Ritchies Stores

Ritchies Stores

Type	Private company
Industry	Retail
Founded	1870
Headquarters	Carrum Downs, Victoria, Australia
Number of locations	70
Key people	Fred Harrison, CEO
Number of employees	6300
Website	www.ritchies.com.au

Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket chain in Australia, owned by a group of private investors including Metcash. Ritchies, also known as "Ritchies Supa IGA", have the majority of their stores located in Victoria.

Ritchies' growth in recent years has been phenomenal. Numbering less than 20 stores in 2000, Ritchies now appear on the top 20 Australian retailers list with the likes of Australian retailing giants Kmart, Myer and Bunnings to name a few.^[1]

History

Ritchies Stores was founded in 1870 by Thomas Ritchie after surviving the shipwrecked Isabella Watson, the first store opening up in Frankston, Victoria on what is now Nepean Highway.^[2]

Loyalty schemes

Community Benefit Card

Ritchies CEO Fred Harrison recognised the importance of introducing a loyalty program. The majority of loyalty programs at the time focused on rewarding the customer with gifts. Ritchies decided to go in the opposite direction, asking customers to nominate a club, school or charity. Ritchies would then donate a percentage of the total spend to the customer's nominated organisation each time the customer shopped within their stores. As at April 2010 Ritchies have donated a total of $34,385,924 under the program.^[3]

Fuel Offer

Following the lead from UK giants Tesco and Sainsbury's to name a couple, Australian supermarket chains introduced a discount on fuel when customers purchased in excess of a set dollar amount in their stores. Ritchies currently offer a 4 cent/L discount at participating BP or United service stations when transactions of over $25 are conducted in-store.^[4]

Christmas Club

The Christmas club, is a savings program where customers can make regular deposits into their Christmas Club account. It was designed to help customers that find saving for the festive season difficult. Customers can either make deposits at the checkout or set up direct debits from their bank account. Come the 1 December Christmas Club members receive a statement showing what they have saved and a letter asking them to pick up their gift card which is valid in any Ritchies Store. Customers that save over $200 for the year also receive a free gift. The program has been running since 2000.

References

1. "Australia's Top 20 retailer rankings". Inside Retailing online. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
2. "Wreck of the Isabella Watson=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Wrecks/isabellawatson1852.htm". Sydney Shipping Gazette Vol. 9, No. 418 - , p.93. 3 April. Check date values in: |date= (help);
3. "Donations". Ritchies Stores. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
4. "Ritchies Fuel Offer". Ritchies Stores. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

External links

• Ritchies