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Loyalty Programs

Halfords Drives Customer Loyalty Through Digital Transformation

Runa helps Halfords to reduce complexity and transform basic transactions into meaningful interactions.

Halfords Case Study | Runa
About Halfords

As the UK’s leading cycling and motoring retailer, Halfords provides a one-stop shop for bikes, high-quality car parts and accessories, travel equipment and satellite navigation devices. The group currently has 460 stores offering more than 115,000 different product lines, supplemented by a growing e-commerce division.

The Challenge

Prior to its involvement with digital rewards, Halfords had been using gift cards towards good will and as a form of refund for its customers for nearly two years. The B2B side of its strategy involved the bulk selling of Halfords-branded gift cards to private companies. Halfords also used gift cards from other brands within its call centres.

This process was becoming operationally expensive to run due to physical gift cards. Halfords needed to maintain this strategy while moving to a whole new process with a digital route to fulfillment. They wanted to reduce the financial and internal burden of using physical gift cards as a good will and reward mechanism.

Results

220+ hours

saved monthly

93% reduction

in fulfillment costs

One day

setup time

Runa's Solution

Runa’s multi-award winning, API-first technology represented the future of digital rewards for Halfords. Runa Connect allowed Halfords to provide open-value eGift cards from over 500 brands instantly and on demand. Halfords was also able to create a better customer experience, which connected their branded rewards to buyers across the world.

Runa also provided complete transparency across the entire eGifting process, with payments, invoicing, reconciliation, delivery and analytics all managed by a single platform. “Our staff needed complete control over the end-to-end eGifting process and several methods of fulfilling orders. Runa's experts were methodical and considerate when scoping what we wanted; no other partner could match it for speed, ease-of-use and functionality,” Kimberly, Reward, Gift Card, and Channel Sales Manager, said.

“When considering the financial, operational and environmental benefits, not to mention their improvement of the customer experience, we were eager to see how digital payouts could fit into our strategy.”

Kimberly Jones | Reward, Gift Card, and Channel Sales Manager, Halfords

Success In Numbers
  • The shift across to digital allowed allowed Halfords to have complete transparency over the use of its rewards- both branded and non-branded - and a more instant resolution for B2B and B2C customers.
  • By switching to Runa, Halfords freed up a significant amount of administrative time, 220+ hours per month, previously wasted on menial tasks.
  • Additionally, the transition to digital rewards led to a 93% reduction in fulfillment costs across Halfords’ B2B and B2C gift card requirement.
  • Lastly, with Runa, it took less that 24hours for Halfords to get started with Runa following a simple, non-technical process.
  • By delivering financial, environmental, operational and experiential benefits, Runa has laid the groundwork for a long-lasting partnership with Halfords.