Top South African Retail Center Uses CA Solutions To Develop Innovative Customer Incentive Program
Canal Walk’s “Incenta” Utilizes Advantage, CleverPath, eTrust and AllFusion Solutions and CA Services to Drive Customer Loyalty
ISLANDIA, N.Y. and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, July 1, 2002 – Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) announced today that Canal Walk, one of the premier retail centers in South Africa, has successfully leveraged CA’s Advantage, CleverPath, eTrust and AllFusion solutions to build a fully interactive customer incentive and loyalty program. Canal Walk is the first shopping complex in Africa to launch such a comprehensive customer relationship management initiative. Canal Walk’s Incenta program involves close to 100 retail outlets and aims to enlist 90 percent of the 400 stores within the first year including marquee tenants. Key business objectives are to identify loyal patrons, increase the frequency and duration of their visits, and – most significantly – increase their spending in the center. More than 16 million people visit Canal Walk annually.
Incenta is based on a debit membership card concept, allowing shoppers to accumulate “i-cash” bonus rewards based on their purchases at any participating shop in the center.
“The Incenta program is an entirely new concept for the South African retail market and, as far as we know, may be the first of its kind in the world,” said John Biesman-Simons, financial director of Canal Walk Ltd. “What makes it particularly compelling is that shoppers can immediately see their program rewards and redeem them from the 7th day of the following month at any participating retail outlet.”
The program’s core supporting application is built on a sophisticated database that was designed using CA’s award-winning AllFusion ERwin Data Modeler. The database runs on CA’s Advantage Integration Server that intelligently synthesizes customers’ purchasing data. CA’s popular CleverPath Portal and CleverPath Forest & Trees provide the intuitive presentation and reporting capabilities that make the Incenta system visually appealing and easy to use for Canal Walk staff, store managers and center customers. The networked infrastructure that supports the Incenta system is fully secured and protected from viruses and other malicious code by CA’s eTrust Firewall and eTrust Antivirus.
In addition to providing “i-cash” purchase incentives, the Incenta program will accumulate a wealth of information about the buying histories and habits of the 16 million shoppers who visit the center every year. Canal Walk tenants can use accurate, detailed profiles of regular shoppers to formulate highly targeted special offers and market promotions. These promotions can include SMS (Short Message Service) messages to cell phones of shoppers as they enter the center area.
“The Incenta program uses state-of-the-art technology to give Canal Walk and its tenant retailers substantial business advantages,” said Alan West, CEO of Velociti Solutions, the CA integration partner responsible for developing the Incenta system. “It’s a powerful program underpinned by proven direct marketing principles and customer relationship management components that will provide a wealth of information on shoppers’ individual preferences and buying patterns.”
CA Services supported the development of Incenta with five full-time consultants and other expert consultants and technologists.
“Incenta is one of the most ambitious eBusiness projects that South Africa has ever seen,” said Dan Van der Westhuizen, CA regional manager, Africa, Middle East and Israel. “It has been a phenomenal experience to see such a broad range of our technology solutions being used so effectively to generate such tangible business advantages.”
About Canal Walk
Canal Walk shopping center situated at Century City on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa is owned by Canal Walk Ltd, whose controlling shareholder is financial services group BoE, which was recently acquired by Nedcor. The shopping center developed at a cost of R1,4 billion, opened on October 26, 2000 as the largest shopping center in Africa.
About Computer Associates
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) delivers The Software That Manages eBusiness. CA’s world-class solutions address all aspects of eBusiness management through industry-leading brands: Unicenter for infrastructure management, eTrust for security management, BrightStor for storage management, CleverPath for portal and business intelligence, AllFusion for application life cycle management, Advantage for data management and application development, and Jasmine for object-oriented database technology. Founded in 1976, CA serves organizations in more than 100 countries, including 99 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit http://ca.com.