CHAIN ​​STORE TEGNE

June 4

Written by Michelle Thomsen

« The customer club provides the opportunity to communicate with the customer even after they have left the store »

The Tegne retail chain was founded 100 years ago, with the store Christ. Engebretsen & Søn at Pilestredet 27 in Oslo. They started as a paint store with a small artist's department, but eventually became an institution for high-quality artist's supplies.

Linda Løkken, general manager of Tegne Bergen center and store coordinator for all stores

Today, Tegne has 5 stores in Oslo, Bergen and Ås, as well as the online store tegne.no . We at Diller interviewed Linda Løkken, who is the general manager of Tegne Bergen center and store coordinator for all the stores.

“ It’s fantastic to be able to go down to the product level to provide the best possible customer service. We have 30,000 product lines in our range, so it’s absolutely essential to be able to hit the mark with our marketing, and the Diller solution helps us with this.”

First of all – congratulations on your 100th anniversary!

Thank you very much – it was a very nice celebration!

Why did you start a customer club?

We saw a need to organize and systematize discounts and customer benefits. Our stores have a long history of various discount schemes, for example, benefit programs that only worked in stores and not in the online store. It was confusing for both customers and employees. Customers had to keep receipts and total up to get their benefits.

In other words, it was very cumbersome. We wanted to simplify and improve our program and make it easier to offer benefits. We spoke to our POS system supplier, Extenda Retail, who recommended Diller. That's when we realized we had access to an integrated system that works both in-store and online.

What do you see as the most important benefits of a loyalty program?

We want to build a closer relationship with our customers, so that they become more loyal. A loyalty program simply gives us the opportunity to communicate, because they agree to it when they become a member. Then it is a matter of trust that we send out information that is relevant and sensible. This is important to us.

« The customer club provides the opportunity to communicate with the customer even after they have left the store, and the loyalty program connects the physical store and the online store. »

What do you think about the functionality of Diller?

It's fantastic to be able to get down to the product level to provide the best possible customer service. We have 30,000 product lines in our range, so it's essential to be able to hit the mark with our marketing, and the Diller solution helps us with this. With products ranging from finger paints for children, to the best oil paints for artists and knitting needles, it's of course a challenge to communicate effectively and concisely without alienating anyone or being irrelevant.

The purchase history of customers makes it possible to target our communications, so that everyone feels that they are receiving relevant content, promotions and benefits from us.

What results have you seen so far?

We started at the New Year 2022 and recruit an average of 1,000 new members each month. We have around 15,000 members today, so we are very happy with that. When we send out campaigns via email and SMS, we experience increased traffic in the stores. We have customers who say that they came because of the message they received just before, so we see a clear effect on the trade in the stores. An example is when we had a night open in Bergen and sent out a text message to members that same afternoon.

We had a very good visit to the store because of the one SMS. We have used different email systems for sending information to customers, but have had some challenges with this. Now we have moved to MailChimp, which is fully integrated with Diller, and then we have completely different possibilities. Among other things, we have started with segmentation, which is incredibly important for us to be able to send out relevant information. Those who buy a paint product, receive an email a few days later with information about courses, where a landing page from the email presents teachers on our various painting courses.

How do you recruit new members?

We have clear marketing of the customer club on tegne.no. There is information in several places on the website and in the chat as a separate button – “ask us about the customer club” – plus in the checkout in the online store. We also ask everyone who shops in the stores if they want to become a member. A message about the customers’ mobile phone number comes at the checkout, so that the employees take care to ask when making a purchase. The vast majority agree to become a member and save money. We try to entice them in with a 10% discount on their first purchase.

How important is it that Diller is integrated into the checkout?

It was absolutely crucial for our choice!

How important is it that Diller is integrated into the online store?

For us, this is what made us change the customer club we had previously. Without the link to the online store, we would have postponed the launch, or looked for other solutions.

What do you think about the collaboration with Diller?

We get very good help from Knut at Diller! An example of good customer support is that we have an employee at Tegne who reacted to the gender segmentation in the Diller solution. It was possible to choose "Male", "Female" or "Do not wish to answer". My colleague pointed out that "non-binary" is the correct 3rd choice, and Diller then changed this according to our wishes. Those who identify as this would like to answer, and then it was wrong with "do not wish to answer". We experience that Diller was both flexible and willing to join us into the future! Yesterday we had a visit from a customer who came here for the first time in 1946! Here you can read more about Tegne's anniversary and good stories from the last 100 years.