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London Drugs’ Winning Loyalty App

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Websitelondondrugs.com
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Build Time6 weeks
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App Downloads per Week300

With 45 million customers, Canadian retailer London Drugs is 100% focused on local customer satisfaction. For IT Operations Manager, Greg Martin, that means serving customers better through innovation. With its LDExtras App from Mobify the company has a well-designed, user-friendly app that is fostering loyalty among its growing base of customers and paving the way for more engagement and growth.

Challenge: Driving Loyalty and Gaining Insights

Going mobile with the London Drugs loyalty program was essential after customers expressed not wanting to carry another card around in their wallets.

“We know a loyalty app is table stakes for a retailer, but the full potential goes far beyond that by providing valuable insights into shopping behavior.”

With 80 stores in 35+ markets across Western Canada, London Drugs’ core business is pharmacy, but it has a full-service computer department, along with cosmetics, furniture, cameras, high-quality photo finishing, small appliances and more. Given the increasing use and capabilities of smartphones, Greg suspected this powerful tool could eventually provide a much better understanding of how consumers were shopping at different locations and times, and within the context of how purchases were being made.

“We know a loyalty app is table stakes for a retailer, but the full potential goes far beyond that by providing valuable insights into shopping behavior,” Greg says.

Solution: Day 1 to Launch in Under 6 Weeks

With a website already optimized for mobile devices, the IT team was able to use existing assets to bring a loyalty app to market quickly, without having to start from scratch. The mobile site provided the team with much of the content needed for a fast start.

“When you have a mobile site already and a fast-on-their-feet team, it’s incredibly quick with Mobify – we had our first build within six weeks, about four weeks faster than I planned,” says Greg.

A UX that Drives Loyalty

With the new app, shoppers show their member ID barcode when shopping and accumulate loyalty points. They can access their personalized offers and rewards and check their progress towards unlocking exclusive LD Extras.

In turning to Mobify, London Drugs benefited from Mobify’s mobile commerce user experience (UX) best practices – tested and proven within mobile solutions for some of the world’s leading brands. Knowing how to design a user-friendly experience – from creating categories for easy viewing and fast selection to using push notifications for effective messaging – helps ensure the app is on time and on budget.

Real-Time Communication Via App Push Notifications

Greg says the new app’s push notifications are ideal for keeping customers informed about what is happening with the loyalty program.

“Email is such a passive way of communicating so it’s easy to miss the target,” says Greg.” Being a pharmacy, time is often important, for example, in emergency situations we could use push notifications to immediately communicate with customers in a specific geographic area if there were local outages or issues.”

Results: 70,000 Active Users and Counting

Greg describes the new mobile marketing program as a game changer in winning over the customer.

“When you have a mobile site already and a fast-on-their-feet team, it’s incredibly quick with Mobify – we had our first build within six weeks, about four weeks faster than I planned.”

“The app is an identity for the shopper without requiring them to carry a card. It’s also a great channel for us to gain immediate insights into customer behavior and preferences so we can provide better service,” says Greg.

Being able to track and redeem rewards through their phones provides convenience and the “something extra” that customers care about, Greg says. So far, the new app is a win, with more than 40,000 shoppers using the LDExtras app on a regular basis and 300 new app downloads per week.

The success of the new app has Greg thinking about all sorts of new technology, from two-way communication through the app with call centers or using bots, and “beacon” technology in the stores to be able to help shoppers better find what they need.

Beyond eliminating the need for physical loyalty cards, the LDExtra app is enabling a higher quality loyalty program. Through this new window into the world of the shopper, London Drugs has a new view on how to deliver higher customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty.

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