In-store sales and loyalty on the same customer record

Where it started

In retail, selling and the customer relationship usually live in two separate worlds. The order is created in one system, customer details are held somewhere else, and the loyalty scheme — if there is one — runs in a third tool.

The practical consequence: the sales assistant in the shop does not know what the person in front of them bought before, how many points they have, or whether they had a problem last month. And the customer introduces themselves again at every contact with the same brand.

What we built

Orders are created in Salesforce

When a sale happens in store, the order is created directly in Salesforce. Everything that follows rests on that: wherever the order is created is where the customer history accumulates.

At the point of sale the customer record is either created or matched to an existing one. In retail it is very easy for the same person to be recorded more than once; preventing that up front is far cheaper than cleaning it up later.

Loyalty on the same record

Customers earn points on their purchases. The points balance does not sit in a separate tool; it lives on the customer’s own record. Which means:

• The sales assistant can see the points balance at the moment of sale
• Points are calculated in the same place as the purchase itself — no reconciliation problem arises
• Purchase history and points history sit on the same timeline

A single customer view

What comes out of it is simple, and rare in retail: one record per customer. What they bought, how many points they hold and how they got in touch, all on one screen.

What we learned about loyalty schemes

The most commonly skipped part of a points programme is how precisely the rules are written. “Customers earn points on purchases” is not a rule — it is an intention. For the system to work, these need answering:

• Which amount are points calculated on — including VAT, before discount?
• Are points reversed on a return?
• Do points expire?
• Does the rate differ by customer group?
• At what point do points become spendable?

Any loyalty scheme built without written answers to these will be reopened for debate at the first objection. A significant part of the project goes here — and it should.

Outcome

The real change on the shop floor is that the sales assistant now talks to a customer they know. That is a relationship built on attention rather than discount — and in retail, attention is usually what makes the difference.

What we would do differently

We would tighten the customer matching rules earlier. Customer identity in retail is blurred: some people give a phone number, some do not, and family members share numbers.

Leaving the rules loose and tightening them later means cleaning up the duplicates created in the meantime. Doing it the other way round — strict from the start, relaxed if needed — is cheaper.