Case study

EQUIVA saw impressive business results after switching to a mobile app

See how the EQUIVA Friends program is driving key strategic goals, which include enhancing the brand and increasing the share of the wallet.
EQUIVA Friends program case study

Project summary

EQUIVA is a leading provider of all things equestrian: From riding clothing to horse feed and nutrition, they live the motto: “We love, we care, we ride.” With over 80 EQUIVA stores in Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg, as well as the www.equiva.com eCommerce, the company is on a mission to make equestrian sport an unforgettable experience for customers and their horses.

In April 2023, the company started the digital transformation process by replacing a paper loyalty card for sticker points with a mobile app that creates emotional bonds and wins members’ hearts.

Here's how they used Open Loyalty to go digital with their loyalty program, gamify the member experience, and increase the share of wallets.

Key results

Fast and successful digital transformation

In just three months, the team

  • launched a loyalty program with achievement-based campaigns, transaction campaigns, and tiers
  • integrated the loyalty mechanics with the existing tech stack (point of sale, customer data platform, newsletter system, ecommerce, mobile app)
  • enrolled more than 50% of the paper loyalty cardholders

Impressive business results

Loyalty program members show:

  • 23% higher average transaction value
  • 42% higher average number of transactions
  • double the average buying frequency (4.5 vs. 9.1)‍

Referrals:

  • 3400 referred customers saved approx EUR 68.000 in customer acquisition costs
"The open API-first approach supported by the Open Loyalty model helped us to transform extremely fast. In less than four months, we switched from a paper card with sticker points that only worked in brick-and-mortar to an app that works omni-channel. We were able to implement features like push notifications, actions, rebates, and coupons into the loyalty app. These features make people download the app and help us grow the program member base."

Fritze von Berswordt
Managing Director. EQUIVA GmbH
EQUIVA Friends Android app screenshots in Google Play
EQUIVA Friends Android app screenshots in Google Play

The 3 challenges of loyalty program digital transformation

Customers reluctant to change

EQUIVA had a notable number of customers who were satisfied with the traditional program and would like their old card back.  However, the old system could not track customer points. While it had all customer data, the points were marked with physical stickers on cards.

Legacy backend technology

Before they went digital with the loyalty program, the customer data was stored in four separate systems: cash register, legacy customer database, newsletter system, and eCommerce store. To introduce the new program, the team had to merge it all into one customer data platform with robust APIs.

“If you work with an API-first system like Open Loyalty, you need robust API infrastructure :) We used Lobster to switch from the legacy data ETL (extract, transform, load) technology to real time APIs.”

Fritze von Berswordt
Managing Director. EQUIVA GmbH

Learning curve

The CRM team is learning to use the full potential that Open Loyalty offers to move customers higher and higher up in the program and increase the share of wallet. They’re testing and learning the use of features we might find suitable for our program, e.g. push notifications, coupons, and campaigns.

The solution

Loyalty technology you can integrate into existing systems

“The open API-first approach supported by the Open Loyalty model helped us to transform extremely fast. In less than four months, we switched from a paper card with sticker points that only worked in brick-and-mortar to an app that works omni-channel. We were able to implement features like push notifications, actions, rebates, and coupons into the loyalty app. These features make people download the app and help us grow the program member base.”

Fritze von Berswordt
Managing Director. EQUIVA GmbH

Pre-build loyalty modules

“When planning the digital transformation we needed to support our “we love, we care, we ride” claim quickly. We didn’t want to build the technology ourselves. Instead, we partnered up with professionals who do it for us so that we can transform very fast. We used Open Loyalty pre-build modules, applied the loyalty mechanics via API to our tech stack and focused fully on the customer experience.”

Fritze von Berswordt
Managing Director. EQUIVA GmbH
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