How to Keep Your Loyalty Card Program on Track When a Vendor Fails You

As a marketing professional, I’ve worked with a variety of vendors throughout my career.  Printers, software providers, venues…the list is long because, as marketing folks, we need services to properly execute our marketing plans.  When working with these providers, you naturally begin to form a relationship with your “contact”. After all, they get to know you, your programs, your needs and they essentially come to serve as your partner (and sometimes friend).  But what happens when your contact suddenly leaves the organization?  Panic sets in.  You start asking questions like:  “Who will help me?”  “How will they understand my needs?” “How long will it take for them to understand my business?” The stress can be overwhelming.  So imagine if your loyalty card vendor suddenly dropped you completely. This happened to one national grocery store chain and the following case study tells their story.

When one of the country’s oldest grocery store chains lost their loyalty card vendor abruptly, they needed to find a new provider fast so that their loyalty program could continue without missing a beat.

A national grocery retailer, with more than 300 stores operating under 5 different brand names, provided their customers with distinct loyalty card programs.  The complex card program fell into jeopardy whenever the retailer’s loyalty card vendor abruptly stopped providing service.  Learning of their predicament, CPS Cards reached out to the retailer to help. The grocery chain needed a new card provider and distribution partner for both their loyalty program and associate program (which provided their employees with discount cards) and they needed one fast.  With only a five week timeframe, CPS Cards was able to provide a single source solution for them and transition all of their loyalty card programs before their tight deadline.

The CPS Solution

CPS would first need to examine the data, product and distribution needs.  In collaboration with the company’s IT, marketing, product development and procurement teams, CPS would discover that the following requirements would need to be met in order to ensure a successful implementation:

• Audit of the data files to ensure no duplication of customer numbers
• Communication with the grocery chain’s distribution partner to orchestrate the migration
• Transition of product kit (cards, letters, envelopes), warehousing and distribution from card suppliers and distribution partner to CPS
• Verification that each kit had been personalized correctly from data files, assembled and distributed to the correct location
• Conversion of the grocery chain’s online order platform to CPS

Once completed, CPS would need to provide the client with on-going customer support, and ensure data integrity, accurate end products and on-time delivery.  They would also need to manage the grocery retailer’s online ordering platform for more than 300 stores.

CPS Cards successfully transitioned the retailer’s loyalty and associate programs on time, on budget, with 100% accuracy and product integrity intact.  CPS fulfills more than 800,000 loyalty programs kits per year and maintains the associate program on a daily basis.  By working directly with CPS Cards and eliminating third-party vendors, the grocery retailer’s card programs run more efficiently and accurately, with punctual delivery, and the company now has a trusted advisor (and friend) for all of their card program needs.