{"id":4339,"date":"2018-04-09T03:01:57","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T07:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/?p=1571193"},"modified":"2018-04-09T03:01:57","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T07:01:57","slug":"canadian-tire-ups-the-stakes-in-its-loyalty-program-but-do-customers-have-loyalty-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/04\/09\/canadian-tire-ups-the-stakes-in-its-loyalty-program-but-do-customers-have-loyalty-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Tire ups the stakes in its loyalty program, but do customers have loyalty fatigue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 Canadian Tire is revamping its loyalty program and for the first time bringing it into its other stores, including Sport Chek and Marks, under a brand symbol that has signified the retailer since its inception in 1940: the red triangle.<\/p>\n

Triangle Rewards marks the loyalty program\u2019s first major overhaul since the retailer of auto parts and kitchenware launched a digital app and loyalty card in 2014 to complement its longstanding paper Canadian Tire \u2018money\u2019 program.<\/p>\n

The beloved coupon tender still isn\u2019t going anywhere \u2014 Canadian Tire Money will continue to be handed out at stores to debit or cash-paying customers who do not have a loyalty card or app.<\/p>\n

But the program\u2019s enhancements come after a period of deep consumer frustration with some of Canada\u2019s biggest loyalty programs over technical glitches, problems with point redemptions and ongoing concerns about privacy and data breaches. Despite that, data suggests Canadians are still heavy users of loyalty programs, which retailers have viewed as an increasingly important tool to hold on to their customer bases amid the rise of Amazon and online deal sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think loyalty fatigue has to do with the number of programs out there as opposed to (a lack of) willingness to collect rewards,\u201d said Canadian Tire\u2019s executive vice-president Allan MacDonald, who acknowledged it\u2019s still an issue that many of Canadian Tire\u2019s customers don\u2019t realize that the retailer owns Sport Chek.<\/p>\n

Canadian Tire bought Marks in 2002 and Sport Chek\u2019s owner Forzani Group in 2011, but initially the company was not sure how much it wanted to integrate the brands, MacDonald said. Now viewed as complementary assets, executives believe they can be better leveraged by using the Triangle as a single common identifier between them and a preferable strategy to partnering with a third-party loyalty provider such as Air Miles.<\/p>\n

Triangle Rewards will extend over time to the retailer\u2019s other banners, including auto parts chain PartSource and Pro Hockey Life, and existing Canadian Tire app and card holders will automatically begin collecting Triangle Rewards when the program rolls out later this spring.<\/p>\n

When you use a third-party loyalty program \u201cthere is some debate as to whether or not your customers are shopping with you because you give out those (third-party) points,\u201d said MacDonald, one of the reasons Sport Chek decided to end its agreement with Cineplex\u2019s Scene loyalty program.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have access to be able to market to those customers because they are not your customers, they belong to the loyalty program. It\u2019s very arms length.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they are expensive to create and market, retailers love loyalty programs because of they insights they provide into consumers\u2019 shopping habits, and the bulk of consumers belong to more than one program. In a time of heightened sensitivity to the sharing of personal information on Facebook and other digital data-scrapers, one might think consumers would be more concerned about revealing their habits to large corporations.<\/p>\n

But branding expert Andris Pone said that\u2019s not typically the case when consumers have opted in to a trusted brand\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanadians like their loyalty programs, and they love Canadian Tire,\u201d said Pone. \u201cIn last week\u2019s Leger survey, Canadian Tire was ranked third most-admired brand in Canada (behind Google and Shoppers Drug Mart), exactly the same position as last year. So this brand is less vulnerable than most to consumers\u2019 privacy fears. And people have always understood that the entire point of loyalty programs from the retailer\u2019s point of view is to collect information about you and presumably share it with their suppliers and other parties. That is the quid pro quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite industry speculation about loyalty program fatigue amid consumer outcries over a proposed (and later cancelled) Air Miles points expiry at the end of 2016 and more recent technical issues related to PC Optimum, Canadians appear to be as loyal to loyalty programs as ever.<\/p>\n