Belgian Colruyt Group has introduced the Xtra card and the mobile Xtra app as the single loyalty card for all of its store formulas. The company hopes it will help understand customer behavior better and will build a platform with never-before-seen capabilities.
Convenience
Almost four million customers in Belgium and Luxembourg will get the new card delivered at home soon, replacing all of the current loyalty cards belonging to one of its chains (Colruyt, Okay, Bio-Planet and Dreambaby). From 4 April onward, customers will be able to use the card in more than 600 stores, pick-up locations and web shops, spread across those four chains and also Spar, Collect & Go, Dreamland and Collishop. In the fall, Dats24 will also join the list and CRU, ZEB and Colruyt Group Academy will follow later on.
Customers that shop at any of the participating stores and web shops will automatically enjoy all of the discounts available at that store at that time, with which Colruyt Group attempts to simplify its customers’ experience. The app works exactly the same way, but also links payment apps like Bancontact, Seqr and KBC. One single loyalty card will also eliminate the need to create separate online user accounts for the different stores and web shops.
Relevance
The new system will also give Colruyt Group an opportunity to align its information, discounts and product range with the customers’ desires in every aspect of their life. Customers can manage their own account through the Xtra login and indicate their folder and newsletter preferences. At a later time, they can pass on other preferences, like products, brands, allergies and so forth.
If Colruyt Group can get a better understanding of how their customers have across its store formulas, it can provide more relevant discounts and communication, which would also benefit suppliers. “Our market research shows that customers want this”, market strategist Karel De Wilde said. “They want more interaction and transparency and this places them in the driver’s seat.”
Xtra will Belgium’s second widest spread card, only following the electronic id. However, it will mostly become a platform for Colruyt Group to develop a more intimate relationship with its customers and it will add more functionality along the way. Future ideas are a digital receipt, digital guarantees, food profiles and its own payment application.
