Challenge

A leading Indian FMCG manufacturing brand was generating 50% of its gross revenue from the platinum and gold segments of its retail distribution channels. To substantially boost sales, they looked at onboarding 1.5 lakh platinum and gold retail outlets into their loyalty Program within a year. The retail outlets primarily included grocery stores, convenience stores and eat and dine restaurants. As part of the loyalty Program, the retailers were rewarded with cash-based schemes (cash cards), which were purely transactional in nature, and consistently failed to establish strong brand loyalty. Moreover, the reward schemes were managed in silos, leading to ineffective delivery and complaint resolution mechanisms. This resulted in high retailer dissatisfaction and emotional disengagement from the brand. The brand was looking for a new partner with the right strategy to drive stronger emotional engagement within its channel partner ecosystem.

Solution

BI WORLDWIDE India redesigned and launched a comprehensive channel partner engagement and loyalty program, focusing on rewards, communication, learning, and growth. We leveraged Channel Smart, our patented enterprise-wide technology, to streamline the end-to-end channel management process by consolidating all three reward schemes into a single platform. The existing cash-card schemes was revamped into a motivating point-based loyalty program, with persona-based reward catalogs offering over 12,000 products from 500+ brands, tailored to each audience segment. Predictive analytics tools identified growing, stagnating, and declining outlets, allowing us to launch targeted campaigns.

To ensure a positive partner experience, a unified helpdesk with four dedicated agents was established, providing support in six languages. The program was successfully launched through pre-launch activities, online training for key stakeholders, and welcome kits for retailers on launch day. Our post-launch strategy included a 30-, 60-, 90-, and 180-day plan to stabilize the program, drive awareness and adoption, and build meaningful relationships with retailers.

Impact

BI WORLDWIDE India’s collective changes to the overall Program design delivered impressive results. Within a span of 2 years, the brand witnessed:

–   4.5X increase in number of participating outlets
–   4.7X growth in revenue by participating outlets
–   5X increase in outlets achieving quarterly targets
–   70% of the participating outlets achieving their targets consistently

The redemption rate reached 60.2%, demonstrating strong engagement with the program, while the PSAT score of 76.39% across all three loyalty programs highlighted a positive partner experience. Additionally, retailers’ trust in the brand and their motivation to consistently perform improved due to the transparency in sharing data related to targets, achievements, points earned, and rewards.