Loyalty and membership programmes can really help generate customer loyalty because of the positive association consumers feel when belonging to a club and enjoying the privileges and exclusive discounts.

When the average exclusive discount is multiplied by the number of different businesses offering a discount in a loyalty and membership programme the joint saving of a loyalty and membership programme for a member is huge.

The member sees the savings as a whole and therefore what is a relatively small amount for one business can appear to be more to a consumer. This is because the exclusive discounts are seen in the context of the complete amount saved with a loyalty and membership programme, such as The Big Savings Club.

This table shows the real value of the savings that can be made using a sample of the best exclusive discounts Big Savings Club Members can use*:

When members save this much money the associative value for brands featured in The Big Savings Club can be immense. This is the advantage loyalty and membership programmes have over seasonal sales, one-off vouchers and promotions. The loyalty and membership programmes also offer a continual point of reference for members, helping to generate customer loyalty.

The Rocket Marketing Group operates a number of different loyalty and membership programmes. They are free for businesses to be featured in when they offer an exclusive discount to members. The largest of the loyalty and membership programmes The Rocket Marketing Group operate is The Big Savings Club and with over 56,000 members the opportunity to reach a new audience and generate customer loyalty is impressive.

Contact Us if you would like to offer consumers an exclusive discount with your business through a loyalty and membership programme, encouraging consumers to spend money with your company and have a positive experience attached to your brand.

Offers correct at time of publication and subject to terms and conditions. *Big Savings Club savings have been calculated from average UK family spending figures from the “Expenditure and Food Survey” and “Family Spending Survey”, Office for National Statistics, 2006. All member privileges quoted are correct at December 2008 and may be subject to change. All figures have been rounded to the nearest pound.

This summer the recession is set to continue but there are a number of factors which will help certain businesses do well during this period. Tapping into these and understanding how to make the most of valuable consumers will be the key to a successful summer. Some of the elements that could help British businesses do well this summer include:

The good weather

Early predictions have told us that we should have a hot summer in Britain this year. Although the forecasts are not completely reliable, we have been blessed so far with the sunny weather.

Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Ewen McCallum, said: “After two disappointingly-wet summers, the signs are much more promising this year. We can expect times when temperatures will be above 30 °C, something we hardly saw at all last year.”

Not only does the good weather put Brits in a good mood but it means that they become valuable consumers as they spend money on their gardens, barbeques, days out, nice food for picnics etc. These are all important for British Businesses to have a successful summer.

Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc, said: “We have made a good start to the year, boosted by better weather and a later Easter.  B&Q in particular capitalised well on this increased demand, growing its market share and doubling its retail profit.”

Less people are going abroad for summer holidays

Despite the rise in the amount of budget airlines and cheap package deals over the last couple of decades, a foreign holiday is still considered a treat. In the last year a lot of people have been looking for ways in which to cut back and they have been realising the easiest way to do this is by forgoing luxuries and treats. This has largely been bad for British businesses but the reduction in the amount of people taking a foreign holiday could be a blessing for a lot of others. When Brits stay at home for the summer they are valuable consumers.

RAC revealed that nearly two-thirds of those that holidayed abroad last year are staying put this year and short distance travel plans are up 33% on 2008.

The Caravan Club has noticed a positive change this year reporting that advanced bookings for 2009 are up by 40% on 2008.

More people visiting Britain

The weak pound may mean that we don’t get much for our money in Europe, but this works both ways. Can we expect people from other European countries to flock to Britain for a cheap holiday? For them it’s possibly the best time to visit the UK, at a time when they’ll get more for their Euro. If this proves to be true Britain will get a new group of valuable consumers.

Interest rates at an all-time low

This has an effect on the amount of disposable income people have. For those on a tracker mortgage the interest rate drop will not have just eased the financial pressures on them, but could well have released another pocket of disposable income. Brits are being cautious with their money but with savings rates also low it’s not as appealing to save any spare money either.

It is important to make sure that the British people who are spending money in the UK do so with your business and one way to do this is by marketing your brand through a loyalty and membership programme. The Rocket marketing group develop loyalty and membership programmes, offering members discounts from a range of companies offering everything from shopping to leisure. It is completely free for companies to feature in the loyalty and reward programmes when they offer an exclusive discount to members. Across all the clubs Rocket has over 120,000 full active members nationwide. Therefore this makes it a powerful marketing tool for British Businesses. Loyalty and membership programmes target those in the UK who are looking to spend money on a good deal. Targeting these consumers could make this a successful summer for your British Business.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss how a loyalty and membership programme can work with your business to encourage consumers to use your products/ services, and help you have a successful summer.

The British public’s spending habits have changed in the last year, not only with how much they are spending but what they are buying. Consumers expect a bargain and there are plenty of sales on the high street to cater to this. But the changes in peoples’ lifestyles extend beyond the brands they’re buying, as it’s also impacting on the way they spend their time. Striving to save money is no longer a taboo and there is an increasing amount of consumers having money saving fun.

Possibly the simplest example of money saving fun is to make something yourself; this can be anything from clothing to food. The drop in restaurant trade and increase in supermarket profits suggests that more people are cooking dishes and meals themselves – both saving money and spending time on a new hobby. Back in December 2008 electrical store Comet noticed a rise in sales for gifts that were designed to save people money. Sales of coffee machines and breadmakers were up 433% and 1275%. Coffee machines can help Brits save up to £500 on regular trips to the coffee shop and breadmakers produce around three loaves for less than the price of one in the supermarket. Chocolate fountains, were popular in 2007 but in December 2008 were bottom of the wish list, below microwaves and toasters.

In December, Bob Darke, Commercial Director at Comet commented: “Christmas shoppers are taking advantage of great deals with many opting for practical gifts for friends and family that will help them save money in the longer term.  This week we’ll have many more deals on a wide range of electrical products to appeal to all our customers.”

The horticultural trades are also performing well in uncertain times and gardening is being taken up by the younger generation as they develop their gardens for social use. The recession is greatly impacting on what young adults are spending their money on and the statistics showing this indicate a definite social and cultural change and a trend towards consumers having money saving fun.

The key findings of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA)  GIM Garden Intentions 2009 survey reveal that: 29% intend to spend more time working in their garden this year, 25-34 year olds are most likely to increase the amount of time working on their gardens (44%). The reasons given for spending more time working in the garden include: prospect of better weather this summer (48%), growing interest in gardening (37%), plans for a major garden overhaul/ redesign (23%), intentions to grow more fruit and vegetables (22%), working less and spending more time at home (18%). For relaxing and entertaining 31% of respondents plan to increase their use of their garden this year. Once again it was the 25-34 year olds that are most likely to spend more time relaxing and entertaining in their garden (42%) this year. 9% also stated that they are cutting back on more expensive pastimes and 8% cutting back on holidays away from home this year – and spending more time in the garden.

We can see the country’s need to save money; even if it means a lifestyle change it doesn’t mean people are enjoying life any less – Brits are actually having fun spending time saving.

The Rocket Marketing Group understands the need to have fun whilst saving money and operates a range of loyalty and membership programmes that offer members exclusive discounts on a range of products and services. The programmes include The Home & Garden Club, The Entertainment Club, and The Big Savings Club. The loyalty and membership programmes all mean that members can have money saving fun, helping them to enjoy themselves more often. The success of these loyalty and membership programmes show that people are actually having fun spending time saving.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss how a loyalty and membership programme can work with your business to encourage consumers to use your products/ services, however they like to spend time saving.

When will consumers start enjoying the shopping experience again? The British Retail Consortium has recently reported that consumer spending increased 6.3 per cent from April 2008. With sales figures up on this time last year, can we see this as an indicator that the general guilt of spending any money unnecessarily has subsided? And is there anything businesses can do to make the public love shopping again?

Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said: “The best sales growth for three years is good news but let’s be cautious. A sunny Easter that fell in April this year is the key reason why overall sales are up compared with last year when Easter was in March and miserable. Sales of garden goods, outdoor leisure, clothing and food did well but other non-food sectors missed out on the seasonal boost and the total spent on food rose less than food inflation, indicating the amount sold dropped.

Following a tough winter, there’s some pent up demand but there’s no reason to think customers suddenly feel flush or eager to spend. With unemployment set to grow through the rest of the year, mounting jobs worries will hold back spending for some time. It would be great if the historically weak performance of the last twelve months was behind us but we shouldn’t celebrate yet.”

Businesses have done a lot to try and entice the public back into spending and it is working to some extent but there are limitations to the success consecutive sale periods can have. It can damage overall consumer loyalty, devalue the brand and the rewards can rarely match what a loyalty and membership programme can offer?

When the objective is to make consumers feel rewarded for buying and/or remaining loyal to a specific brand, a loyalty and membership programme can do this extremely effectively. The other advantage is that marketing a brand in this way incurs no cost for participating businesses; all they have to do is offer an exclusive discount for members. A business’ customers who are members of the loyalty or membership programme receive extra free rewards which give added value to the exclusive discounts they receive from the business.

The Rocket Marketing Group operates a number of loyalty and reward programmes and the largest of these is The Big Savings Club. The Big Savings Club features businesses offering exclusive discounts, from a variety of sectors including Shopping, Entertainment, Travel, Health, Fashion, Kids and Motoring. When a customer joins this club they are given seven free rewards which they can redeem along with the discounts offered by the featured businesses.

Rocket feel that consumers should really start to love shopping again when they receive the exclusive discounts and free rewards contained in The Big Savings Club. The rewards include a Free European Flight, Sail to France for Free, Free UK Hotel Accommodation, Worldwide Accommodation for a week for just £200, 2 for 1 Golf, City Cruise and £400 off a Holiday to Florida.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss how a Rocket Marketing Group loyalty and membership programme and free rewards can make consumers love shopping at your business.

Offers correct at time of publication and subject to terms and conditions.

With the state of the economy many businesses have realised the importance of giving their customers more in terms of offers and services, to ensure consumer loyalty and profit growth. Traditionally this has been the domain of businesses such as supermarkets and increasingly so in recent years as they have expanded into areas such as clothing, banking etc.

Not all businesses have the capacity to expand in this way but there are other ways to diversify and offer non-core products and services to encourage consumer loyalty. One option for businesses is to offer customers the opportunity to buy into a bespoke loyalty and reward programme which carries their branding but is operated by a third party such as The Rocket Marketing Group.

By a third party managing every aspect of the extra offering of non-core products and services through a loyalty and membership programme the business receives free added extras for the brand without having to commit additional resources.

These programmes can essentially offer non-core products and services at a discounted rate to customers who become members. The programmes can be fully branded with a company’s logo so that they feature under the umbrella of the one brand. The products the programmes offer can also be completely bespoke depending on what a business wants to offer customers. All of this means that a company’s customers don’t need to go anywhere else to complete their shopping experience. This has to help with consumer loyalty whilst providing an effective way for a business to gain profit growth through earning incremental revenue.

In the current economic climate businesses that offer the full service shopping experience at value prices are doing very well. A good example of this is the supermarkets that offer a wide variety of products and services at value prices and are reporting profit growth when many other sectors are experiencing a downturn.  Sainsbury’s profits have recently reported a total sales growth of 5.7 per cent in the preliminary results for the 52 weeks to 21 March 2009.

Justin King, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “Our business is growing because we have responded quickly and effectively to a rapidly changing environment. Total sales for the year were up 5.7 per cent and like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 4.5 per cent..In addition we have continued to drive cost efficiencies offsetting over 75 per cent of cost inflation and delivered further profit growth.

Fixing fundamental parts of our operation through our ‘Making Sainsbury’s Great Again’ recovery programme has placed the business in a strong position. Although consumer confidence in the UK has declined during the year, our performance improved as a result of the strength of the Sainsbury’s brand and actions we have taken to adjust our offer to changing customer trends.”

So producing a white-label loyalty and membership programme can be an effective way to compete with the full shopping services and consumer loyalty of businesses such as supermarkets. The programmes can act as a way to simulate the success of supermarkets by adjusting a company’s offering in reaction to changing customer trends.

Contact Us if you would like your business to offer non-core products and services to your customers through a loyalty and membership programme, encouraging them to stay loyal to your brand.

In some ways business is no different to other areas of life. When times are hard even the fiercest of rivals have to come together to defeat a common enemy. In football, players who compete against each other on a weekly basis will come together to represent their country; pop stars will share the limelight with other bands on a TV show to encourage people to buy music. It’s also the theme of numerous films, but in reality it can actually work well. With the state consumer confidence and the economy is in, businesses that offer products and services to the public should maybe look at ways to rally. The need to increase consumer confidence and push consumers to spend is a shared interest; so supporting each other by working towards this goal is a powerful marketing proposition.

External influences can also help and the government has introduced measures to boost consumer confidence and push consumers to spend their money. The measures include lowering repayments on tracker mortgages by continually reducing interest rates, introducing schemes which help people to get on the first rung of the property ladder and bolstering the banks in an attempt to encourage them to start lending again. With these measures and many others in place worldwide the economy and consumer confidence is starting to show glimmers of an upturn, but how can businesses further encourage the increase in consumer confidence and push consumers to spend more money?

In the coastal town of Rye, a lot of businesses decided to come together and make it known that they accept Euros in their establishments and this has proved to be very beneficial. The success of this scheme has made the national news this week, proving that in this instance pulling together seems to have worked.

Mr Holman of the town’s Chamber of Commerce said that using the Euro had so far proved more successful, “than we ever dreamt of.”

Another example of businesses rallying for a common goal is in the East Sussex town of Lewes, where they have united to design and print their own currency – the Lewes Pound. This initiative aims to encourage locals to spend their money locally.

In larger towns and cities shopping centres are possibly the most visible example on the high street of businesses coming together to give consumers a one stop shop for a range of goods/ services, pushing consumers to spend their money in one place. The shopping centres often offer car parking/ crèches etc and advertise/ promote what they collectively offer customers.

This is also the aim of loyalty and membership programmes which promote a range of businesses along side each other. Businesses can offer an exclusive discount to members and feature in a guide which is set up, managed and promoted by a third party. Alternatively businesses can sell the loyalty and membership programmes as a bespoke club to existing customers, providing them with a full service of products.

The Rocket Marketing Group currently operates 5 loyalty and membership programmes covering many areas including Travel, Lifestyle, Shopping, Entertainment and Motoring.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss what a Rocket Marketing Group loyalty and membership programme can do for your business.

During harsh economic times it’s good to hear of a success story and this is one such case. The Rocket Marketing Group specialise in developing, implementing and managing loyalty clubs, reward programmes and incentives promotions and recently reached its one millionth sales order using SAP Business One, business management software. This is a massive achievement for a company that only installed the system in March 2007. SAP Business One systems manage every aspect of the company including CRM, finance and stock control. This provides stability and consistent quality standards, allowing the business to grow and handle multiple programmes simultaneously.

The Rocket Marketing Group was established in 2001 and has been growing rapidly ever since. The company currently has over 120,000 full active members to its loyalty clubs and reward programmes and works in partnership with over 100 UK businesses, from large businesses to small retailers.

The company’s figures show a 375% growth since the installation of SAP Business One, from a turnover of £1 million in 2006-2007 to £3.75 million in 2007-2008. SAP Business One was instrumental in giving Rocket the capacity to expand whilst not compromising on quality. From managing just one membership club in 2007 Rocket has seamlessly grown and now operates a total of 5 different reward programmes. Using this system and maintaining quality standards have meant both profits and efficiency have greatly improved whilst operational costs have reduced.

Alan Saunders, Operations and Business Development Director said: “SAP Business One has been significant in the growth and stability of the company. It helps to ensure that the business is operated in a way that is efficient and controlled. The Rocket Marketing Group’s success, most notably its excellent standards of quality and efficiency has also been recognised by The British Standards Institute which awarded us with ISO 9001 Quality Management accreditation, and SAP Business One has been a large factor in this.”

The recent economic downturn has certainly helped improve the popularity of The Rocket Marketing Group’s products, as people become increasingly interested in discounts and non-core offers. Loyalty and reward programmes give consumers what they need and can create loyal customers for the businesses involved. SAP Business One has enabled Rocket to react and act upon the needs of consumers and their demand for discounts across a variety of sectors.

The one millionth sales order signifies a success story for everyone involved and is cause for celebration. With this in mind Rocket passed on the good fortune to the lucky customer who placed the one millionth sales order. They were treated to a slap-up meal at a local restaurant courtesy of The Rocket Marketing Group.

Contact Us to join the celebrations and find out how you can work with The Rocket Marketing Group.

If you believe what the statistics show, then staying in is the new going out. Over the last year the recession has taken hold of Britain and as a result the general public’s spending habits have changed. Through the real fears of redundancy, recession and rising fuel bills people have become more money-conscious. It’s almost no longer a taboo to collect discount vouchers, look for cheaper entertainment or seek discounts in shops and online. A lot of people find the easiest way to save money is to change their spending habits and stop buying non-essential goods and experiences. So how does this affect the businesses that offer these products and services and is there a way to make them affordable during a time of such uncertainty?

Research from Abbey Credit Cards conducted in January has revealed that: “British dining habits are being dramatically affected by the changing economic climate, with over half (56 per cent) of Britons cutting back on eating out.”

They also found that: “Dining ‘al desko’ is also gaining momentum with 17 per cent more starting to take a packed lunch to work in the last 12 months to save money.”

And it is not just the catering industry that is being hit by the public changing their spending habits and cutting back. Cheaper entertainment has seen an increase in business over the last year, as we saw earlier this year when companies such as Cineworld revealed their yearly figures, reporting a rise in sales.

On this, Chairman, Anthony Bloom commented: “Movies have an enduring appeal and a visit to the cinema is relatively low cost when compared with other forms of leisure and entertainment.”

People will continue to spend on large items but maybe less regularly, so what can these businesses do to encourage more regular sales during harsh economic times particularly companies offering experiences that aren’t considered cheap entertainment?

Price Reductions through a managed reward programme can reap good rewards even when people feel they have to change their spending habits, as they encourage a continuance of a certain type of lifestyle. In The Big Savings Club reward programme, The Rocket Marketing Group position companies that are larger, non-essential purchases next to everyday essentials and cheaper entertainment such as supermarkets and cinemas. For members the special experience or product doesn’t seem like so much of a luxury/ treat but rather a privilege of belonging to a reward programme. They need not cut back or go out less often; they can use it as an aid to maintaining a certain lifestyle because there are discounts on everything including Shopping, Entertainment, Travel, Health, Fashion, Kids and Motoring. It is a way for people to cut their spending without cutting back. Higher value products/services offering a discount include:

10% extra free on Theatre Tokens
10% free on Leisure Vouchers
15% off Virgin Experience Days
Up to 50% off Haven Holidays
15% off Champneys.

Contact Us if you are a company that would like to be featured in one of our reward programmes. It is a completely free marketing option; all you have to do is offer an exclusive discount for the reward programme members.

Offers correct at time of publication and subject to terms and conditions.

At the moment there are lots of sales and discounted goods for consumers to choose from as well as the rise of discount stores on the high street. Price reductions have almost become the norm. So what different consumer incentives are there and how appealing are they to potential customers? And are there particular brands that benefit from offering certain discounts such as 2 for 1 or a free product trial? The Rocket Marketing Group specialise in developing and managing specific or bespoke member reward programmes and consumer incentive promotions. The Big Savings Club is the largest of our reward programmes. Below are a few of the most popular offers from The Big Savings Club and the partner businesses that are involved. Have a look and decide on the type of discount that would work best for your business.

There are a variety of companies, from a range of sectors that we work with for our Reward programmes. The exclusive discounts that they offer through our clubs vary but here are a few of the most popular ones:

A one-off voucher
A voucher is a consumer incentive that can encourage customers who wouldn’t normally try your brand to sample what it offers. This is a useful tool for switching a customer’s loyalty to your brand and breaking their existing spending habits. Businesses that successfully offer vouchers through The Big Savings Club are:

Virgin Wines
D&A.

2 for 1
This is an offer we all see on a daily basis. Many supermarkets adopt this offer to up-sell certain products and encourage consumers to buy more goods. It is good for brands that offer a game or experience as it gives the customer twice as long to get into the activity and enjoy the experience. And this is likely to improve the chances of the customers making a return visit. In The Big Savings Club a 2 for 1 discount is offered by:

Go Ballistic.

10% off
This is a very popular discount for businesses to offer. And although at face value this consumer incentive doesn’t seem to provide as much appeal as maybe 2 for 1, when in the context of a more expensive product, the saving for a consumer can be quite appealing. They might not bother to take notice of a 10% discount on something that costs £1 as they only stand to save 10p but on a larger amount such as £100 for example, they would save £10 – a far more attractive prospect. Here are just some of the partners that offer a 10% discount through The Big Savings Club:

Cottages4you
The Gluttonous Gardener
Early Learning Centre.

Cottages4you are particularly impressed with how offering 10% off through The Big Savings Club is working for them. They comment that: “By featuring in both The Big Savings Club and JML VIP Savings Club, the two accounts together have generated a total transaction value of £12,746 for Cottages4you.”

Cottages4you is just one brand that currently benefits from featuring an exclusive discount in one of our guides. Above is a small sample of the exclusive discounts that we feature in our reward programmes but we’re confident that we can find solutions to suit any brand.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss the possibilities for developing an exclusive offer and including your business in one of our reward programmes.

Offers correct at time of publication and subject to terms and conditions.

There are signs that the recession is starting to slow and in some sectors there is even speculation that it has bottomed out. This is fantastic news for the struggling economy and companies that rely on consumer confidence to survive. We’ve seen too many victims of the dismal financial times recently, from large British institutions such as Woolworths to smaller local independent businesses.

Paul Otellini, Intel President and CEO said: “We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns”

As PCs are considered non-essential goods, the rise in the company’s fortunes are probably a reliable clue as to the way in which the economy is travelling. Even the housing market, which many people use as an economic barometer, is starting to show signs of a recovery. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has just released its Housing Market Survey, which highlighted the recent increase in people interested in buying and how this is starting to translate into actual sales:

“Significantly, the tentative signs of a pick-up in activity have become more broadly based over the past month. New buyer enquiries have now increased for five consecutive months with the positive net balance in March climbing to its best level since September 2003.

More importantly, there is now clear evidence that the higher level of buyer interest is feeding through into actual sales. Newly agreed sales, measured on a net balance basis, rose over the month as did the average sales per surveyor series (for the first time since the tail end of 2007).”

With this in mind it is maybe time for both large and independent businesses to start thinking about how to launch out of the recession positively? How to be the first one to reap the rewards of a healthier economy and build a customer base that is willing to start spending money?

One answer is to start building a loyal customer base now. It is a time for consolidation; when the economy picks up and consumers start spending money again they will probably be spending it on the brand with which they have built a relationship with. If a brand has rewarded consumers during difficult times the affiliation that has been built will more than likely mean that these customers end up rewarding the business through affluent times.

Here at The Rocket Marketing Group our primary focus is to drive loyalty, retention and revenue for both large and independent businesses. Our combined reward programmes have a membership base of over 100,000. Becoming involved with our reward programmes gives both large and independent businesses a free platform to market a brand and tap into an established base of loyal customers. We manage everything end-to-end and in-house so it is an effective and efficient way for businesses to promote products and services.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss what a Rocket Marketing Group reward programme can do for your brand whether it’s a large or independent business.