Independent retailers have a limited number of opportunities to distinguish themselves from competing shops and large chains. The market position of the small retailer has been under pressure for years. Cutthroat competition causes the defection of more and more customers to large national chains and leads to decreased turnover. SMEs have a limited ability to advertise, and the opportunities for customer retention, such as through special offers or neighbourhood loyalty cards, are similarly few. With respect to the environment, a large number of regulations are aimed at SMEs, often with some expense attached. However, few of them are visible to the public. In addition, extending the range to include more sustainable products requires specialist knowledge, something which even wholesalers only have in limited amounts. The slow decline in the number of independent retailers from shopping streets, as a result of a lack of customers, the changing composition of the population in the neighbourhood and unaffordable rents, for instance, does not make life any easier for those that remain. In the more popular shopping streets, the branches of national chains are on the increase, while in other streets the rise of mobile phone houses and snack bars cannot be stopped. Essentially, shops would not only benefit from more opportunities to get to know their present customers better and to bind them more closely, but also to identify potential customers and approach them with customized effective marketing instruments. The NU card scheme offers these possibilities at very low costs. Read the full chapter as pdf-file. top