Meeting customer needs is an ongoing challenge, Shawn Stewart, Vice President, Loyalty and Analytics, Canadian Tire, told Loyalty360 in late 2014. Stewart made that comment before Canadian Tire’s iconic loyalty program−My Canadian Tire ‘Money’−went digital.
The program complements Canadian Tire ‘Money’, which remains in circulation. Canadian Tire money is known for its fictional Scottish character known as Sandy McTire.
Fast forward to the company’s Aug. 4 second-quarter earnings call and comments from CEO Steve Wetmore.
“The development of our loyalty programs and our ability to analyze the data with key insights is another area I believe must have far greater emphasis and an area where we need to acquire and build the talent we need to move quickly,” Wetmore said.
What’s more, Wetmore said that the foundation of people and products “will never reach its potential without our strategies and initiatives focused on the fact that our customers are in control. We no longer dictate the terms of our customer shopping experiences so we must move rapidly to not only an omnichannel offering, but to develop new tools and new skills to meet our customers’ demands. We have always said we need to have great products that meet the needs of our customers and that the experience of dealing with Canadian Tire in-store and in the communities where we do business was our differentiator. In this new digital world, it is the experience that has radically changed so we must evolve the experience by moving to a one-to-one relationship through personalization and not simply mass-marketing.”
Back in late 2014, Stewart talked about meeting customer needs.
“Meeting customer needs has always been at the heart of our innovation strategy and ensures that everything we do has a positive end benefit for our customers,” Stewart said. “Our customers told us that they wanted a more convenient, value-driven program that rewards them for their loyalty and allows them to get more from shopping at Canadian Tire. With this understanding, we created My Canadian Tire ‘Money,’ combining the best attributes of our iconic paper Canadian Tire ‘Money’ with the benefits of a digital rewards program, including enhanced flexibility and the ability to collect Canadian Tire ‘Money’ easier.”
In 2012, the company launched a pilot program in Nova Scotia titled, ‘Canadian Tire ‘Money’ Advantage.’ The program was always designed as a pilot and a way to gather key learnings and customer feedback prior to rolling-out our program nationally.
“Feedback we received from our Nova Scotia customers confirmed the need to maintain one of the most beloved aspects of shopping at Canadian Tire – Canadian Tire ‘Money’,” Stewart added. “So we kept the best aspects of our existing loyalty program, combining them with digital enhancements that make it easier to collect and redeem. This thoughtful approach to innovation is how we’ve maintained our position as Canada’s Store for more than 90 years and exemplifies our ongoing test and learn culture.”