For those who celebrate Christmas, it’s often the busiest time of the year. Whether you are a consumer or a retailer, it’s all about planning ahead and making sure that everyone and everything is ready and leading up to the grand finale: Christmas Day.

According to PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2024, shoppers in the U.S. plan to spend approximately $1,638 on gifts, travel, and entertainment this holiday season, marking a 7% increase from 2023. The research also shows that consumers are eager to embrace both digital innovations and traditional in-store experiences throughout the shopping journey.

This aligns with the broader trends in the retail industry, as the dynamics for both retailers and consumers shift towards a more digitalized experience. PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2024 concludes that, based on a survey of 4,000 consumers about their plans and priorities for the holiday season, 2024 will be defined by strategic spending, personalized experiences, and technological integration.

At Lobyco, this is exactly what we’re passionate about. Our goal is to help retailers stand out in the digital landscape, drive more traffic, and build stronger customer loyalty. During the retail peak of the year, it’s all about how you—as a retailer—can win Christmas.

So, welcome to our series ‘Winning Christmas’, where throughout December, we’ll spotlight some of our clients and show how they use our solutions and technology to stand out and succeed in this busy season. Each week, we’ll provide insights into the features our clients leverage to increase traffic and boost sales.

Samkaup

Samkaup is an Icelandic grocery retailer founded in 1998 and is one of the leading grocery chains in Iceland, holding more than 25% of the market share. It operates with a cooperative ownership structure, comprising thousands of members. Samkaup runs four different grocery retail brands, ranging from discount stores to convenience stores, and employs approximately 1,250 people in over 660 full-time positions.

Plans for ‘Winning Christmas’

The collaboration between Lobyco and Samkaup began in early 2021 when Samkaup launched its new customer loyalty app, which quickly gained significant success. This success has only grown, with many additional features, including the recent introduction of games as part of their app's offerings, creating even more exciting app features on their portfolio.

Samkaup's key objectives for 'Winning Christmas' in Iceland this season are:

1. Making it relevant through Daily Engagement: Offering relevant product bonuses and promotions each day to enhance customer engagement.
2. Public approach & adding extra benefits: Publishing the calendar and product bonuses in advance, while also introducing the Basket Bonus this season.

Samkaup has achieved considerable success with its 'Winning Christmas' campaigns in previous years, so this season, they have decided to repeat the successful formula with their Christmas Calendar. The calendar features special product bonuses and weekly themed offers, with each day offering a different promotion. There will be a unique calendar for each of Samkaup's four brands, making the offers more relevant to customers and increasing loyalty across their different stores.

The calendars will be published in advance, allowing customers to plan ahead. This year, a new feature has been added: the Basket Bonus. In addition to product-specific bonuses, this new feature rewards customers with a bonus on their entire basket. While Samkaup has used this approach in past seasons, they have decided to give even more back to customers during this expensive and busy season for both consumers and retailers, further enhancing customer loyalty in the process.

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By combining relevant offers, product bonuses, and basket bonuses, Samkaup is creating strong opportunities to ‘Win Christmas’ in the Icelandic market.

This concludes the third article in our 'Winning Christmas' series. Next week, we will return with the final article, featuring Foodstuffs and their plans to win Christmas in New Zealand.

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