Creating Customer Loyalty Strategies and Increased Sales for Food Distributors

The Challenge

A well-established regional food distributor had tried various discount programs to incentivize their restaurant customers to increase purchases. Upon review, the distributor noted that the volume of sales did not increase as a result of these programs, and ultimately, profit margins were reduced.

Our Approach

CORE worked with the distributor to create a marketing strategy that offered value-added services for their restaurant customers. This marketing strategy consisted of a customer loyalty program that would offer restaurant operators funding for their marketing based on their purchasing level—the more purchases made from the distributor, the more marketing funds the restaurant would be eligible to receive.  

The Results

Restaurant customers participating in the program showed increases in sales that resulted in more purchases from the food distributor. This rate of growth exceeded both distributor growth and industry averages.