15
Sphere 33
27
million customers a week across 20 retail brands in 33
markets. one of the main drivers of a s Watson’s success has
been its extensive digital media platform, which operates a total
of 92 social media touch points and 16 smartphone apps all
aimed at enhancing the customer’s experience.
a s Watson’s popular health and beauty store, Watsons
china, launched the Watsons app with specific versions
available country-to-country. The app updates customers
on promotional offers and introduces newly launched or
exclusively-branded products, and includes the popular “share”
feature to allow interaction with popular social media platforms
such as sina Weibo and renren in china. a members’ Zone
for checking point balances and transaction records also allows
customers to register for lucky draws; the app also makes
shopping at Watsons a pleasure by providing a store locator to
select the nearest shop to customers. The company has pushed
the capacity of its app even further towards mobile-commerce,
which allows customers to shop on-the-go while providing
exclusive offers to those who buy via the app.
realising the changing behaviour of customers, the Watsons
brand in ukraine has expanded its digital media platform by
integrating its existing customer relationship management
(
crm) loyalty programme with its social media presence. This
strategy rewards extra member points to existing Watsons’
customers who interact with its Facebook fan page. The
resulting increase in traffic by “sharing” and “liking” ultimately
enhances the customer experience by involving them in a
direct dialogue with Watsons, thereby setting the retailer apart
from its competitors and fuelling a boost in sales performance.
creating a link between crm and Facebook also allows access
to data regarding customers’ preferences, which, additively,
leads to more customised and more popular promotions.
according to one estimate this innovation has been three times
more effective than the initial crm loyalty programme. For
creating the first social crm initiative in ukraine, Watsons
was awarded “The propeller Digital internet award”, silver
mercury’s “The best strategic solution of direct-marketing or
crm programme” Gold award, and Direct hit’s “silver awards
-
Digital Direct interactive marketing: crm”.
Fortress, an electronics and electrical retailer in hong
Kong, is another a s Watson brand that has utilised digital
technology to improve convenience to customers. With the
launch of its Fortress app, users have access to a store locator,
promotions, exclusive offers and product information at their
fingertips. members can also check loyalty points, register
for members’ lucky draws and explore the latest loyalty point
redemption prizes. Fortress also has a social media presence
which it uses to broadcast promotional offers and helpful tips
on using digital gadgets.
