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The model below represents a linked retail loyalty scheme. It links together the product promotion components of two retail loyalty schemes (for food and petrol) so that they reinforce each other. The rewards from the petrol product promotion trigger inducements to the food product promotion and vice versa:
Notation: The model comprises three diagrams. Each diagram represents one system as a composition of component systems. Component systems are represented in diagrams by named rectangles. The touching of two rectangles represents an interaction between two systems so that the two systems affect each others behaviour.
The component systems of the product promotion system are introduced in the retail loyalty scheme example. The following diagrams show how each of these component systems are composed from lower level component systems:
The two product promotions share the same promotion bureau and the same consumer population.
The food store issues coupons as inducements for the petrol promotion system and the petrol station issues vouchers as inducements for the food promotion system.
The rewards for the food promotion are identical to the inducements for the petrol promotion and vice versa. The petrol station redeems the reward of the food promotion by giving a discount on the cost of petrol. The food store redeems the reward of the petrol promotion by giving a discount on the cost of food.
More complicated versions of this example show how each component in the above structure is realised by IT systems and human activities. Other versions of this example show how more than two loyalty schemes can be linked together giving quite complex networks of loyalty schemes.
last revision: 21st June 1997