Discovering the Soul of Service: The Nine Drivers of Sustainable Business Success by Leonard L. Berry

Author:Leonard L. Berry [Berry, Leonard L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 1999-07-12T22:00:00+00:00

Ukrop’s was the first supermarket in the United States to introduce a frequent shopper program—Ukrop’s Valued Customer (UVC) program, introduced in 1987. The foundation for the company’s relationship marketing efforts, the UVC program illustrates not only continuous learning through information technology but also structural solutions and friendship rules.

By using their bar-coded UVC membership cards when checking out, customers accrue automatic savings and Ukrop’s tracks household purchases. Membership cards come in three versions: as a wallet card similar to a credit card, as a smaller keychain card, and as a bank debit card issued by First Market Bank with branches in Ukrop’s stores and jointly owned by Ukrop’s and National Commerce Bancorporation. Customer benefits revolve around their use of the card. Through monthly newsletters and other mailings, members are informed of member-only product discounts that are electronically granted when checking out. A specific store aisle is dedicated to the monthly UVC specials. Members can select a charity to receive a percentage of their spending with the UVC card. By using their card, members automatically are entered in periodic store sweepstakes promotions (“Win a trip to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament”) and can qualify for a free Thanksgiving turkey (based on spending in the weeks preceding the holiday). Members also receive discounts from other local businesses.

The ability to apply continuous learning about individual household purchasing patterns is one of the program’s strongest features. Monthly newsletter specials are targeted to the needs of specific households. Thus, a loyal yogurt customer may receive a coupon for a free Yoplait yogurt. Ukrop’s has incorporated a Baby Club into the program that gives members a $10 certificate for every $100 they spend on baby products using the UVC card.

The UVC program takes much of the anonymity out of food shopping. Loyal customers develop personalized relationships with store employees, and they develop electronic relationships with the company as a whole. The program is a way for Ukrop’s to talk to the nearly 300,000 households that used the UVC card during any 12-week period in 1998. Ukrop’s publishes a glossy magazine for its members twice a year that includes recipes, sweepstakes promotions, electronic coupon specials, vendor-sponsored promotions, and seasonal editorial content, such as “Alternatives for the Allergic.”

The UVC program benefits are compelling, which is why within two weeks of a new Ukrop’s store opening in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1997, 89 percent of the sales were through the UVC card. In 1998 about 30 percent of Ukrop’s customers accounted for 71 percent of its sales. “We need to take good care of this 30 percent. We need to keep our best customers shopping with us,” states Scott Ukrop, vice president of sales and marketing.

LEVELS OF RELATIONSHIP COMMITMENT

Customers, employees, and partners may remain in relationships with a company either because they desire the relationship or because they perceive no suitable alternative. The level of commitment to a relationship depends on the extent to which it derives from dedication rather than constraint.35 Trust-based relationships foster dedication.

Relationship commitment can be conceptualized

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.