In the Northeast and Emilia-Romagna regions, DESPAR Italy Partner, Aspiag Service, has pioneered the use of mobile technologies to enhance customer loyalty and brand recognition through improved customer interaction. As part of its ‘DESPAR Tribù’ loyalty scheme, DESPAR Aspiag’s app has become a tool for the SPAR Brand in communicating with its customer base in the region, by providing information about the stores and giving users an easy way to view special offers and loyalty point updates. The in-app games have proven a hit among the app’s growing number of users, and have even generated social media groups where the solutions to the games are discussed.
In the second half of 2019, DESPAR Aspiag also rolled out mobile payment options in a considerable number of DESPAR, EUROSPAR, and INTERSPAR stores, allowing customers to pay conveniently with either Apple Pay or Samsung Pay.
Ergon Group, DESPAR Partner in Sicily, has launched an in-app activity that challenges customers to build a complete menu and collect discount vouchers by playing a game similar to a famous TV quiz, known as ‘The Wheel of Fortune’.
Users can try to complete a 5-course menu by providing answers to ten questions. For each correct answer, the player can ‘spin the wheel’ once. The wheel comprises various dishes and each dish grants the player a certain amount of points. Upon completing the menu, those points are doubled. Once a certain amount of points have been collected, they can be redeemed as a discount voucher worth €2 or €5.
By embracing mobile technologies, SPAR is creating novel opportunities to communicate with its customers at all stages of the shopping journey. Recent experiences and best practices in gamification are being shared with other DESPAR Italy Partners, to support them in developing new apps and in-app games.
Source: DESPAR Aspiag and DESPAR Ergon
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About SPAR Italy
SPAR International first granted a licence for the operation of the SPAR Brand to SPAR Italy in 1959. The first store opened in the latter part of 1960 and with it, SPAR became the first partnership of retailers and wholesalers to operate in Italy. SPAR Italy, known locally as DESPAR Italia, licenses regional partners, all of whom work together to grow the brand across the country.
The DESPAR Partners operate stores under three formats: DESPAR Neighbourhood Supermarkets, EUROSPAR Supermarkets and INTERSPAR Hypermarkets. Many of the larger format stores are company-owned, reflecting the scale of investment required. While the majority of the company’s turnover is acquired through these larger format stores, the independently owned neighbourhood supermarkets remain a key part of the business.
