Thorntons has refreshing results from rewards program

Louisville - Gasoline and convenience-store chain Thorntons Inc. is receiving its own refreshing results from its Paytronix-powered “Refreshing Rewards” loyalty program. Since the program was launched in September 2014, Thorntons Refreshing Rewards program managers have been successfully using targeted promotions to get members to visit more frequently and are leveraging program data for category management.



Built with the Paytronix Rules and Wallets engine as its foundation, Thorntons Refreshing Rewards program segments registered customers by how often they visit the C-store or buy gas. Thorntons can then deliver varying levels of rewards based on guest visit, spending, and purchase behavior. For gas-only customers, the goal is to compel a visit to the C-store; for frequent C-store users, the program leverages each customer’s transaction history to drive incremental visits.



Since Thorntons rolled out the Refreshing Rewards program to all 180 of its stores, the percentage of transactions using a loyalty card is significant. Despite the success, Thorntons believes there’s an opportunity to increase the loyalty penetration rate.



To date, Thorntons Refreshing Rewards has achieved results including generating one extra visit per member per month, which adds substantial dollars to its bottom line. Thorntons is developing specific campaigns geared at targeting members by day part and encouraging extra purchases, such as breakfast foods or milk.



Refreshing Rewards is also helping both Thorntons and its CPG vendors shift spend away from mass marketing to targeted promotions. As a result, it can measure the success of each promotion, gain visibility into customer demand for future promotional offers, and ensure product availability across the chain.



“The combination of Paytronix technology, its deep loyalty domain knowledge and its data insights capabilities has helped the Thorntons Refreshing Rewards program get off to a fast start and exceed our expectations,” said Tony Harris, president, Thorntons Inc. “While it’s very difficult to get someone who is not using a convenience store to begin using it, Paytronix has given us the ability to capitalize on the huge opportunity to increase the visits for existing customers.”