First linked fuel-and-grocery loyalty program

Challenge

A regional fuel retailer and a grocery partner set out to do something no one had done before: link their loyalty programs so that shopping at one earned a discount at the other. The idea was simple for customers. Behind the scenes it meant capturing a constant stream of transactions from two very different kinds of retail, keeping balances accurate, and showing customers and the business where things stood.

Approach

TechnoFacto joined the team building the program in 2008 and worked on its three core pieces:

• The transaction database. A high-transaction SQL Server database designed to take in purchase activity at volume and keep each member’s earned discounts consistent.
• Reporting. SQL Server Reporting Services reports giving the business visibility into enrollment, activity, and redemptions.
• The website. Interactive .NET web pages where members could take part in the program.

Outcome

The result was the first linked gas and grocery loyalty discount program. For TechnoFacto it was a compact, high-stakes build: less than a year, a new kind of program, and a database that had to keep up with every purchase.