The Zip Yard: Turning loyalty into a 20% turnover opportunity with SMS
Overview
The Zip Yard is an award-winning garment alterations franchise, recognised for its distinctive yellow stores across the island of Ireland. The team wanted a modern loyalty approach that increased retention, drove repeat visits, and created measurable commercial impact across the franchise.
Results
Loyalty strategy refocused on visit frequency, with a clear target tied to growth
Baseline of 1.7 visits per customer with a goal of 2+ visits per year, modelled to deliver a 20% increase in annual turnover
Surpassed the 2+ visits per customer per year target
Built a live customer database through EPOS integration, enabling continuous improvement
Reduced programme costs significantly compared to paper loyalty, while improving customer experience
Improved in-store efficiency by reducing non-collected garments taking up space in outlets
The Challenge
The Zip Yard originally ran a paper-based loyalty programme to encourage repeat business. Over time, it became clear that paper loyalty created friction and limited growth. It was expensive to run, offered little insight into customer behaviour, and did not create a consistent touchpoint that encouraged customers to return.
They needed a modern loyalty approach that reduced operational effort, created an ongoing customer connection, and made it possible to improve performance over time using real customer data.
What We Implemented
Phonovation helped The Zip Yard replace paper loyalty with a data-led SMS approach connected to EPOS. This created a live customer database, automated high-value messages, and enabled targeted promotions designed to increase repeat visits across the franchise.
Loyalty Built Around Frequency, Not Just Spend
Instead of measuring loyalty purely by spend, the strategy shifted to visit frequency. Customers were grouped into:
One-time shoppers
Occasional shoppers
Frequent shoppers
The goal was to move more customers from one-time behaviour into regular repeat visits.
A Target Tied Directly to Growth
The Zip Yard calculated the average customer visit rate at 1.7 visits per year, then set a goal of 2+ visits per customer per year. Hitting that target was modelled to deliver a 20% increase in annual turnover.
EPOS Integration and a Live Customer Database
Phonovation integrated with The Zip Yard’s EPOS systems, creating a live customer database with shopping trends. This made it possible to improve promotions continuously as more data was added, rather than relying on assumptions or paper-based tracking.
Automated Messages Customers Value
Two automated message types were introduced:
Collection notifications when garments were ready
This improved convenience for customers and helped reduce non-collected garments taking up room in outlets.Voucher promotions based on purchase history
Promotions were aligned to customer behaviour, improving relevance and giving customers a clear reason to return.
Business impact
By replacing paper loyalty with targeted, data-led messaging, The Zip Yard created a consistent customer touchpoint that drove repeat behaviour and supported measurable growth across the franchise.
Surpassed the 2+ visits per customer per year target
Converted loyalty into a clear growth lever, with the visit-frequency goal linked to a 20% increase in annual turnover
Increased retention and footfall through more relevant, timely promotions
Reduced the cost and friction of managing loyalty compared to paper-based programmes
Improved in-store efficiency by reducing non-collected garments taking up space
Made the programme easier for franchisees to run, described as “slicker and quicker”
“If you haven’t already started, do it today.”
Want a loyalty system that increases repeat visits and creates measurable growth, without the hassle of paper-based programmes?
Talk to Phonovation about building a data-led SMS loyalty journey connected to your EPOS.