🎥 Video: Framework for Building a D2C Loyalty App that is a Revenue Driver.
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With a history spanning more than 145 years, Henkel holds leading positions in both the consumer and industrial markets. Its portfolio includes well-known hair care products, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, but also adhesives, sealants and functional coatings.
Henkel has been operating in Italy since 1933, and its brands—synonymous with excellence and innovation—are highly regarded by both consumers and industry professionals.
To engage more closely with consumers, Henkel Italy launched DonnaD in 1996—a magazine offering content on household management.
As of 2024, the online version of DonnaD has built a community of approximately 1.25 million registered users.
In 2023, the company introduced Dfamily, DonnaD’s loyalty program, where members collect D points and redeem rewards.
Henkel sells its products through distributors, making it difficult to establish a direct connection with consumers.
The Dfamily loyalty program enables the CRM team to communicate directly with customers and provide the business with valuable insights.
The loyalty program is driven by four key objectives to increase user engagement:
*Data from the first edition in 2023
Dfamily - a loyalty program where members collect D points and redeem rewards.
“A loyalty program is a great initiative for CRM and customer retention. Once you connect with a consumer, you can stay in touch, recognize their specific needs, and even anticipate those needs with relevant content, products, solutions, and offers.
Brand-switching is common today, as consumers often seek promotions and aren't loyal to a single brand. A loyalty program helps go beyond promotions by offering something of real value.
For example, in our case, it’s not just about the product, but also about guiding people on how to use it—like how to wash your jeans sustainably. We also share our values with customers, such as how we care for the environment.”
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
The "Dfamily 2024" loyalty program is a points-based rewards system, running from March 4, 2024, to December 13, 2024.
Participants, who must be over 18 and located in Italy, can earn points by completing various online actions on the website my.donnad.it. These actions include:
Points can be accumulated and redeemed for prizes, including Henkel product vouchers, gift cards, and other rewards.
There is no obligation to make a purchase to participate, although uploading receipts from Henkel product purchases can significantly increase point accumulation. Receipts must show specific product details, and only physical store purchases are eligible (e-commerce purchases are excluded).
Each participant has a personal profile to track points and available rewards, which can be redeemed once specific thresholds are met.
"The Dfamily program runs on an annual basis. We typically start between April and May and run until the end of December.
‍At the end of the year, we assess KPIs, begin the analytics phase, and evaluate how to evolve the program. We also decide whether to renew partnerships based on the performance of reward redemptions."
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“In our loyalty program, partnerships are mainly focused on the rewards catalog. However, it also serves as a platform to connect with potential partners, allowing us to test partnerships and provide data to explore further opportunities.
The loyalty program offers a valuable way to pilot partnerships that may eventually expand beyond the digital environment and evolve into full brand partnerships.
‍For instance, we were exploring a partnership for the brand Pril. Initially, it was a collaboration within the loyalty program, but it soon led to discussions with the brand manager about broader potential. Pril even created a contest in offline stores, where they sponsored the rewards and promoted the program.”
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“Developing software is not our core business. We are a chemical company; we produce detergents. We don't have people in the company who can develop a loyalty solution.
We were looking for a solution that could be easily integrated into our tech stack as a layer to manage the reward catalog, campaigns, and more, including:
- Campaigns
- Tiers
- Rewards
- Custom Events
- Achievements
‍Open Loyalty is a complete solution allowing us to work toward our KPIs.”
‍Giuseppe Millea, CRM
Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“We don’t have the internal capability to develop a tech platform, which is why we collaborate with an external partner.
After evaluating the cost of building a loyalty solution ourselves, I realized there was no point in spending such a large amount of money when we weren’t certain of the potential results.
That’s why we started looking for a loyalty solution that would be easy to integrate with the technology stack we already use. Open Loyalty proved to be perfect for our needs.
While I don’t work directly with the platform, my team finds it very easy to create campaigns and manage triggers that align with the catalog. When we need to update the loyalty program, we don’t have to invest much time.
Open Loyalty made the process smoother. Given that we aim to start as soon as possible, this is crucial. We run the program yearly, and we typically have just one month in January to make updates."
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“Our main goal is to drive sales. We’ve received feedback that using online incentives to drive offline purchases (customers need to go to the store, buy a product, and then remember to upload the receipt) creates a gap between the experiences.
We need to balance our goals and focus on various KPIs such as campaign participation, program participation, content generation, and survey completion.”
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“We’ve shifted from targeting a single audience to micro-audiences. Our members have diverse interests in different products. We’ve collected data to send more relevant offers and messaging, such as:
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- "This year, the program will benefit you in the following ways..."
- "Since you own this hardware, you’ll receive special offers on these products..."
- Running reactivation campaigns for members who dropped out in previous years.
Some members are highly engaged, while others need more stimulation to remain active.”
Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
“I would boil it down to three elements you need to succeed. These are:
1. Clear goals: you need to know what you are trying to achieve with our loyalty program.
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2. A strong tech solution and reliable partners: the tech aspect is critical in CRM. to You need to efficiently manage data, automate processes, and scale operations while ensuring seamless integration and meeting business goals.
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3. A scalable process: start small with clear, achievable goals. Then, scale up step by step, guided by the data and insights you collect.
In my opinion, CRM is a mix of philosophy and technology. You need to find the right balance to meet your business objectives.”
‍Giuseppe Millea
CRM, Digital & Tech manager at Henkel Italy
