BY MALENE BIRGER PALEET

June 4

« It is absolutely crucial for us that the loyalty program is fully synchronized with checkout, online store, SMS and email »

By Malene Birger Paleet opened its doors in 2018 and is the Danish designer brand's flagship store in Norway. The franchise store is owned by Merete Beckman, who started Norway's first By Malene Birger store on Hegdehaugsveien in 2009.

Merete and Magnus Beckman in family-owned By Malene Birger Paleet

The store aims to be Norway's best store in terms of service and also offers personal shopping as a free service. We interviewed CEO Merete Beckman and Chairman Magnus Beckman about their experiences since starting with Diller in February 2023.

Why did you start a customer club?

We had another program before that didn't work so well. We were contacted by Diller and were open to something better. The total package from Diller, with integration to the online store and the cash register system from Front Systems, as well as with SMS and email functions that are fully synchronized, was a very big improvement.

Why did you choose Diller?

Synchronization is key! What we had before had no integration, so we ended up with separate systems that worked separately but not together. It didn't give us as much return on the work as we put in.

“The fact that we got everything on one platform was absolutely essential. In addition, the price of Diller is very reasonable. The previous solution had very high start-up costs and a long completion time.”

In addition, for us to be satisfied as customers, follow-up is necessary, and Diller is good at that. We are very satisfied with the support we receive from Ekin in the Diller team.

What do you see as the most important advantages of a customer club?

Customers feel like they are getting something in return from us, and they are pleasantly surprised when they have a coupon waiting for them. The 15% welcome discount is also very enticing for new members. Customers earn bonuses and get a lot in return when they shop with us regularly. We have many competitors, and our main goal is that members become loyal and come to us because of our good service.

« The birthday coupon also gives a very positive response. We see that it is important to tell customers about the birthday gift, because after we started reminding them to enter their birthday, many more people are using the coupon, and we notice that they are happy about this gesture from us. »

How do you recruit new members?

We always ask at checkout if they want to become a member and have posters with QR codes in the fitting rooms and at the checkout. We ask for their phone number when they pay, and then they are automatically registered in Diller if the number is not already registered. We hear that customers receive an SMS message, and then we tell them about the customer program and the benefits. They can then choose for themselves whether to activate the membership, and they have the receipt with us anyway.

How does the customer program work?

We use the customer program primarily for discounts, such as celebrations, promotions, seasonal sales or sales starts. We send SMS to all members, so they get the message before everyone else – this makes the program more exclusive for our members. They get a head start. We have a bonus system that rewards customers who shop with us often and a lot.

“We also use SMS to inform about the Mid Season Sale, and then only those who receive the SMS know about the sale, because nothing is displayed in the store. You have to show the received SMS to get the discount. This works very well, and our members appreciate this benefit.”

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

This is absolutely crucial, and we wouldn't have a customer club without integration and synchronization! It's also important that GDPR is in place, and we got that well in place with Diller.

What do you see for yourselves in the future?

Earlier this year, we were hacked on Instagram and lost all 14,000 of our followers – what a shame! We therefore had to build a new page and follower base and we are now seeing that we are getting more active and engaged followers. We use Instagram to profile By Malene Birger and bring new customers into the store. We also see after the hacker attack that it is absolutely necessary to have control over and own your own marketing channel, as we do with Diller.

It's important to use the customer club correctly – and remember to use it! Diller as a concept, with everything on one platform is great; email, SMS, purchase history and bonus accumulation are all in one place.

« When we started with Diller, we had around 8,000 members, and after just over a year, we have increased to over 13,000 members. We are very pleased with this, since we have one, family-owned store after all. Our goal is to increase the membership base by 3,000 new members a year in the future. We look forward to the continuation! »