11 March 2009

When it needed new Web sites to engage customers, Tesco Freetime turned to Ivis Group.

Founded in London, UK in 1919, Tesco has grown to become a major multinational supermarket chain with over 2,000 stores in the UK and almost 4,000 worldwide. The company has pioneered multi-channel retail, launching its Tesco Clubcard customer reward scheme in the UK in 1995.

Customers using the Clubcard to shop at Tesco or use the company’s services get one point for every £1 they spend. Building on the success of the Clubcard, Tesco launched the Clubcard Deals scheme in 1999, followed by the Online Clubcard Deals and Double Up schemes in February 2006 and February 2008 respectively.

Tesco Freetime, which operates the deals, asked Microsoft Gold Partner Ivis Group to develop a new Double Up site in addition to developing the Clubcard Deals site. These solutions enable Tesco Freetime to offer an enhanced customer experience through improved search and browsing features. They also help in strengthening customer loyalty. Ivis Group also simplified the checkout features for the Clubcard Deals and Double Up sites to improve the checkout experience and reduce the time it takes for customers to do online transactions. The solutions were delivered using Ivis Professional Services, a range of multi-channel consulting and solution delivery services.

The Clubcard Deals scheme allows customers to exchange their Clubcard Vouchers on the Clubcard Deals site for Deals Tokens which are worth up to four times more. The Double Up Scheme allows customers to get double the value from their Clubcard Vouchers when they are exchanged on the Double Up site for ‘Double Up eCoupons’. These eCoupons can then be used to buy online from the Tesco Wine Club. Both schemes employ Ivis Group’s solutions to offer enhanced features to customers through the Clubcard Deals and Double Up sites.

Ivis Group has been key to the success of the Clubcard Deals and Double Up sites

Dylan Harrington, Tesco Freetime The results speak for themselves. Ivis Group’s solutions have greatly slowed the increase in customer calls to Tesco Freetime’s call centre while helping to increase the number of customers partaking in the Clubcard Deals and Double Up schemes.

The Clubcard Deals site has secured over 2.3 million orders in just over two years, and currently has an average conversion rate of 25 per cent. Its highest number of single day orders to date is 18,440. In the first four months alone, the Double Up site witnessed over 17,000 transactions.

“Ivis Group has been key to the success of the Clubcard Deals and Double Up sites,” says Dylan Harrington, marketing manager at Tesco Freetime. “The company demonstrated that it had the necessary insight, skill and experience to address our multi-channel needs.”

This article first appeared in the Summer 2009 edition of Retailspeak magazine.

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