Building Solid Marketing Relationships by Sharing Personal Information

Food Lion, the grocery store chain, uses one simple marketing technique to promote customer loyalty. Customers sign up for a MVP card by providing the company with their names and addresses. The physical card itself has no value but as a consumer, one is eligible for multiple in-store discounts and, to the company, they have a repeat customer. This shows customer service, customer satisfaction, and customer retention in practice. It is also helpful to note that based on the items in the customer's shopping cart, the register system prints additional coupon savings that the customer can use on his or her next shopping trip to the store. This is one example of the many benefits customers can receive by sharing personal information.

One of the more recent concerns expressed by consumers is the issue of privacy and information security. In the field of marketing, knowing as much about the customers and potential customers is a necessity in order to completely satisfy their needs with the services provided. Such information allows for the opportunity to not only study trends and make graphic analyses, but focus on relationship marketing (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Just as customers give Food Lion their personal information, they should feel equally confident in doing so now to a company that will ensure privacy and use that information to strengthen the relationship with that company.