Retailer rue21 enhances customer experience with Oracle CrowdTwist
Fashion retailer launches rue21 REWARDS, a loyalty program on Oracle CrowdTwist, to gain more insights into customers and increase repeat business.
“We have a customer-obsessed culture at rue21, and Oracle CrowdTwist enables us to strengthen our new and existing customer relationships. CrowdTwist is such a game changer. The tool is made to be real time, responsive, and easily customizable, allowing us to reward our most loyal customers in unique rue21 ways.”
Business challenges
The on-trend, omnichannel clothing retailer serves teens and young adults, ages 15 to 25, with 40% of its customers from multicultural backgrounds. With more than 650 stores across the United States, rue21 prides itself on inclusivity and selling affordable fashion that’s accessible to all.
Despite its scale, rue21 needed to find better ways to harness and use customer data to drive customers back for that next apparel purchase. The company had visibility into only a small subset of shoppers, but no way to understand their purchase frequency or spending levels. The company recognized loyalty as a holistic way to bridge transactions and customers to elevate and personalize the customer experience.
Our customers are at the heart of our brand, and our focus is on creating meaningful relationships in order to increase customer lifetime value. Our loyalty program, rue21 REWARDS, has been an unlock for allowing us to better understand customer insights and deliver engaging experiences for our customers.
Why rue21 chose Oracle
Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement appealed to rue21 for its agile, self-service, and API-driven approach to customer loyalty. Oracle CrowdTwist, part of the Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience suite of applications, would allow rue21 to easily customize a program in less time than other offerings, and to create dynamic content and offers for its customers.
Results
Using Oracle CrowdTwist, rue21 went live with a loyalty program in only eight months amid a global pandemic. The program quickly showed promise, with nearly five million customers enrolling in the first 12 months. The company even earned a spot on Newsweek’s list of America’s top loyalty programs and now has over 7 million members enrolled.
The retailer’s customers now have an incentive to identify themselves every time they shop, which has unlocked new insights into what rue21 customers are buying and how they’re shopping. Having access to this kind of in-depth customer data has allowed rue21 to customize rewards, content, and offers, and to begin fostering a personalized customer experience. The retailer was also able to target members with deals to encourage in-store shopping once its brick-and-mortar locations were safely reopened. In fact, shopping frequency for retained loyalty members has increased significantly year over year.
The program also drove a significant increase in repeat customers and overall engagement, with shoppers redeeming rewards at a much higher rate than projected. These reward redeemers are driving more sales than non-reward shoppers, indicating to rue21 that loyalty customer behavior delivers strong incremental value. Customers also responded positively to the rewards program for its simplicity and ease of use.