Are Your Customers Loyal or Just Close?

Are your customers pulled to be loyal to your store beyond physical convenience? One problem goEBT customers have described is the difficulty of gaining new loyal customers, besides the ones that live nearby. One goEBT customer said, “Most of my customers are people who live within 100 feet of my store, the rest only come in just once.” Your customers may largely be made up of people who are physically already nearby, but figuring out how you can increase loyalty with those consumers as well as those who live in other areas is easier and cheaper than you might think.

Without a doubt repeated c-store and small grocery study findings show that the majority of customers do enter based on physical convenience (1.). So knowing who these customers are and what they want can help increase store loyalty with them. The majority of transactions for C-Stores were by customers who shop in some kind of C-Store or small grocery 2 to 3 times per week (3). However, the study did not conclude that they were shopping at the Same store 2 to 3 times per week. In order to be sure you are getting all their C-Store visits, you need to know who is choosing you in the first place. Of those people who do frequent convenience stores, there are 4 types as defined by research conducted by General Mills (4) each of whom values different parts of the shopping experience and product offering:

• Breakfast Barons – This group will remain loyal if you can offer granola bars, coffee, and baked goods for weekday morning breakfast.
• Vice Squaders – This group’s looking for cigarettes, lottery tickets, and liquor. Loyalty can be won here with great customer service and stock of local favorites.
• Pit Stoppers – They care about a quick visit, access to gas, clean restrooms, and are likely to be there on afternoons and weekends.
• Meals & More – The Meals & More group is a younger demographic looking for just that – a hot meal option. They are also more likely to indulge in candy, salty snacks and common household goods in a pinch, as well.

You may notice that your customer base tends to be more of one or two of these categories. Noticing who is in your store will show you how to best gain their loyalty.

How to gain customer loyalty isn’t always through a “Loyalty Program” (2). Gaining repeat customers when your customer base is centered around convenience can be simple, inexpensive or even completely free. Here’s how:

• Loyalty Rewards Program – For example: Print a Loyalty Punch Card saying “Buy 9 Coffee’s, Get a Free Coffee!” This is a low cost way to gain a very loyal customer. They may end up with a free coffee, but likely each time they buy a coffee they are buying other products as well. And they chose you all because of a coffee. This example could be geared toward the Breakfast Baron or the Meals & More group. Programs like these can be replicated with a number of products
• Product Placement - Have lots of Breakfast Barons? Stock up on baked goods or more granola bar options on weekdays or place your existing baked goods and breakfast options closer to the coffee. Though not an official “loyalty program” the customer will remember a great (and intentionally targeted) experience. Lots of Vice Squaders? Put the exclusive liquors on a well-lit shelf near the check out to show off the product and give it greater perceived value. In thinking the product looks better, seems better, is better from you, this becomes a repeat customer.
• Facility Loyalty – We won’t try to examine the results of countless research studies about optimizing c-store and small grocery store layouts. But when looking into your lay out remember to be considerate of your typical customer. Are they in a hurry and always want a quick bag of chips and a drink on the way to a shift? Keep the chips near the drinks! Do they care about a clean bathroom and you know there’s always a 6pm rush? Clean the bathroom at 5pm instead of noon. Changing the time you clean won’t add any cost to you, but it may make all the difference to your customer. They may not know you made that choice intentionally, but they’ll remember that great experience.

The goal with any “Loyalty Program” is to gain repeat business by listening to your customer base and giving them something they actually want. Who is here most? How can I be sure they choose me? Because they do have a choice - why shouldn’t it be you?

Sources:

1. “Targeting Convenience Store Customers”, MSA and Paradigm Sample, in partnership with Convenience Store Decisions, Trish Temmerman, Management Science Associates (MSA) http://www.cstoredecisions.com/2011/05/31/targeting-convenience-store-customers
2. The Lowdown On Loyalty Programs In C-stores, General Mills Research, Global Consumer Insights, 2014 http://www.generalmillscf.com/industries/convenience/support-tool-categories/consumer-insights/the-lowdown-on-loyalty-programs-in-c-stores
3. Raw data from exclusive CSP/Technomic consumer survey, January 2015, http://www.cspdailynews.com/print/csp-magazine/article/data-consumer
4. Winning Key Consumer Segments in Convenience Stores, General Mills Research, Global Consumer Insights, 2014, http://www.nacsonline.com/Media/Daily/Documents/2015/ND1026152_GenMills-Infographic.pdf