Shoppers Drug Mart is certainly pursuing the goal of marketing which is to create value for consumers. According Shoppers Drug Mart’s website, it is cooperating with Royal Bank ofCanadato implement a “co-branded loyalty debit card” and bank accounts. Consumers are able to earn addition Shoppers Optimum points with the new debit card. With this new plan, Shoppers could improve both their customer relationship management and partner relationship management.
In the bad economy right now, consumers are cutting back their spending. Customer loyalty and retention are crucial to a company; especially in the retailer industry, where consumers could easily purchase cheaper goods from the biggest rival, Wal-Mart. This card increases the incentives for the Shopper’s consumers to purchase more goods which creates customer delight.
Also, Shoppers takes advantage of marketing partners outside the firm. RBC is one of the biggest banks inCanada. By partnering with RBC, Shoppers are able to advertise itself through RBC’s communication channels and capture new customers from RBC. This plan also provides an opportunity for Shoppers to understand more about the banking industry. Banking could possibly be a future market for Shoppers in order to grow their share of customer.
However, one thing that Shoppers should be careful is that having many side branches from their original business is not easy to cope with all the divisions. Hewlett-Packard, for example, has started to produce computers and tablets aside from printers. However, it did not manage the new branch well which leads to reducing the tablet’s price and almost shut down the personal computer division. Therefore, it is good for Shoppers to introduce new ways for consumer retention, but at the same time, it should not let the new division to take away the focus from the core business.
“RBC and Shoppers Drug Mart Launch Innovative National Program”
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