Eagle Eye works with Loblaw to announce one of the largest digital loyalty programmes in Canada

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Eagle Eye, the SaaS technology company that allows businesses to create a real-time connection with their customers, has announced that its Eagle Eye AIR digital marketing platform is now live, enabling the new PC Optimum loyalty programme from Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw), Canada's largest retailer.

The PC Optimum programme

The PC Optimum programme has combined two of Canada's most loved loyalty programs^[1] PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum, to become one of Canada's largest loyalty programmes. The two programmes had 8 million and 11 million members respectively. Merging these two programmes creates a state-of-the-art loyalty programme, the first at such a vast scale in Canada, and brings more redemption options and greater convenience to Canadians.

"Our customers tell us they value our loyalty programs for two main reasons: saving money and treating themselves. The PC Optimum program gives them more opportunity to do both," said Jim Noteboom, Senior Vice President, Loyalty and Consumer Insights, Loblaw Companies Limited. "With PC Optimum, customers can now earn and redeem points in almost 2,500 locations and online, where they will get targeted, personalised offers on products they buy most often."

The PC Optimum program combines what members love most from the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus loyalty programs, including weekly personalised offers, the ability to redeem points for almost anything in their stores, and exclusive points-earning and points-redemption events.

More choice in participation and redemption

Since the launch of PC Optimum on 1 February, more than 6 million customers have already converted to the new program, with customers earning and redeeming points more than 32 million times in the first three weeks. The program, which engages consumers digitally but gives them choice on redemption, has generated more than 1.5 million PC Optimum app or web visits every day. According to Loblaw's internal customer net promoter score (NPS) survey, 80% of customers were very satisfied with the new program specifically highlighting ease of converting and participation.

Customers are already recognising the benefits of the new program with one customer saying "the biggest advantage of the new card is the ability to earn big points at Shoppers and Beauty Boutique and spend them at Loblaw and affiliated stores. Because Shoppers has special points days and other offers throughout the year, you can now earn big points at the drugstore and then spend those points at any Loblaw-affiliated stores^[2]."

Enabling a unique and personalised experience for every shopper

The Eagle Eye AIR platform sits at the heart of the PC Optimum program ecosystem and is integrated with Loblaw's channels and systems, enabling a single customer view, across Loblaw's varying businesses, including PC Financial and Joe Fresh.

Eagle Eye AIR provides secure, real-time issuance, management and redemption of digital promotions and rewards across all online and in-store purchases. With its sophisticated rules engine, the Eagle Eye AIR platform enables Loblaw to vary the proposition e.g. points or offers, to the customer by division and product category. Loblaw can truly personalise its offering based on individual shopper behaviors, then give customers the choice to earn and redeem through their preferred channel and location. The Eagle Eye technology will allow offers to be delivered through the customer's preferred channel—via coupons, email, text and even location-based triggers—to provide a more personalized experience.

"Eagle Eye provides us with the next generation of digital marketing technology enabling us to engage with consumers wherever they are on their shopping journey. This, allows us to reward them individually which is core to our customer centric strategy at Loblaw," continued Noteboom.

Powering leading retailer and grocery programmes

With a proven track record of success with some of the largest top-tier retailers and grocers in the United Kingdom, Eagle Eye entered a strategic relationship in 2016 with Loblaw to transform the future of loyalty for Canadian consumers and deliver on the promise of greater value throughout the shopper experience.

"Loblaw is one of the world's most innovative retailers, and we are honored to work with them as they expand access to their unified loyalty program to reach millions of Canadians," said Tim Mason, Chief Executive Officer, Eagle Eye. "Loblaw is Canada's leading food and pharmacy retailer, with approximately one billion customer transactions in their stores each year, the majority of which are tied to their loyalty programs. We are thrilled to deploy our Eagle Eye AIR platform capabilities to support Loblaw's customers' connection across all banners and create a streamlined experience."

This relationship marks the first time two loyalty programmes of this size and scale have been successfully integrated into one programme, making it the biggest in Canadian history. "We couldn't have achieved this milestone without Eagle Eye's commitment and flexible approach," says Noteboom. "With their proven success in the UK and unique offering, they were the right company to deliver against our plans both today and for the future."

^{1. From June 29-July 7, 2017, an online survey was conducted among 912 randomly selected Canadian adults who are RESEARCH NOW panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.}

^{2. Source: http://www.macleans.ca/economy/money-economy/seven-ways-to-get-more-pc-optimum-points/}