The Chesterfield Shop – Toronto, Ontario

Company Snapshot

The Chesterfield Shop is one of Toronto's most trusted retail names, offering Toronto-area residents the finest sofas, loveseats, sofabeds, sectionals, chairs and recliners. Established in 1948, this family-run retailer operates 5 stores in the Greater Toronto Area and is proud of its loyal generations of happy satisfied furniture customers and its long-standing and experienced staff.

A large part of the Chesterfield Shop’s success over these past 6 decades has been a never-ending commitment to not rest on their laurels ... to change with the times ... to recognize the needs and wants of the modern customer of the new millennium.

Leveraging Aeroplan

The Chesterfield Shop was the first retail merchant signed by the Futura Loyalty Group as an Aeroplan Partner. They launched the program in mid-October 2008 to coincide with their 60th Anniversary, offering 1 Mile for every $2 spent and a special 60,000 Mile Grand Prize promotion; they incorporated the Aeroplan message into all facets of their communications mix: in-store signage, newspaper ads, radio commercials, 4 colour flyer and their website.

Measuring Program Impact

In order to gauge the impact of the Aeroplan Program on The Chesterfield Shop’s business, the Futura Loyalty Group conducted a telephone survey of 110 customers (out of over 400) who had taken advantage of the Aeroplan offer between Oct 15th, 2008 and January 15th, 2009. Customers were asked about how they had heard of The Chesterfield Shop, its new Aeroplan Offering and what impact Aeroplan had made in their decision to purchase from the Chesterfield Shop.

The Results

With over 5 million active Members, it is widely acknowledged that Aeroplan has the ability to impact Partner companies’ sales to varying degrees - but the Chesterfield Shop’s results were profound:

67% of customers responded that the Aeroplan offering played a key role in their decision to purchase from the Chesterfield Shop.

13% of customers said the Aeroplan offering had influenced them to spend more than they’d originally planned – anywhere from 25% to70% more than they’d intended.

Other Key Findings:

77% of Aeroplan Member customers learned of the Aeroplan offering from non-media sources: they heard from a friend or live in the area or saw the Aeroplan signage only once inside the store.

60% of customers knew of the Chesterfield Shop due to living in the area – but 56% only found out about the Aeroplan offering from a friend or once they entered the store.

37% of Aeroplan transactions were from repeat customers.

Moving Forward – Maximizing Program Effectiveness

Even with the terrific results enjoyed to date, the research findings clearly show further enhancements could be made to drive even better program-related activity:

Opportunity #1 – Continue to Build Broad Awareness for the Aeroplan Offering Because of its relative newness, The Chesterfield Shop’s Aeroplan offering has not yet achieved widespread consumer awareness. Considering its obvious appeal and drawing power with consumers, it is critical to continue to promote this valuable benefit.

Action: The Chesterfield Shop will continue to promote Aeroplan in all marketing; it will also introduce a Double Miles promotion through the month of March, incorporating this into its media and flyer mix.

Opportunity #2 – Better promote the Aeroplan Offer Locally The Chesterfield Shop needs to promote the Aeroplan offering’s enormous appeal with the local residents and drive-by commuters who influenced up to 60% of the sales surveyed.

Action: The Chesterfield Shop is exploring how to better leverage its prime retail storefront real-estate and cost-effectively promote the Aeroplan offer to local residents and traffic using increased signage and banners on its store facades.

Opportunity #3 – Take advantage of Customer Deliveries The Chesterfield Shop employs a fleet of 6 vehicles to make deliveries of goods to customers; each truck literally represents a moving billboard and as each delivery is made, remains parked in plain view of customer neighbours – who are typically in the same demographic group and represent a great prospective customer universe.

Action: The Chesterfield Shop can add Aeroplan truck decals to its fleet, promoting its new offering as an added incentive for the many prospective customers who can’t help but notice its trucks as they are parked outside, making deliveries.

“I've really enjoyed our association with The Futura Loyalty Group and Aeroplan. The service has been outstanding, and the excitement of this new program to our staff has resulted in an increase in our sales closings since our people have an added benefit to offer the consumer. It is a fresh relationship that seems to be bringing in the type of demographic that we target, and it encourages them to buy the type of quality products that we carry.”

– Steve Freedman, President & CEO, The Chesterfield Shop