Co-op uplevels its membership program with performance

When it comes to retaining customers and boosting order value, loyalty programs are one of the most effective tactics in retail. Members are more likely to increase their average spend–and shop more frequently–when compared to non-members, a reality that the British food retailer Co-op has seen for themselves.

To drive a new wave of membership program sign-ups, Co-op sought to run a prospecting and retargeting campaign that could reach and attract in-market audiences at scale. Moreover, the brand wanted to more clearly understand the nuances between audiences across seasons to empower more effective advertising. It was therefore important for them to gain insights into these audiences.

Impressed with previous campaign results, Co-op turned to Quantcast to run a full-funnel performance campaign, with a soft cost per new customer (CPNC) goal of 60. The brand was further convinced to do so with Quantcast’s dynamic cost per thousand (dCPM) approach. Ara®, Quantcast’s AI and machine learning engine that drives the Quantcast Platform, optimizes for outcomes, rather than inputs, meaning that bespoke modelling defines an optimal price for each impression. This automated approach enabled Co-op to reach audiences across the UK in a cost-effective way.

Brand safety was also an essential consideration for Co-op. With a viewability threshold of 70% and support for DoubleVerify’s pre-bid solution, Quantcast’s approach meant that prospecting and retargeting would be carried out in appropriate environments and in an optimal manner.

What began as a seasonal campaign became an ongoing one as the exceptional results convinced Co-op that an always-on strategy would reach more potential customers. As the campaign CPNC settled out at 52.47, Co-op saw the rate of conversions hit 10.1%. Moreover, the insights from the Quantcast Platform’s Audience Planner revealed how audience interests shifted as the months changed. For example, pumpkin-related terms scored big in October while one-pot recipes were heavily searched in November. Such findings enabled the retailer to respond to consumer trends. Moving forward, Co-op is eager to explore cookieless and creative testing with Quantcast, as well as look into ways to leverage CRM to re-engage offline customers online.