Loyalty programme results in incremental purchase: Expert

Bangalore, Nov 2 (UNI) Retail business must understand the power of personalisation and ensure that its loyalty programme results in incremental purchase rather than rewarding normal purchase, Reliance Lifestyle CEO Baiju Kurien said today.

Speaking at an interactive session on 'Winning Customer Loyalty' at the 15th CII Quality Summit here, he said organisation excellence reflected in retailers ability to attract and retain customers in the highly dynamic, diverse and competitive market environment.

''Loyalty programmes are essential. What becomes critical is choosing the right loyalty schemes. We need to create a community, which will act as an extension of the brand,'' he said.

Hypercity CEO Andrew Levermore was however different in views, saying that his company did not believe in loyalty programmes.

''Customer loyalty programmes by itself do not create loyalty. All round focus on customers requirements, understanding the need and creating an attractive shopping environment will lead to repeat footfalls,'' he said.

Richard Barton, Expert, Asian Productivity Organisation, spoke about the importance of focusing on both process as well as people.

''To deliver value to the customer and improve productivity, one has to work on all elements that involve both people and process,'' he added.

UNI