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The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), the country’s oldest retailer, came to us with a monumental challenge: overhaul its loyalty program to unite a fragmented customer base across The Bay and the newly reborn Zellers banner. It also needed to earn the loyalty of a new generation of shoppers who were overwhelmed by offers and expected a truly engaging, mobile-first experience.
To address these issues, we partnered with HBC, Mastercard and Eagle Eye to create a custom-built, gamified mobile app. The result was a simple, personalized and highly engaging experience that re-energized engagement and revitalized the brand.
+100K
new accounts created
+100K
personalized offers activated
+4M
screen views
The transition from a traditional pen-and-paper program to a new digital version necessitated extensive planning to ensure universal usability. A simple, step-by-step guided tour introduced users to the app’s core features, enabling them to maximize its value.
Unique to each customer and where they shop, the app allows them to activate and benefit from personalized offers based on their purchasing habits. Point balances and reward journeys are visually highlighted, using features like a points thermometer and goal tracking, ensuring a frictionless experience. Every interaction, whether in-store or online, becomes an opportunity to strengthen the one-to-one brand connection.
To sustain customer engagement and repeat visits, we offered exclusive quests such as “complete a look,” requiring the purchase of specific item sets to earn unique rewards. This strategy, rooted in the common gaming and loyalty collection mechanic, capitalized on the heightened satisfaction derived from completing a set versus acquiring individual items, thereby fostering a strong purchase incentive.
Integrating a new app into the existing tech stack was a significant engineering achievement. In collaboration with Eagle Eye and Mastercard, we integrated data from multiple APIs with multi-system authentication management (Salesforce, CRM and loyalty platform), all designed to deliver a smooth, secure experience. To streamline development, we built on custom React Native, creating a single codebase compatible with both iOS and Android.
Seamless collaboration for project success
The project necessitated collaboration with HBC’s team and other tech partners, which added a layer of complexity. To ensure a smooth workflow, we established collaborative working environments and implemented recurring rituals between teams, providing transparency on progress.
