“With a loyalty platform, we have got more regular customers who shop more often”

Funky Frozen Yogurt is a Norwegian ice cream chain with 22 stores in shopping malls across the country. We interviewed District and Marketing Manager Ida Marie Juliussen to learn about their experiences with the Diller loyalty platform after the setup in August 2021.

Why did you start with a loyalty program?

I had for a long time thought that we should set up a program to get more loyal customers. We wanted to reach more people in an easier and better way. We have a vision to be that little extra for customers – we want to give them a “funky” experience. With a loyalty program you get a nice dialogue that extends and reinforces this atmosphere.

When we realized that we could get a loyalty platform that is fully integrated into our checkout system, we wanted to try it out. It was also important that it was easy to use, just using customer’s the mobile number.

How did you get started with Diller?

We first started out with two pilot stores in August 2021. We tested a welcome coupon with a 50% discount on first purchase for new members. In addition, we offered digital stamp cards to members, where they get a 50% discount on every ten purchase. It worked great, so in November ´21 we launched the loyalty program for all of our 22 stores.

What kind of results have you seen so far?

People use their stamp cards every day, and we’ve got a lot of new, regular customers. Since November, we have recruited over 11,000 new members, and we are incredibly pleased with that.

We see that our welcome coupon and digital stamp cards work absolutely brilliantly!

How do you recruit new members?

We’ve got an extremely high number of new members in a short period of time. We couldn’t get off to a better start. We have had internal referral competitions between the stores, and this brings out the competitive instinct in a good way. Over a 3-month period, the three stores that register the most members receive prizes. It builds culture and is a lot of fun.

We register new members in stores, either by providing mobile numbers or scanning a QR code. It is incredibly easy for us and for our customers. And especially important, it’s a quick and easy process.

Do you see results on sales and sales?

With the loyalty program we have got more regular customers who shop more often. This means good potential for upsell of additional products, and thus higher turnover and better margins. We are very pleased with that.

How did you train employees to use Diller?

It was very easy for store managers and employees to learn how the loyalty platform works. We sent out the manual from Diller to all the store managers, and there were almost no questions – our employees found it easy to understand.

It took no short time to get started after we had sent out the information and introduced the member recruitment competitions.

How did you hear about Diller?

Stian Aaserud of Com2Gether, our PCK cash register provider, introduced Diller to our CEO. He passed it on to me, and I was very happy, because I had wanted a loyalty program for a long time. I was introduced to Charlotte Stallemo in Diller, and she gave a video tutorial for 30 min. After that, we hust started with the program!

What do you think of your collaboration with Diller?

It’s great! I would like to highlight fantastic customer service and follow-up, which made it so easy for us to launch the program. I just have to praise Charlotte, who’s my contact at Diller. When I have any questions, I get a response within a few minutes. It’s been incredibly helpful to me.

For example, I mentioned to Charlotte that it would be useful with QR code for recruiting new members. She brought it up with the Development department, and a few weeks later it was arranged. It’s really good when you can have a dialogue like that. Then we were able to measure results per store with QR functionality.

Do you have examples of successful campaigns?

What has worked superbly is digital stamp cards. We have different cards, and people use them every day. Customers are also satisfied with the welcome coupon. Not many people have opted out, only about 40 people. It tells us that the program works.

We have also tried to send SMS on campaign days and have noticed a clear effect of it. We have only done this once so far, but SMS campaigns are now included in our marketing plan. We’ll be testing different campaigns going forward so we can measure performance.

It is very easy to get members, and we know that there is so much more that we can do to make members even more satisfied and loyal. I am incredibly satisfied that it is as easy as just entering the mobile number.

We haven’t started segmenting our membership base or targeted campaigns yet, but we look forward to exploring and developing this in the future.

What do you see as the main benefits of a loyalty platform?

It is that we get more loyal customers, and that we get more new customers. We can communicate in a new way, not just in the store. We reach our members when they’re at home or on the go.

With a loyalty program, it’s also easier to get the customer back in the store – they have extra good reason to come back. We see that club only gives us many opportunities to have targeted promotions.

How important is it that Diller is integrated into the cash register?

Very important, because it makes everything so much easier for us!

Should the loyalty program be integrated with an online store in the long term?

We do not have an online store today, but we are working on creating an order page that is fully integrated into the checkout, where you can also pay with payment provider Vipps. We think it will be a great solution for our customers and look forward to it being ready. It will also be a good way to recruit new members to the loyalty platform, and not least good for our customers becoming even more pre-happy and loyal.

What are your plans going forward?

Our goal is to become the world’s largest ice cream chain! We plan to open stores in London in 2025, and we are constantly looking for new, good locations in Norway.

With the new concept we have developed, we will create that little extra for our customers every day so that they get an experience with us – not just a product. Funky should be associated with positivity and a good atmosphere!

What’s it like working at Funky Frozen Yogurt?

We have a lot of young people employed by us, and we are often their first employer. It is important for us to invest in young people and help them move on to their next job.

I myself have held many job roles in the company, from joining the company as a part-time employee when I studied marketing to moving into a full-time position, and later becoming a Store Manager, District Manager, and now Marketing Manager.

We are very concerned about having a good working environment. It should be a good experience to be employed with us.