The retailer launched the loyalty scheme across its six stores in Hong Kong late last year after finding that a small percentage of customers accounted for a large percentage of sales. It now plans to introduce the scheme in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The move to set up a loyalty scheme was part of a series of changes introduced at the retailer by regional managing director (Asia) Pieter Schats over the last 18 months.
According to Argha Sen, Toys 'R' Us' head of marketing and customer relationship management: "One of the pivots of this change has been an increasing focus on the customer and providing a greater customer experience both in- store and out of it."
The Star Card programme was designed and managed in-house for strategic planning, creative, database management, data processing, call centre, analysis, research and in-store activities.
"The focus of all our marketing efforts today is to provide offers and benefits to Star Card members and to ensure that they are always satisfied with their experience. Much planning now goes into creating special packages and offers for Star Card members," said Sen.
The retailer's database comprises customers who have made actual purchases, such as parents, gift-givers and a high number of people aged between 15-30 years with no kids but who spend heavily at its stores.
The database is linked to the back-office sales system, creating a CRM platform that provides demographic profiling, what each customer buys, when and how often, and how customers react to communications and offers.
Members can also be segmented by RFM (recency-frequency-monetary) patterns, household composition, price sensitivity, purchase patterns and product affinity.
In Hong Kong, Toys 'R' Us is opening its database, which has 110,000 members (and 1,000 new members each week), to companies. Sen said: "Already extra benefits and packages are being offered to members by banks, publications, hotels and travel companies. We are inviting such marketers to join hands in marketing to this powerful database to bring more value to Star Card members."
Customers can enroll in the scheme with a HK$200 (US$26) spend. The average dollar spent by members per transaction is double that of other customers, with the figure up to six times higher for the top tier members. Sen said 45 per cent of members made a purchase at least once in three months, while the top tier members bought toys about three times a month.