Retailers pool loyalty data via Weve platform for London-based beta trials

Speaking to The Drum at the event Sear said it is “critical” for retailers to drive in-store sales and Weve’s mission is to “transform the dynamic for consumer and retailers” in that space, adding that the current status quo is “simply not good enough”.

“If you take retailers like Kiddicare for example – what they are doing with mobile is revolutionising the way you interact with their store and cutting the rug out from underneath the internet – by saying ‘come and price compare in-store’ with their mobiles – that’s where we must get to,” he said.

Weve, the mobile marketing and wallet joint venture between the three major mobile networks EE, O2 and Vodafone has now added a further 2m opt-in consumers to its database, taking the total to 17m, according to Sear.

It is also in talks with other big retailers over the potential of pooling loyalty databases on an anonymous basis, to help unlock understanding around how retailers can send relevant and tailored messages that can benefit the customer while driving in-store sales.

The current trial is in its early stages and incorporates a mix of QR codes and near-field communications (NFC) to provide tailored loyalty offers. "This is very early stages but we want to understand more about whether people care about a digital loyalty environment," said Sear.

“We think the loyalty application we’re talking about, that brings together the loyalty capability of many different retailers into one standard will encourage consumers to adopt your loyalty mechanism and let you talk more to a segment of one, and really enable you to send relevant and tailored ads."

Earlier at the event Sear said there is a “tendency” to patronise when it comes to the industry’s recognition of issues like mobile privacy, adding that “consumers are way ahead of us".

Sear took the helm as CEO of Weve in February, replacing Nancy Cruickshank who was launch CEO of the mobile joint venture since last September.