Transformational card-linked technology from Quidco is revolutionising the world of retail; driving the future of customer loyalty and generating incremental multichannel sales for forward-thinking high street retailers.

Challenge

Providing a comprehensive multichannel solution that offers merchants both incremental In-store sales and revenue, alongside the opportunity to reach shoppers with personalised, targeted offers has long been a challenge for publishers in the affiliate industry.

With several offline platforms on the marketplace, as well as a range of mobile apps emerging to meet demand for targeting shoppers on the high street, the challenge has been to link up the two; giving retailers a multichannel solution that ticks all the boxes.  

Solution

Since 2009, Quidco has been developing its in-store cashback offering, using card-linked technology to provide rewards for shoppers, using debit and credit cards, pre-registered to the Quidco site.

With 22 retailers now operating multichannel with Quidco, the service has witnessed a 140% surge in participating retailers in the past six months alone. High street behemoths such as The Body Shop, Debenhams, TM Lewin, and BANK are now on board.

Plus, with several big name brands in the pipeline – Jack Wills, Charles Tyrwhitt and Kiddicare are set to join in the coming weeks – the platform is growing all the time.

As well as driving customers into high street stores with card-linked incentives, Quidco’s efficient multichannel solution connects these offers to its mobile app. Personalised offers, which can be activated pre-purchase, are sent to shoppers’ mobile devices. This helps increase incrementality for merchants and boosts engagement with brands and offers prior to purchase.

With high street banks making a late entry into the sector with cashback attached to current accounts, rewards pioneered by platforms such as Quidco, are driving the future of shopper loyalty; giving forward-thinking retailers an edge over their competitors.

Results

The number of shoppers benefiting from card-linked offers and targeted rewards continues to grow, with 1.2 million cards registered with Quidco.

App downloads have also been consistently strong, with well over half a million iOS downloads registered, and almost one million in total across Apple and Android devices.

When outdoor retail giant, Ellis Brigham, joined the Quidco card-linked programme, the retailer had 237 exclusive purchasers in category. Three months into their foray into the card-linked reward sector, and the merchant saw a 163% uplift in exclusive customers – taking their number of exclusive category purchasers up to 624. 

Not only did their purchasers rocket, as a result of joining the programme, but also their revenue driven through this stream jumped by £100,000 – a huge 305% increase. Plus, customers purchasing in-store also spent more as a result, with the average transaction value increasing by 53% – taking the average spend from £140 to £214. 

The Quidco card-linked programme also proved valuable for Ellis Brigham in re-engaging lapsed customers – a notoriously tricky feat in the currently tempestuous high street environment. The percentage of customers within the brand’s lapsed shopper segment fell from 8% before joining the platform, to just 1% three months after.

Mark Brigham, Marketing Director at Ellis Brigham, comments: ‘Quidco has provided us with a platform with which to reward new and existing customers for their loyalty when shopping with Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports.  Our stores offer the very best Mountain Sports retail experience, and through Quidco, many new outdoor enthusiasts are experiencing our award-winning service and expertise for themselves.’

In addition to significant impact on offline figures, results from Quidco multichannel retailers also prove the effect that the platform can have on online performance.

One retailer, which joined the platform in June 2013, saw strong online results; they experienced a 59% increase in market share (versus the same period in 2012), as well as a 50% increase in purchasers.

Commenting on the raft of new additions to the platform, Andreas Andreou – Commercial Director at Quidco – said: “Card-linked offers are a transformational technology because they are incredibly simple for customers to use and require zero integration from the retailer. It is a performance-based model where merchants can selectively target customers, based on their previous purchases. Be it with your brand – or your competitors.  Retailers should no longer accept that a ‘one size fits all’ offer would work. Our multichannel solution, which uses mobile app technology to drive purchases, allows them to be incredibly targeted, delighting customers with highly relevant, personalised offers.”