Dis-Chem is moving away from broad mass-marketing segments and aims to service customers on an individual basis through the use of data and technology. <\/p>\n
This is part of the group\u2019s broader push to grow beyond its traditional pharmacy operations to become an integrated healthcare business and provide customers with cheaper and easier access to healthcare services.<\/p>\n
In October, the pharmacy chain operator\u2019s traditional loyalty model was replaced with a data-led system that integrates rewards across retail purchases, clinic visits and financial services.<\/p>\n
Thabiso Msimanga, head of customer at Dis-Chem\u2019s X, Bigly Labs, said the Better Rewards programme was developed after extensive research and \u201cmystery shopping\u201d to understand customer problems and needs, replacing Dis-Chem\u2019s 23-year-old loyalty programme.<\/p>\n
X, Bigly Labs was launched in 2025 and is the innovation unit within Dis-Chem tasked with developing new lines of business and products. <\/p>\n
Msimanga told Business Day the lab is experimenting with using data and AI to move away from traditional customer segmentation, which groups people by age, race or LSM, towards treating each individual as their own segment. <\/p>\n
He says the old segmentation methodology is no longer sufficient. In the current retail environment, technology and data allow Dis-Chem to focus on the unique needs, behaviours and life stages of a single person. For instance, a customer is not just \u201ca parent\u201d but an individual who may simultaneously need baby products, beauty items and sports supplements.<\/p>\n
\u201cGone are the days when we could segment customers into a single group and create generic marketing campaigns through mass-marketing techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccessful companies must be able to treat each customer as a unique individual,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Dis-Chem uses WhatsApp for personalised communication that considers a customer\u2019s varied interests beyond just their recent purchases.<\/p>\n
Like rival healthcare player Discovery, Dis-Chem has tied a large part of its current personalisation efforts to health behaviour. Its deal with Capitec is a good illustration of this strategy. <\/p>\n
Through the partnership, Dis-Chem plugs into Capitec\u2019s more than 25-million customer base via the bank\u2019s Live Better platform, offering additional cashback rewards and tailored health benefits. Capitec clients will be able to earn enhanced rewards on Dis-Chem purchases and access offers linked to health-related actions such as clinic consultations or chronic medication refills.<\/p>\n
Together with the bank\u2019s infrastructure, Dis-Chem is leveraging its own 350 retail locations in South Africa, servicing an estimated 15-million customers, as well as its online presence.<\/p>\n
At a time when consumers are under pressure, loyalty and rewards programmes are especially attractive. This is an aspect that the pharmacy chain seeks to capitalise on. <\/p>\n
Msimanga advocates for a granular approach in which the company learns from every individual interaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to think about the concept of one-to-one marketing, where companies need to treat each customer as a unique and exclusive market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen customers feel valued and understood, knowing that you are familiar with their preferences and concerns, it increases their loyalty,\u201d he said, adding that \u201chyper-personalisation\u201d is an effective way to differentiate from the competition. <\/p>\n
Even then, effective personalisation at this scale is impossible without a rigorous commitment to data and technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegular access to accurate customer data is a key requirement for effective action,\u201d Msimanga said. \u201cUsing AI, machine learning and data analysis to identify patterns, trends and individual preferences is a necessity, not an option\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cBecoming data experts and learning how to exploit them is part of this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of loyalty, the group has also expanded into insurance business, another sign of its overall ambition. In February, it launched a life insurance offering \u2014 Dis-Chem Life \u2014 to capitalise on the lucrative insurance sector and remove barriers that have traditionally kept many consumers from participating in that market. <\/p>\n
With Nompilo Zulu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dis-Chem is moving away from broad mass-marketing segments and aims to service customers on an individual basis through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[132857,132850,6930,132848,132844,132851,132846,132853,18,135,475,474,132858,132849,132852,132855,19,132847,17,132856,132854,132845],"class_list":{"0":"post-256497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-better-rewards-programme","9":"tag-capitec-partnership","10":"tag-companies","11":"tag-data-driven-healthcare","12":"tag-dis-chem","13":"tag-dis-chem-capitec-partnership","14":"tag-dis-chem-life-insurance","15":"tag-dis-chem-loyalty-programme","16":"tag-eire","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-health-care","19":"tag-healthcare","20":"tag-healthcare-market-disruption","21":"tag-hyper-personalisation","22":"tag-hyper-personalisation-retail","23":"tag-hyper-personalisation-strategy","24":"tag-ie","25":"tag-individual-customer-focus","26":"tag-ireland","27":"tag-one-to-one-marketing","28":"tag-personalised-healthcare-marketing","29":"tag-rewards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115803979925930877","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}