ABSTRACT
The target groups for a customer loyalty programme consist of those customers with whom the sponsoring company primarily wants to develop long-term relationships. In order to prolong the length of membership, it is extremely important constantly to improve and update the loyalty programme's performance and benefits in order to maintain a high quality level and keep membership attractive. The loyalty programme might even help to build them, or lead to an initial contact by potential customers with the company or product. Potential customers might be attracted to the loyalty programme, but new customers are mainly won because of a strong product, excellent service, superior brand image, low price or other competitive advantages. One big advantage of a customer loyalty programme is that it can cover several target groups. However, if the target groups are either extremely big or heterogeneous, it is often better to identify the most important segments within them and focus on them.
