Arnotts

Established in 1843, Arnotts is Ireland’s oldest Department Store.  In late 2013, they took the decision to completely reinvent themselves by bringing in new concessions across all of the departments including fashion, food, furniture, beauty, and most impressively, launching their very own Shoe Garden.

With this reinvention, Arnotts looked to review their loyalty proposition, which at the time only rewarded customers for purchases in the Beauty Hall, and not for all other purchases made in the store.

Arnotts approached Chilli Pepper to assist them with auditing their existing loyalty proposition, investigating global best-practice loyalty programmes and then developing the optimum Loyalty Strategy that would best suit their customers and business needs.

After a significant amount of research with loyal Arnotts shoppers, Chilli Pepper identified the insight that would drive the entire Loyalty Strategy: Customers wanted to be rewarded for purchases across the entire store, but most importantly, they did not want any restrictions or limitations on how and when they earned and burned their points.

A key strategic challenge was delivering on this insight from a commercial point of view, as the margins vary dramatically across the 130 concessions, making it almost impossible to develop a ‘one size fits all’ points equation.

Chilli Pepper worked closely with the Executive Team in Arnotts to develop the optimum Loyalty Strategy and Business Case that would deliver tremendous value for the customers, with no limitations, and that would be commercially viable for the business.

The result was the launch of the Arnotts Wonder Card where members are rewarded for purchases across the entire store.  So, whether they are popping into Clodagh’s Kitchen for brunch, buying their new autumn coat or purchasing that desired Nespresso machine – they earn points!

A key part of the Arnotts Loyalty Strategy was to ensure that the Beauty Hall rewards remained of high value to customers and, as a result, members get always-on double points on all beauty products.

Giving Wonder Card members a choice as to how they wanted to be rewarded was an imperative for the Loyalty Strategy and so as a result, members can use their points for instant money off at the till, or they can save them up and get an exclusive Works Wonder Box which is packed full of the latest and greatest beauty products.

The best part though, is that Arnotts were able to deliver on the ‘no restrictions’ insights – where members can earn and burn points whenever and wherever they want, even during their legendary sales.  This approach to loyalty has led the way of ‘no restriction’ loyalty programmes in Ireland.

The response to the Wonder Card has been highly positive and members are absolutely thrilled to be rewarded for purchases across the entire store – with no limitations on how and when they can get rewarded.