On the face of it, the first 12 months for Farmers Club have been a massive success – 1.2 million members, average sale value almost double that of non-members, record-breaking sales events etc.

But for the  largest department store in NZ, launching the all-store loyalty programme was a leap into the unknown and customers’ appetite for the programme has forced the business to re-think its traditional tried-and-true marketing strategy.

Core to the success has been the pragmatic approach with which Farmers tackled the first year of the programme’s existence. The focus on consistent and stable sign-up rates, awareness of the valuable ex-Beauty Club members and ensuring they still feel the love, developing strong sales-driving properties and identifying cost-effective communication channels have delivered a solid foundation on which to build in the coming years.

12 months is not a long time to bed in a loyalty programme but within that period the achievement has been:

• 1 million members 9 months after launch
• Marketing properties that drive sales ROI of up to $21:$1
• Over 850,000 unique members shopping in the last 3 months
• Over 85% of total sales being made to Farmers Club members