RE-INVENTING LOYALTY

A shopping center owner is rolling out an innovative, universal loyalty card

Have you heard of the LOC Card? Created by LOC Enterprises, it aims to become the one card that customers will need to participate in all loyalty programs.

Phillips Edison & Company (PECO), Cincinnati, has adopted the card and is actively promoting it to merchants in all of the shopping center owner’s 260-plus grocery-anchored properties.

Customers can swipe LOC Cards in stores of participating retailers and instantly enroll in that retailer’s loyalty program. If the LOC Card system catches on nationwide, no one will need to carry multiple loyalty cards or key fobs anymore.

“We know that customers are overwhelmed trying to manage many cards, and this is a great solution,” said Bob Myers, COO, PECO.

LOC Card holders can also use the LOC website to establish personal profiles that retailers can use when preparing promotions. Cardholders can use the site to view and maintain all of their merchant loyalty programs, too.

“The program enables us to communicate with participating merchants and consumers with promotions,” Myers said.

How does that work? “We can send email blasts to consumers who have swiped their LOC Cards at stores in our centers,” said Myers. “Customers can opt in to receive email blasts and to receive our Facebook posts.”

Retailers can communicate with customers in the same way.

Myers believes the concept is starting to catch on. “I think there will be a lot of announcements over the next couple of months from both owners and developers,” he continued. “We’ve been talking to both groups about the program, and they are excited about it.”

Myers also points to research that confirms growing consumer interest. A recent survey polled more than 350 consumers, and 90% said they would likely sign up for an LOC Card. Their reasons included the convenience of managing a multitude of loyalty programs from a single website, as well as an interest in signing up for promotions and coupons.

Forty-six percent of the respondents said they would shop more frequently at LOC-participating stores.

LOC makes it easy for center owners to sign retailers into the program. The company plies participating retailers with counter card displays, signage and a supply of LOC Cards.

For smaller retailers that don’t have a point-of-sale card swiping system, LOC provides a portable tablet solution. “The smaller retailers like the tablet because it makes setting up the program very easy,” Myers said.

It’s a new way to think about loyalty.

THE PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY PORTFOLIO

Phillips Edison & Company (PECO) is a fully integrated retail real estate company with a national portfolio of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers.

The company has an array of capabilities, including development, redevelopment, leasing and property management.

Established in 1991, PECO’s portfolio includes a national footprint of more than 260 retail properties. The company’s corporate offices are located in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, New York City and Atlanta.