Loyalty programs, which amass points for customers who shop at one retailer consistently, have been a major part of the marketing initiatives of majors in all categories. Sobeys and Home Hardware have taken on Scene+, while Canadian Tire’s Triangle Plus recently partnered with Petro-Can gas stations to combine earned points from both companies’ loyalty programs.

But a new loyalty platform from one dealer may be a major disruptor in the loyalty field. BS Building Supplies, of Deux-Pieds-à-Gauche, Man., has launched a loyalty program of its own, proving the tool is not solely the domain of the big players, but something even true independents can take advantage of—at a reasonable cost.

Called “Points+++,” this program has more pluses than any other points program, says Jock Shitely, the owner of BS Building Supplies. “There are other loyalty platforms that offer only one plus. But we have three. It’s truly a win-win-win-, um, win. Top that!” he says.

But strong branding and effective customer interface are just two parts of the loyalty puzzle. “Points are all about loyalty, and loyalty depends on what kind of stuff you can get for your points,” Shitely says. “So our marketing team developed a partnership with the Dog and Whistle Pub, down there on Main Street.” The local aspect of the program, Shitely adds, reinforces a “shop local” vibe and feeds directly back into the community.

“I have to admit, the BS store’s Points+++ card truly offers more pluses than any other plan,” says Hollis Slater, a local contractor and builder who relies on Shitely’s store for the majority of his supplies. “Those other big guys only have one plus. This has three. I know I’m backing a winner,” Slater adds.

Points+++ rewards include a free beer on tap at the Dog and Whistle for each purchase over $25. Non-drinkers can take advantage of the pub’s renowned grilled cheese sandwich special, not just on Grilled Cheese Tuesdays, but any night of the week.

The Home Depot Canada held a spring and summer product showcase late last month and Hardlines was there. The showcase, held in Toronto, was overseen by Home Depot’s home and décor fashionista, Cindy Jardim, the retailer’s senior manager of trend and design. A series of product stations fronted by merchants for each category offered updates on the colours, styles, and technologies driving new product development.

We offer a brief tour, by category, of the categories that caught our eye …

Patio & Garden Furniture. Four different looks were highlighted. A rustic traditional offering called “Wild Cabin” that featured furniture finished with heat-transfer steel, a modular sectional, and a coffee table that provides extra storage. An eclectic line called “Earthen Escape” offered a curated look, one that evokes a “thrifted” shop for a range of pieces that go together but aren’t a perfect match. Instead, they’re meant to evoke a vacation vibe.

“Modern rhythm” offered a more contemporary look, with conversational dining pieces, retro prints, sleek stone and metal furnishings, plus products available in smaller versions. A traditional look called “Garden Party” represented what Jardim called “a blast from the past,” but with a modern update. Items included trendy “retro” prints, heat-transfer steel, multiple sizes to fit multiple spaces, plus a classic wicker look.

“Experience a blast from the past with the return of ’60s- and ’70s-inspired décor,” Jardim said. “With groovy patterns, far-out accents, and colourful fabrics, you can make your space have that eye-catching, eclectic feel.”

Lighting. One trend evident in this category was the range of affordable products. The high-tech nature of lighting and security products can make them costly—and tough for some customers to program and use. A number of items were $40 or less. In fact, a good-better-best assortment was on offer, with prices from $4 and $20, and beyond.
 
Featured products included string light toppers—shades or decorations to add to string lights to “bling up your string”—and table-top solar lamps that look like small table lamps, complete with three lighting modes, but are fully enclosed to keep out dust. The smart lights category keeps growing and the Home Depot brand has an app called Hubspace, which controls all smart lights and smart accessories it sells.

Barbecues.  Versatility is the name of the game when it comes to cooking on the grill. And for condo and apartment dwellers, electric grills represent a growing trend, along with small portable grills on wheels that can be brought camping to the park, or to the condo rooftop. Some models use small camping propane tanks.
 
“Different grills suit different occasions, and Canadians are embracing the benefits of having more than one type of grill,” said Janna Millious, senior merchant, seasonal, at Home Depot Canada. “For busy weeknights, nothing beats a gas grill for convenience and versatility.”

Over the past year, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has updated its loyalty programs, one for pros and one for all customers, with programs that are tailored for contemporary consumer needs and are more versatile than their predecessors.

The latest launch was a credit card for contractor and builder customers. Developed in partnership with Scotiabank, the Scotia Home Hardware Pro Visa Business Card ties in with Home Hardware’s existing Scene+ loyalty program. “Every Home Hardware and Home Hardware Building Centre can offer the Pro credit card. It’s a great opportunity for our pros to have the flexibility and a Scotia credit card with up to $500,000 of revolving credit on that,” says Laura Baker, Home Hardware’s chief marketing officer.

Cards can also be provided to other workers on a contractor’s team.

“We’re so excited to partner with Scene and Scotiabank on these two programs, loyalty and credit,” says Baker. She notes that this card has a wide application, since Sobeys grocery stores, many restaurants, and travel website Expedia, also use the Scene card. “That’s something that’s very attractive to contractors, as well—that is travel points.” That flexibility increases the ability of pros to earn and use points and ease doing business. “I think it’s just going to be a game changer for us, in terms of offering that.”

She admits the former contractor program, Top Notch Rewards, “was limiting in terms of how many dealers were on board.” The new program will be widely used by dealers and easy for pros to adopt. Home Hardware’s former loyalty card, Aeroplan, was focused on travel, when people weren’t necessarily focused on travel (especially during Covid), “so the program just kind of lost its lustre, in terms of our customers as well. The customers weren’t asking for it.”

Baker says the new Pro Visa card and the Scene+ loyalty program both offer more versatility and are easier to adopt. “At a time, really, in this economy, people are looking for points and other savings, shopping for discounts, so it really couldn’t come at a better time to launch this.”
(PHOTO: Geoff Fitzgerald)

It’s said that dollar stores do well in a recession. Tell that to Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree, which announced recently that it would be closing a thousand of its Family Dollar stores in the U.S.

The company said in early March that it will close 600 stores under the banner, which it acquired in 2015, during the first half of this year. A further 370 Family Dollar locations will close in the next “few” years.

For the quarter ending Feb. 3, Dollar Tree lost $1.71 billion. Retail analysts have blamed the botched acquisition of Family Dollar for the losses.

There are about 227 Dollar Tree stores in Canada, none of which the company says are being closed at this time. Still, Dollar Tree is a gigantic company. It says it will do between $31 billion and $32 billion in revenues in fiscal 2024, from more than 15,000 stores.

Dollar Tree is estimated to do about $700 million in revenues in Canada, where it sits a distant third place in market share among specialty discount retailers— behind Montreal-based Dollarama ($5.05 billion in sales for the year ending Jan. 29, 2023) and Ottawa-based Giant Tiger (more than $2.3 billion in estimated sales). Dollarama has more than 1,490 stores in Canada. Giant Tiger has some 270 in this country.

The next update on the success of dollar stores in Canada will occur on April 4, when Dollarama releases its latest fiscal year results. But expect continued strong performance: from 2022 to 2023 Dollarama’s revenues grew 16.7 percent, as more Canadians switched to discount retailers for help with their grocery bills at a time of severe inflation.

DID YOU KNOW...?

... that the latest instalment of our podcast series, What’s In Store, is live? In this episode, we talk to Barry Eidt, co-owner of Arthur Ace Hardware in southwestern Ontario. Barry is the winner of the 2023 Outstanding Retailer Award in the Young Retailer category. He co-owns two other stores with his parents, who founded their first store in Mitchell, Ont., when he was just 13! Sign up now to get updates about the latest free podcasts in your inbox!

RETAILER NEWS

RONA inc. has celebrated the grand opening of RONA+ Hull, in Gatineau, Que. The former Réno-Dépôt store is the first in the province to convert to the new banner, as part of a pilot project by the company. Among the new banner’s features are “shop-in-shop” spaces showcasing brands such as DeWalt, EGO and Worx. In addition, Quebec-based company Bouclair, a new partner for RONA, also has an exclusive section in three RONA+ stores, including RONA+ Hull.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the Skills Canada National Competition for 2024. Skills/Compétences Canada is a not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in the skilled trades and technologies to youth and their communities in Canada. The competition will take place in Quebec City on May 30 and 31.

The RCMP in Wetaskiwin, Alta., south of Edmonton, say three men stole a large amount of power tools from a local Canadian Tire on the morning of March 8. Police say that the three suspects accessed the tool-lock-ups at the store and departed with the tools—which were apparently worth “thousands of dollars”—under their clothing.

Shawn Sauve and Brandy Sauve Puccio, the siblings who own RONA Belle River in southwestern Ontario, have acquired the neighbouring RONA Tilbury and RONA Comber stores. These stores were previously owned by father-and-son team Blake and Bret Drew. Bret Drew will stay on board as manager for both stores, and their existing teams will remain unchanged.

Simons, the Quebec-based specialty department store, has opened its 17th store, and its first in the Maritimes. The 56,000-square-foot outlet, located at the Halifax Shopping Centre, represents an investment of over $20 million and 150 new jobs. The retailer says it’s intent on expanding its presence from coast to coast.

BeautiTone, the pirvate-label paint brand of Home Hardware Stores Ltd., has revealed its 2024 exterior colour of the year. “Pacific” is described as a “dramatic hue that draws inspiration from the deep blue sea.”

Canadian Tire Corp. has forged a joint arrangement with Petro-Canada that ties together their loyalty programs. Through the new loyalty partnership, Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards members can earn Canadian Tire Money at Petro-Canada, and Petro-Points members can earn and redeem their points at Canadian Tire’s Gas+ locations. In addition, members of each respective loyalty program continue to earn existing benefits, including savings and rewards on fuel and other purchases.

Giant Tiger, the Ottawa-based discount chain, recently experienced a cybersecurity breach involving customer information. The company said the cause of the issue lies with a “third-party vendor” and that the incident occurred on March 4. Customer identities were leaked in the breach, including addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. No payment or credit card information was leaked, and the retailer has hired cybersecurity experts to conduct an investigation

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Retail sales decreased 0.3 percent to $67 billion in January. Core retail sales, which exclude automotive and fuel categories, were up 0.4 percent for the month. LBM and garden supply sales rose 2.2 percent to $3.93 billion. (StatCan)

NOTED

Canada’s biggest retail, marketing, and technology event, DX3, is back at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on April 9 and 10. Learn how technology is transforming the retail and marketing industries. Discover how to build supply chain resiliency, leverage AI for growth, and navigate an increasingly chaotic marketing landscape. Use discount code HLPASS to register for a complimentary Show Floor Pass!