South Africa's most used loyalty brand, Clicks goes the extra mile for its customers & staff during COVID-19 lockdown.
We have had the opportunity to interview some of the leading brands in loyalty to see how they have had to respond to COVID-19. Below is the extract from an interview with Amanda Graham, Head of Digital and Customer Engagement at Clicks.
“It has been a difficult and challenging time for the country and as an essential service company, we are pleased that we can be part of supporting our customers through this time.”
AMANDA GRAHAM
How has Clicks been affected by COVID-19?
The speed at which this situation came upon us and the speed at which its impact shifted was a big challenge for us to react to and implement across 700 stores. Our primary focus was planning and executing how we could best protect our staff and customers and then how to consider meeting customer needs - from sourcing visors, sanitisers and sneeze guards in huge quantities, to increasing our online delivery capacity. We were also working in the context of new legislative requirements and new global learnings about the nature of COVID-19.
What have you done at Clicks to help your ClubCard members?
Clubcard members are 7/10 of our customers so all our plans are really for our important loyalty customers. Amongst other initiatives, we have done the following:-
For our customers:-
- Cashback expiry has been extended by 2 months
- Price promise to hold prices on all hygiene items before there was any government intervention
- Sneeze guards implemented for pharmacy & tills and sanitisers available for customers
- Flu clinics: we have implemented an additional 200 points and 35 walk in clinics to meet urgent and unprecedented demand
- Our communication has moved into digital and regular CEO communications have been implemented. New digital initiatives such as Facebook Q&A with ICAS wellbeing support, especially mental wellbeing during lockdown
- We have met unprecedented demand for products from masks (in the local textile industry) to huge quantities of sanitiser
- We have increased our online ordering capacity by six fold
For our staff:
- Each employee will receive 2 masks, sourced locally to support the textile industry
- Visors are implemented for stores staff
- We have provided all employees access to the flu vaccine, at no cost
- We have implemented ICAS wellbeing support especially mental wellbeing with a specific COVID-19 care
For the community:-
- Clicks directors and non-executive directors recently announced that they will forego up to 30 percent of their salaries over the next three months and donate to the Solidarity fund
- R750,000 free flu vaccines have been donated to health workers in Western Cape
- Free primary care consultations have been made available in the afternoons (+/-R3.5m of time available)
What has been your members reaction?
We recently sent out a questionnaire to our customers regarding their experience of Clicks during these COVID-19 days. They have been incredibly complimentary of our communication and initiatives to support customers.
Collectively, could companies do anything more powerfully to help customers, if we could work together?
If I reflect on the teams of brightest minds all around the world focussing on the one goal of developing a vaccine against COVID-19, they are not working as one company but they are working to one objective and know the parameters in which they can work.
I believe our government has set us an exceptionally good framework to work within. It is important that we all work to comply to this and deliver to the direction for the benefit of the South African community.
I am not sure right now with the speed of change that trying to align with other companies other than through regulatory compliance would be in the best interest of the consumer as I believe it would slow down our ability to react.
Article Source: https://mailchi.mp/53f3278e3686/the-truth-newsroom-3200637?e=dd7834837b
