Concept and Design Of A Loyalty Program By Using A Mobile Application

Klasični programi zvestobe so se razvili kot orodje za graditev dolgoročnih odnosov z uporabniki. Razcvet so doživeli konec 20. in v začetku tega stoletja, ko so podjetja spoznala, da so zvesti uporabniki, ki so pripravljeni tudi več kupovati, cenejši in bolj donosni od nagovarjanja, prepričevanja in pridobivanja novih. Programi zvestobe so postali kompleksni procesi, ki morajo biti strateško umeščeni v delovanje organizacij, predstavljajo pa tudi pomemben del njihovega premoženja. Danes se programi zvestobe pojavljajo v vseh panogah, njihov cilj je nagrajevanje zvestih uporabnikov, pridobivanje in obdelovanje informacij o uporabnikih, njihovih nakupih in navadah, posledično vplivanje na njihovo vedenje, nakupne odločitve in so dodatna konkurenčna prednost. Z razvojem mobilne tehnologije in skokovitim porastom uporabe pametnih telefonov, v zadnjem desetletju, pa je prilagoditev programov zvestobe za uporabo na mobilnih telefonih nujen in konkurenčno potreben korak. Tako je osrednja pozornost v magistrskem delu namenjena preučevanju in oblikovanju primernega programa zvestobe z uporabo mobilne aplikacije. V magistrski nalogi smo najprej iz teoretičnega vidika opredelili različne poglede na zvestobo in pomen zvestobe. Zanimalo nas je, kateri dejavniki vplivajo na zvestobo in kakšna je opredelitev programov zvestobe. Preučili smo temeljne vrste programov zvestobe v analognem svetu, njihove prednosti in zaznane koristi ter pregledali kateri so kriteriji za uspešno uvedbo programa zvestobe. Osrednji del raziskovanja v teoretičnem delu pa je bil namenjen proučitvi stanja na tržišču programov zvestobe, ki se že izvajajo z uporabo mobilnega telefona oz. mobilnih aplikacij. V empiričnem delu smo raziskovali pripravljenost uporabnikov za sodelovanje v programu zvestobe, ki bi ga ponudnik programa zvestobe ponudil uporabniku z uporabo mobilne aplikacije. V raziskavo smo vključili različne ciljne skupine, raziskali katere prednosti in katere slabosti uporabniki pripisujejo takšnemu programu zvestobe. Preverili smo tudi za katere izdelke bi si uporabniki najraje želeli uporabljati program zvestobe na podlagi mobilne aplikacije. Ugotovili smo, da je za zasnovo in oblikovanje programa zvestobe z uporabo mobilne aplikacije, poleg klasičnih gradnikov programa zvestobe, od opredelitve ciljev in proračuna programa zvestobe, določitve upravičenosti za sodelovanje v programu zvestobe, izbire nagrad in ugodnosti, vzpostavitve partnerstev v programu zvestobe, vzpostavitve ustrezne organizacijske strukture, razvoja, upravljanja in vzdrževanja baze podatkov, analize le-teh, do evaluacije programa zvestobe in ustreznega prilagajanja, potrebno ob odločitvi, da bo program zvestobe izvajan z uporabo mobilne aplikacije, upoštevati tudi zakonitosti, ki jih prinaša digitalizacija in mobilna telefonija. Za konec smo predstavili novost, primer mobilne aplikacije, ki je zasnovana tako, da omogoča zasnovo in izvajanje programa zvestobe z uporabo mobilne aplikacije tudi ob nakupu istega izdelka neodvisno od časa in kraja nakupa (pri različnih trgovcih, v različnih državah, neodvisno od informacijskega sistema in pogojev poslovanja prodajnega mesta, kjer je bil izdelek kupljen).Clasic loyalty programs have been developed as a tool for building long-term relationships with customers. In the late 20th century and early this century, companies realized that there are loyal users who are willing to buy more and that building a realtionship with them is more more profitable than acquiring new ones. Loyalty programs have become a complex process that must be strategically positioned and represent a significant part of company\u27s assets. Today we can find loyalty programs in all industries, their aim is to reward loyal customers, the acquisition of new ones and processing of information about them, their shopping habits and, consequently influencing their behavior, purchase decisions are additional competitive advantages. With the development of mobile technology and the enormous rise of smartphones in the last decade, the adaptation of loyalty programs for the use on mobile phones is essential and a necessary step for companies to be competitive. Thus, the main focus of this work is intended to study and establish a suitable loyalty program which can be used with a mobile application. First in this master thesis we identified from a theoretical point of view, different views on loyalty and the importance of loyalty. We wanted to know which factors affect loyalty and what is the definition of loyalty programs. We have considered the basic types of loyalty programs in the analogue world, their strengths and perceived benefits and review what are the criteria for the successful launch of the loyalty programs. The central part of the research in the theoretical part of this thesis has been devoted to examining the current situation of loyalty programs, which are being carried out by using a mobile phone or a mobile application. In the empirical part of the master\u27s thesis, we made a research to find out if people would participate in a mobile loyalty program, using a mobile app and mobile phone. The research included various target groups and we studied the advantages and disadvantages which users attach to such a loyalty program. We also checked for what products would customers want to use a loyalty program based on a mobile application. We have found out that the planning an implementation of a loyalty program using mobile applications, in addition to the traditional steps in developing a loyalty program, from outlining objectives, budget, eligibility, selecting rewards, considering partnerships, building an appropriate organisational structure, developing and maintaining of the loyalty database, data warehouse and data mining capacity, to the evaluation and corrective actions, needs also to consider the requirements posed by digitization and mobile & smartphone technologies. At the end, we presented a novelty, a mobile application, which is designed to enable the implementation of a loyalty program by using a smartphone when customers buy same products regardless of the time and place of purchase (at different retailers in different countries, independently of the accounting system and operating conditions of the outlets where the product was purchased)