LOYALTY CARD SERVICE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON BUSINESS COMPANY OPERATIONS

Še nedolgo tega je bila prodaja oziroma nakup materialnih dobrin zelo enostavno opravilo, tako za trgovca kot za odjemalca. Danes pa je konkurenca med trgovci vedno večja, odjemalci so postali bolj informirani in zahtevnejši. Dolgoletna vlaganja v razvoj in rast podjetij danes niso več garancija, da trgovec ohrani (ali razširi) mrežo odjemalcev. Trgovcem se je z uvedbo kartice ugodnosti, kot novim orodjem za komunikacijo med ponudnikom in odjemalcem, ponudila priložnost za spoznavanje potrošniških navad odjemalcev in na tej osnovi se je povečala prodaja. S kartico ugodnosti se danes ukvarja širok nabor akterjev v trgovski verigi. To so lastniki, proizvajalci, dobavitelji, oglaševalne agencije, mediji, analitiki in številni drugi. Lahko bi rekli, da je kartica ugodnosti uspešen projekt v primeru, če je v njegovo pripravo in izvedbo vključenih več akterjev. Projekt se vsekakor začne z idejo o tem, kaj naj bi kartica ugodnosti predstavljala. Dogovoriti se je potrebno, kdo v podjetju in kdo od zunanjih partnerjev, bo sodeloval v pripravi pogojev in realizaciji. Pri tem je treba oceniti, kakšne odhodke oziroma zmanjšanje prihodkov bo za podjetje pomenilo vzpostavitev projekta kartice ugodnosti ter kakšen strošek bo pripravljeno trgovsko podjetje prevzeti za nagrajevanje odjemalcev. V fazi zagona projekta izdelave kartice je treba obvezno dobiti odgovore na vprašanja o deležu stroškov, ki jih bo kril dobavitelj oziroma dobavitelji, v smislu nižanja nabavnih cen in dodatnih popustov za artikle iz projekta kartice ugodnosti. Najpomembnejše za uspešnost projekta pa je pozitiven rezultat, se pravi, da bo učinek kartice ugodnosti opravičil vse z njo povezane odhodke in prinesel še dodano vrednost. Pogoj za analize podatkov, pridobljenih preko kartice ugodnosti je, da ima trgovsko podjetje vzpostavljen koncept upravljanja odnosov z odjemalci (v nadaljevanju CRM), ki bo omogočil analiziranje, razvrščanje in na osnovi tega tudi načrtovanje procesov. Bistvo analize je v tem, da trgovec ve, ali bo rezultat dosegel planirane prihodke. Namen CRM-a pa ni izključno ugotavljanje stanja, pač pa tudi predvideti reakcije odjemalcev in znižanje stroškov. Učinki, ob enkratni izvedbi akcije s kartico ugodnosti, so običajno težko izmerljivi. Poleg akcije vplivajo na rezultat, ob enem pa so pomembni tudi vremenski pogoji, letni čas, prazniki, oglaševanja konkurence, gospodarski položaj družbe in tudi kupna moč odjemalcev. Pri večkratni ponovitvi akcij se lahko ustvari določen vzorec možnosti in ugotovi dejanska možna učinkovitost akcije. Trg je neusmiljen, zato je naloga trgovskih podjetij vedno zahtevnejša. Biti morajo v trendu in poskrbeti, da se bodo njihovi odjemalci vedno radi vračali k ponovnim nakupom.In the past commerce was a lot easier for salesmen and customers. Today the competition among salesmen is increasing constantly and consumers are getting more informed thus more demanding. Long term investments in development and growth of the brand do not assure, nor the maintenance nor the expansion of the customer network. With the introduction of loyalty cards, sales companies got new means of communication with their customers. It offers them the opportunity of following their customer’s habits and increasing the sales based on that same information. Nowadays, different parts of a sales chain such as business owners, card manufacturers, suppliers, advertisement agencies, media, analytics and many others are involved in producing loyalty cards. We could say that loyalty card projects can be successful only if a lot of people are part of its preparation and execution. The project should start with a clear idea of what the loyalty card represents. There needs to be an agreement between the company and the external partners regarding the people and/or employees that should be involved in the preparation and realization of the project. The costs of incorporating loyalty card for the company and the costs the company is willing to take on for rewarding the customer need to be clear. In the beginning phase we also need to consider the questions about the share of expenses covered by the suppliers in terms of lowering purchase prices and additional discounts for goods that are a part of loyalty card project. The most important part of a successful project is a positive resultthe effect of loyalty card should justify all expenses connected with incorporation of it and also bring an additional value. In order to analyze the data acquired from loyalty cards the sales company must establish a concept of managing customer relationship (CRM), which allows analyses, classifications and based on that, planning further sales. The main point of such analysis is to know whether the results brought the expected income. Nevertheless, CMR is not used just for exploration of the current state, but also for predicting the consumer’s habits and to lower sales company’s costs. Effects of a single loyalty card campaign are usually difficult to be measured. Besides the campaign there are several other factors of influence such as weather, season, holidays, advertisements of competition, economic situation of society and the purchasing power of consumers. If campaign is repeated many times, a pattern can be created and actual effectiveness can be determined. Nowadays the market is ruthless, therefore sales companies have to put more effort in order to stay in business. They need to be trendy and ensure the loyalty of their customers