OLIVENLUNDEN

June 4

« With Diller we felt very well taken care of »

Olivenlunden 1830 is a gastronomic specialty store for olive oil, balsamic vinegar and culinary products from the Mediterranean. It is a nationwide chain with 13 stores in Norway. We at Diller interviewed marketing manager Lene Sagenes to hear about their experiences with the launch of a new loyalty program.

Marketing Manager Lene Sagenes at Olivenlunden

“You are always excited before the launch of a new system. What immediately became clear when we switched to a digital customer club was that it was very well received by the stores, because it is so easy to use.”

Why did you start a customer club?

For many years we have had a non-digital customer club. We found it difficult to follow up and didn't think it worked very well. We therefore needed to innovate and gain better control over our customer base. We have always known that a good loyalty program is essential to be able to communicate with customers to a greater extent, and to be able to adapt the communication so that it is more relevant. So it was high time!

What made you decide to make the change?

I started at Olivenlunden in March 2021, and that's when we started looking at this. We went into a process with several suppliers to see who would be a good fit for us.

“We chose Diller because they were adapted to our size in addition to the program having good functionality. We focused on collaboration and consulting, because it is important to work with someone who can help us in the process of building a really good loyalty program.”

Several suppliers presented their solutions, but with some of them we were very small. With Diller we felt very well taken care of. Diller provided good input and advice on how they could help us.

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

For us, it is about being able to adapt communication and make it more relevant. In our industry, competition is fierce, because now you can get olive oil at the pharmacy and many other places. We see that competitors are coming into several industries, and we have to do what we can to keep our good customers. We therefore want to reward those who shop with us, and with a customer club we can achieve exactly that.

« In our stores, we always give out plenty of samples, because with us you should experience a generous concept. The fact that we can now also reward the most loyal customers fits in perfectly with the concept. We do what we can to stand out in a positive way! »

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

This is very important. We want as few systems as possible, and with integration with PCKasse we felt confident in the process of introducing a customer club.

.. and how important is it that Diller is integrated into the online store?

It is equally necessary that the loyalty program is fully integrated with the online store, which we have built on WooCommerce. We previously had an outdated website, but after launching a new website just before Christmas in 2021, we look forward to fully benefiting from all the new systems and processes. Now the basics are in place, and we look forward to developing this further!

How do you recruit new members?

Recruitment mainly takes place in stores. Every time someone buys something, they are asked to become a member. Now the website is also gradually becoming an important recruitment channel for us.

Previously, we have given a welcome gift when someone signs up, but we want to change this and are currently thinking about our new benefits program for both the store and the online store. It should be very nice for customers to be a member of our customer club.

What kind of results have you seen so far?

You are always excited before the launch of a new system. What immediately became clear when we switched to a digital customer club was that it was very well received by the stores, because it is so easy to use. That was the first thing we noticed. So it was a very good launch. We also saw that the employees were eager to recruit, and that the customers were eager to become members.

« We have had a huge increase in the number of new members per month after we switched to Diller. We already have over 20,000 members in our customer base, and we are recruiting 1500-1700 members per month without any special campaigns or activities. »

What we have done is compare the stores to follow up on the number of members per store. At the beginning, there was a big difference between the best recruiters and those who did not focus much on it. Now we see that all the stores recruit consistently well.

Our digital manager will be responsible for follow-up and development. Segmentation, analysis and customized communication are some of the keywords. One of the company's most important goals this year is to further develop the customer club.

Do you have examples of successful campaigns?

Recruiting new members has gone very well, and it gives us a good basis for developing customized campaigns for our members.

“We are looking forward to using SMS campaigns, as it is such an effective channel for communication and response. I find that I respond very quickly when I receive SMS.”

We also have good potential for in-store events, and we have done a lot of this in the past. Back then, we invited good customers “over the counter”. Now we can do this in a much better way. For example, we can hold olive oil courses, balsamic vinegar courses or invite people to new product launches. Now, through data analysis, we can easily see who our most loyal customers are. Then we can invite them to courses or tastings and so on. This will be fantastic in the future.

How did you hear about Diller?

It was through PCKasse and our checkout provider Totall that we received a recommendation for Diller. In addition, our digital manager Krissa had heard of Diller previously.

What do you think about the collaboration with Diller?

We find that Diller is very much on the offer side, and it only takes a few minutes from when we ask something until we get an answer! It's really good follow-up. We asked a while ago if they could be advisors in our further journey to develop the customer club, and we feel well looked after.

What do you see for yourselves in the future?

This year, the plan is to establish the new tools, further develop the customer club and the program we offer to members, and strengthen the website. We want to optimize the work we have done so far. We have a good team in place and good tools, so this will be fun.

« We at Olivenlunden want to get even more people to discover our products and to get our story out there. It hasn't been made clear enough. We have a close and close collaboration with our suppliers and manufacturers. We have a lot of great things to talk about, and we want to become even more visible. Then the customer club is a very important tool. »