The role of loyalty card data within local marketing initiatives

Within many retail organisations it would seem that the current position of loyalty card schemes is such that they are at something of a crossroads. With a number of high‐profile retailers having terminated their schemes, and others seemingly unable or unwilling to achieve viable returns through the effective use of loyalty card data that are gathered, it appears timely to outline the potential applicability of such data for practitioners seeking to maximise their use and academics concerned with researching the phenomenon. The insights that can be gleaned from analysis of loyalty card databases arguably represent the most significant benefits of scheme implementation. To that end, this paper sets out the current use of such data in a (potentially) fruitful area, that of local marketing initiatives, and the prospective future use of such data therein. Drawing on earlier work that has considered the importance of the geographical nature of loyalty card data, illustrative models highlight how such data can be placed in the retail locational hierarchy and how they can be utilised in local marketing initiatives.