“It is absolutely crucial for us that the loyalty program is fully synchronized with POS, e-commerce, SMS and email.”

The store aims to be Norway’s best provider of service and also offers personal shopping as a free service. We interviewed General Manager Merete Beckman and the Chairman of the Board Magnus Beckman about their experiences since the launch of Diller in February 2023.

Why did you start a loyalty program?

We had a different customer program before that didn’t work so well. We were contacted by Diller and were open to something better. The complete package from Diller, with integration to the online store and the cash register system from Front Systems, as well as with SMS and email functions that are completely synchronized, was a huge improvement.

Why did you choose Diller?

Synchronization is the be-all and end-all! What we had before had no integration, so we ended up with separate systems that worked on their own, but not together. That didn’t give us as much return on the work we put in.

Having everything on one platform was absolutely essential. In addition, the price of Diller is very reasonable. The previous solution had very high startup costs and a long termination time.

Also, for us to be satisfied as customers, we need to be followed up, and that’s what Diller is good at. We are very satisfied with the support we get from Ekin in the Diller team.

What do you regard as the most important benefits of a loyalty program?

Customers feel that they get something back from us, and they are pleasantly surprised when they have a coupon waiting for them. The 15% welcome discount is also very enticing for new members. Customers earn bonus points and get a lot back when they shop with us regularly. We have many competitors, and our main goal is for members to be loyal and come to us because of our good service.

The birthday coupon also elicits a very positive response. We find it important to inform customers about the birthday gift, because after we started reminding them to enter their birthday, many more are using the coupon, and we notice that they are happy about this gesture from us.

How do you recruit new members?

We always ask at the checkout if they want to become a member and have posters with QR codes in the fitting rooms and at the cash register. We ask for phone numbers when they pay, and then they are automatically registered in Diller if the number is not registered before. We hear that customers receive an SMS message, and then we tell them about the customer program and the benefits. They can then choose whether to activate the membership, and they have the receipt with us regardless.

How does your loyalty program work?

We primarily use the customer program for discounts, such as celebrations, campaigns, seasonal sales or sales launches. We send SMS messages to all members so they get the message before anyone else – that makes the program more exclusive for our members. They get a head start. We have a bonus system that rewards customers that shop often with us.

We also use SMS to inform about Mid Season Sale, and then it is only those who receive the SMS who know about the sale, because nothing is shown in the store. You have to show the received SMS to get the discount. This also works very well, and our members appreciate this benefit.

How important is it that Diller is integrated into the POS and online store?

This is absolutely crucial, and we would not have had a customer club without integration and synchronization! It is also important that GDPR is in order, and we got that well in place with Diller.

What do you see for the future?

Earlier this year, we were hacked on Instagram and lost all 14,000 of our followers – very unfortunate! We therefore need to build up a new page and follower base and we see that now we are getting more active and engaged followers. We use Instagram to profile By Malene Birger and bring new customers into the store. After the hacker attack, we also see that it is absolutely necessary to have control and own our own marketing channel, as we do with Diller.

It is important to use the loyalty program correctly – and remember to use it! Diller as a concept, with everything on one platform, is great; email, SMS, purchase history and bonus accumulation are all in one place.

When we started with Diller, we had around 8,000 members, and just a little over a year later, we have increased to over 13,000 members. We are very pleased with this, as we after all have one, family-owned store. Our goal is to increase the membership base by 3,000 new members per year going forward. We look forward to the continuation!