40% increase in customer databases using in store scratchcards
Notcutts is a well-established UK-based garden center retailer, specializing in a wide range of garden products, plants, home and lifestyle items, and outdoor furniture. Founded in 1897, the company has a long history of serving gardening enthusiasts and homeowners.
Notcutts operates both physical stores and an ecommerce platform, offering customers the option to shop online for delivery or collect items in-store. Notcutts is known for its extensive selection of plants, gardening tools, outdoor furniture, landscaping materials, and home and lifestyle products such as indoor decor, seasonal decorations, and gifts.
The Commercial Director brought me in to ovrehaul their full digital operationan and provide a stable and scaleable platform for growth.
Notcutts faced a significant barrier to growth despite a loyal customer base and strong in-store presence. While the loyalty program had 400,000 members, only 40% had email addresses on file, leaving 240,000 customers uncontactable through digital channels. This gap meant the business was missing key opportunities to drive repeat purchases, upsell, and engage customers with promotions or personalized offers.
In-store data capture was outdated and inconsistent, with low staff engagement and no clear incentive for customers to provide their information. Without accurate, actionable customer data, the marketing team struggled to measure engagement, optimize campaigns, or make data-driven decisions.
The result was a shrinking email database, declining acquisition rates, and lost revenue potential. For a business aiming to grow its ecommerce channel, this lack of insight into customer behavior represented a critical commercial and operational bottleneck — one that needed a simple, scalable solution to convert dormant loyalty members into engaged, revenue-generating customers.
I implemented a data-driven, high-engagement strategy using a scratchcard prize draw campaign:
1- Numbered scratchcards were distributed at checkout, giving customers a chance to win monthly prizes up to £500
2 – Customers entered their details on a landing page, updating or providing their email address and Privilege card number
3 – approach simultaneously re-engaged dormant customers and acquired new customer data, while being easy for staff to execute and for customers to participate
40% increase in Database
1 – Email database grew 40%, from 160k to 224k subscribers
2 – Directly improved digital marketing reach and enabled targeted campaigns, promotions, and personalized messaging
3 – Strengthened the foundation for ongoing ecommerce growth, with richer customer insights feeding segmentation, retention strategies, and revenue-driving campaigns
By turning a data gap into a growth lever, this initiative not only expanded Notcutts’ marketing capabilities but also created a measurable commercial impact on their ecommerce performance.
