Pret freebies ‘alienating customers’

Pret A Manger boss Clive Schlee must be one sandwich short of a picnic, according to some loyalty experts with one claiming, that by letting staff simply give away freebies to whoever they like, the firm risks alienating thousands of its most loyal customers.
According to Schlee, the strategy is a cheaper and simpler alternative to a loyalty-card scheme; 28% of its customers have already received a freebie based on this model.
But Adam Goran, divisional director for customer engagement at Grass Roots Group, points out this means around three quarters of its potentially already loyal daily customers have not.
He added: “This will make (and clearly already has from social noise) existing customers, and not to mention the potentially new ones, feel alienated and personally unrewarded now they know they’re not one of the special chosen group.”
He points out that successful customer engagement is built on insight into what makes each individual customer tick. This can only be gained from the analysis of both transactional and emotional data, achieved through insight into the daily habits of a consumer and any potential external factors like weather and festivities such as Christmas or Easter.
This, said Goran, enables brands to reward customers individually based on their personal preferences, making them feel valued and appreciated.
He added: “Card based loyalty is not the only customer engagement strategy out there, as Clive Schlee considered. The analysis of the transactional and attitudinal data of your customers must lie at the heart of building long lasting, loyal advocates for your business, whilst an occasional random act of kindness to surprise and delight, should be the cherry on top.”