsers, in lieu of catalogues, Wi-Fi which will enable customers to use their smartphones and tablets in stores, and a fast track collection service for goods purchased online or via a mobile device”. The catalogue “will move from its traditional position as the lead Argos channel into a supporting role”. Circulation will be cut as consumers take up digital channels. First digital catalogues to be launched before Christmas. 2. Provide more product choice, available to customers faster Hub and spoke distribution model will make the most of Argos’ store network and infrastructure “to offer market leading immediacy of fulfilment on a wider range of products”. Trials will begin in January 2013 to test operational aspects and the customer off...