Just read today that the Indonesian loyalty start-up Squiryl has ceased operations. (Read the article here. ) The CEO and founder of the start-up cited the reason to be an issue of sustainability, that the business was not envisioned the way it turned out to be. In his words, it became "a resource intensive operations involving full time sales and support staff. And that was just the problems on the brand acquisition side."
The loyalty business was never something that one expects the retailer to be 'self-reliant' or 'self--sufficient'. Yes, they would want access and control. But operationally, it would be impractical to think that a retailer in full-scale day-to-day operating challenges, will have the time, effort, or the resource, to run an effective program in a laisser-faire manner. A customer membership program requires dedicated resource and constant intellectual input from a marketer that thinks "lifecycle management" and not "advertising and promotions".
There has been constant hype in the 'loyalty business' and that perennial myth of the pot of gold at the elusive end of the rainbow. But marketers need to get one thing clear: a loyalty tool/platform/software, or whatever you may choose to call it, is just really just that: a machine. It is an instrument for you to run a business. It is a framework on which you can execute your strategy. It is not a panacea. It is not a miracle cure. You need to work it before it will work for you.
And I think in many ways, they story of the Squiryl should give loyalty platform builders a clear message: you have to choose your role in the space and be prepared to fulfill that role. You cannot be all things to everyone.
The loyalty business was never something that one expects the retailer to be 'self-reliant' or 'self--sufficient'. Yes, they would want access and control. But operationally, it would be impractical to think that a retailer in full-scale day-to-day operating challenges, will have the time, effort, or the resource, to run an effective program in a laisser-faire manner. A customer membership program requires dedicated resource and constant intellectual input from a marketer that thinks "lifecycle management" and not "advertising and promotions".
There has been constant hype in the 'loyalty business' and that perennial myth of the pot of gold at the elusive end of the rainbow. But marketers need to get one thing clear: a loyalty tool/platform/software, or whatever you may choose to call it, is just really just that: a machine. It is an instrument for you to run a business. It is a framework on which you can execute your strategy. It is not a panacea. It is not a miracle cure. You need to work it before it will work for you.
And I think in many ways, they story of the Squiryl should give loyalty platform builders a clear message: you have to choose your role in the space and be prepared to fulfill that role. You cannot be all things to everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment