Founded by Emmanuel JACQUES and Thierry MILLET, Club EPICURE® was a genuine "Student Economic Service" with a dual purpose: 1) Help students spend smarter and save money. 2) Bring new customers to local businesses. Benefits negotiated by Club EPICURE® were offered to students in Bordeaux, Nantes, and Toulouse who agreed to shop at participating merchants.
The death of Emmanuel JACQUES in a road accident brought the venture to an abrupt halt, despite having already attracted 15,000 consumers and nearly 250 merchants to the service.
Autumn 1988: Thierry MILLET revives a concept he had envisioned a few years earlier to help local businesses compete against large retailers. His idea was to offer consumers ongoing benefits that rewarded them in proportion to their purchases. These benefits would be granted simply upon presentation of the store's Loyalty Card. Direct marketing would be used to deliver the promised benefits to customers in the form of discount vouchers sent by post. He was convinced: this approach would encourage customers to come back and shop more often.
The company's first clients were former partners from Club EPICURE®.
Customer loyalty requires logistics that guarantee fast production of communications for consumers. Thierry MILLET helped Franck Le Pelley create MECAPLI (direct marketing logistics) by bringing in AVOMARK®'s orders.
Taking advantage of the desktop computing boom and the possibilities of interconnection between PCs and terminals, AVOMARK® launched a modern, integrated, and cost-effective technical solution called "I Buy therefore I Save", enabling merchants to build individual loyalty with their customers.
The "I Buy therefore I Save ®" concept proved its worth. Regardless of the industry, merchants who trusted AVOMARK® saw the method deliver results: the outcomes were impressive and revenue soared. AVOMARK® stepped up the commercialization of its services. To replace the first loyalty-dedicated terminals (too expensive and impractical), AVOMARK® developed its "point of sale" software for INGENICO electronic payment terminals.
To support its growth, AVOMARK® moved to larger, better-equipped premises in Mérignac.
The company crossed the one million euro revenue milestone for the first time.
AVOMARK® added the ability to complement direct mail campaigns by reaching consumers via SMS and email.
Taking advantage of the rollout of the ADSL network in France, AVOMARK® developed the first version of its software in SaaS mode (Software as a Service). Stores were connected in real time to the database. The "loyalty" window was accessible directly from the POS computer screen. A customer making a purchase at a store other than their usual location? No problem: their loyalty rewards balance was now accessible wherever they were. The customer forgot their Loyalty Card? No problem: by entering the first 3 letters of their name, the merchant could instantly retrieve their Loyalty Card number.
To help its customers overcome the crisis, AVOMARK® took the initiative of investing to expand and adapt its range of services (with no price increases) and to contractually guarantee each merchant the expected results: this is the "partner commitment." AVOMARK® thus financially backed the effectiveness of its methods on behalf of its clients.
Committed to supporting its clients whose stores are located abroad, AVOMARK® now offers a multilingual service. New expertise was brought on board to meet this challenge. This was not just about communicating with customers in their native language, but also about mastering local distribution channels — for example, postal mail. Indeed, even as digital communication (emails, SMS, etc.) continued to grow, the effectiveness of direct mail remained proven, making it a first-choice marketing tool. Many businesses across continental Europe are connected to AVOMARK® and benefit from the same services as in France. But these are not the only locations: AVOMARK® also delivers its services in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, and Africa.
How do you stay in touch with your customers? How do you meet their needs 24/7? How do you exchange information with them? To address these needs, AVOMARK launched its "macarte.club" portal. This service is accessible from the merchant's website and allows every visitor to access a fully branded, comprehensive service in the merchant's own colors.
For many years, AVOMARK®'s software tools have allowed each merchant to segment their customer base according to criteria of their choosing, defining homogeneous customer subgroups. With this approach, consumers can receive offers that match their interests. Through kiosks located in-store, these consumers can now view the offers that are personally relevant to them — so they never miss an opportunity to get a great deal. The process is simple: customers hold their card up to the kiosk reader and the information appears on the screen instantly.
With the explosion of the smartphone market, AVOMARK® needed to evolve the Loyalty Card. In addition to the traditional plastic card (which still has many loyal fans), AVOMARK® decided to offer a true "mobile consumer service" — allowing customers to display their Loyalty Card on their mobile phone screen, but also to browse current promotional offers, view purchase history, check their loyalty rewards balance, update personal details and preferences, find the address of other Brand locations and get directions using the built-in GPS, and much more.
To meet its customers' demands, AVOMARK® sought to streamline the work of in-store staff by eliminating the need for double entry of purchases at checkout. Real-time integration between the loyalty system and the point-of-sale system became essential, requiring the development of an API (Application Programming Interface) made available not only to physical stores, but also to e-commerce sites and click & collect platforms.
Saving time and growing revenue — that is the challenge AVOMARK® continues to take on for its clients. Every customer can now access an online service to book an appointment, which is then confirmed by SMS or email. Integrated with the Loyalty Card management system, this tool boosts productivity at relevant points of sale (personal care, beauty salons, automotive services, etc.) without driving up costs for the merchant.
Having accumulated years of innovative commercial expertise, AVOMARK's information system had become too complex and too costly to maintain. The extensive overhaul project continues at full speed, with the goal of giving merchants more flexibility, more adaptability, more autonomy, and faster performance — at a more competitive price. The new FidOnline platform will also make it easier to integrate with all merchant and consumer tools: POS systems, payment terminals, smartphones, tablets, and more.
Since 1996, AVOMARK has been developing and maintaining a suite of software solutions deployed on INGENICO/SAGEM electronic payment terminals (POS terminals). The latest POS terminal models now offer internet connectivity. AVOMARK takes advantage of this to strengthen its offering by providing merchants with seamless, interactive loyalty management and real-time tracking of customer rewards balances. AVOMARK also leverages these advancements to integrate its Digital Loyalty Cards with Google Pay.
Since the early 2000s, AVOMARK, as a marketing agency, has offered its clients Store Wallet solutions that can be combined with Loyalty Programs. The rationale behind this approach is twofold: to attract consumers with a convenient and user-friendly payment system, while enhancing the relationship with "benefits" awarded to their most loyal customers. All cashless payment solutions offered by AVOMARK operate in real time, ensuring secure management and enabling simultaneous use across multiple locations and e-commerce sites.
A PIONEERING COMPANY IN ITS INDUSTRY
The adventure began when Thierry MILLET, wanting to respond to requests from merchants in the EPICURE club who were looking to grow their revenue, suggested they start by bringing existing customers back more often. The future marketing agency AVOMARK® thus positioned itself in the field of direct marketing dedicated to customer loyalty.
The company developed a range of customer loyalty systems adaptable to the specific needs of each retail trade. In 1996, a new loyalty method based on the research of Arkes and Blummer was successfully tested. The development process took 2 years, with the support of around thirty points of sale.
… and adapts to the specific needs of its clients, whatever their size.
In 1998, investments were made to accelerate commercial growth. AVOMARK® works primarily with Networks, Independent retailers, national and international Brands, as well as e-commerce and click & collect sites, helping them outperform their competition. Through its j’Achète donc j’Epargne® service range, AVOMARK®, as a marketing agency, pursues one key objective: to bring consumers back to Merchants and drive repeat purchases.
The effectiveness of AVOMARK® is measured by the margin generated at the point of sale. AVOMARK® also provides targeting tools that enable autonomous sales activation, along with reporting and analytics tools that allow merchants to measure the effectiveness, profitability, and progress of their customer loyalty management.
Founded in January 1989, Avomark is an operational marketing company specializing in the collection, processing, and use of commercial data.
Through its range of services and solutions Avomark 360, we pursue a single goal: to bring consumers back to merchants and drive repeat purchases.
Explore our blog dedicated to customer loyalty, with practical tips, marketing trends, and case studies for local businesses and networks.
