Q: A communication platform establishing customer loyalty, using gratitude

Abstract

Marqt is a supermarket located in the conurbation of the Netherlands. In fifteen stores they sell over three thousand products that fit their ideology; ‘making choices together with respect to our environment, the animals and our health’. Marqt enterprises the conventional grocery sector and tries to convey the above stated message by offering sustainable groceries. However, Marqt’s group of loyal customers is not sufficient enough to make the enterprise grow. The specific challenge of this thesis is therefore; How to make Marqt’s (loyal) customers more loyal in their attitude? As retail developed, our consumptive society developed as well. In fifty years doing groceries evolved from having direct contact with grocers and specialists to big supermarkets where people became disconnected with the grocer. Therefore, value and meaning of products in the sector got lost, whereby consumers in general strive to get the most goods for the least amount of money. Since media attention of food and what we eat increased, consumers strive to retrieve meaningfulness, authenticity and value a personal relationship with the retailer (Van Tongeren, 2013). This development results in a new shift in consumer demands and power where retailers have to react on. Reflecting loyalty in different disciplines showed that being loyal does not have anything to do with the stimulation of repetitive buying behavior, since features and prices are considered distant (Shedroff, 2010). Loyalty contains multiple psychological processes where connections are built that form a specific attitude towards someone or something (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). This attitude can only be built during meaningful experiences where active customer involvement turns attracted to attached customers. Before building meaningful experiences, values were found during an extensive customer analysis in the form of interviews with the customers of Marqt. These interviews generated empathy with and insights in the customers. The research showed that Marqt deals with four different types of customers. Four each customer role, several customers values were determined that shape the customers’ grocery buying behavior. With regard to the context, Marqt’s loyal customers addresses every customer role. Therefore the ideal vision includes all customer roles respecting all values. A pro-active design approach was set explicitly, in order to increase active customer involvement wherefrom customer attitudinal loyalty evolves. The interaction of the design is established through gratitude. Using the analogy of a soccer team thanking the audience after a match. Gratitude combines a behavior and emotion and is about expressing appreciation and acknowledgement that can only arise between two (living) things. Gratitude correlates to loyalty, because loyalty is mutual too and occurs between two parties. Multiple iterations were done in order to converge into one specific design; an open-platform ‘Q’. This platform connects the customers of Marqt with the partners that produce the products Marqt sells by sending messages; by letting the customers express their gratitude for the products. The product is, in this sense, the connecting factor. The content of the message could contain product reviews or direct questions to the partner. The platform exists of a customer mobile app and a partner website where both parties communicate with each other facilitated by Marqt. Customer’s attitudinal loyalty is increased by introducing the customers of Marqt to the backstories of the products of Marqt’s assortment. The stories are valuable and show what Marqt tries to convey in their vision. Enabling a connection with the person behind a product elicits a form of recognition and acknowledgement of the people behind the product and makes the backstory linked to a living person. Moreover, Marqt is planning to introduce a new brand strategy that focuses on making choices together. Part of the strategy is to refund Marqt’s upper three percent of the excessive profit to its customers. The open-platform includes a section where Marqt and the partners launch a blog and start the conversation with the customers. The more members actively participate in the platform, the more these members are rewarded. Evaluative interviews with different stakeholders of the concept complemented that customers using the platform are likely to create a better attitudinal connection towards Marqt. However, the potential could only be estimated, since loyalty can only be measured over a longer period of time. Moreover, the platform was considered idealistic, evoking a beautiful gesture. The essence of the design fits Marqt’s future plans to implement for of the new brand strategy. However, Marqt’s assortment is not yet transparent enough to trace the origin of every product, so customers cannot connect with every partner of Marqt. Suggestions for further development and improvement for design arose as well. Customers stressed the importance of functionality in the platform. The connection with the partner considered welcome, however more functionality in a supermarket-app is preferred; searching for recipes and ordering groceries with the app are mentioned as desirable additions to an app for Marqt. Last important suggestion for further research is how to prevent; that customers get bored over time. Creating loyalty at customers is one study, remaining loyal is something different; increasing the importance of the opinion of a loyal customer, could be a means by which boredom could be prevented.