Keells
Digitising retail loyalty for millions of customers in Sri Lanka
A legacy of loyalty ready for its next chapter
Keells is one of Sri Lanka’s most loved supermarket chains, operating 147 stores across the country as part of the John Keells Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates.
At the heart of Keells’ customer relationships is Nexus Rewards, a loyalty programme that has been part of shoppers’ lives since the early 2000s and has grown to serve over two million registered members.
A pioneer of coalition loyalty in Sri Lanka, Nexus Rewards introduced mobile number-based loyalty as early as 2014. But while the programme had built in heritage and trust, its digital experience hadn’t kept pace. Customers already had the points, personalised offers and brand affinity; what they lacked was a seamless mobile experience that brought it all together.
Apadmi’s challenge was to give a loyalty programme with more than 20 years of heritage a mobile home, without losing what made it special.
With smartphone adoption accelerating across Sri Lanka, Keells already had the customers, brand equity and loyalty infrastructure. What it needed was a mobile experience that made loyalty effortless, seamlessly connecting in-store and online shopping while giving millions of members a reason to engage every day.
Personal. Useful. Effortless.
The guiding principle was deliberate: keep it personal, keep it useful, make it work at the moments that matter. Rather than building for complexity, the team focused on the core value exchange, making it effortless for customers to earn, track and use rewards as part of their everyday shop.
What the app delivers
Ability to explore new deals prior to shopping
Customers want to know what offers they can make the most of when planning their grocery shopping, the app gives customers visibility before they even step in store.
Real-time points tracking
Members can see their balance update instantly and have full visibility and control over their rewards at any time.
QR code checkout
A simple scan at checkout earns rewards instantly, making loyalty a natural, frictionless part of every shop rather than an afterthought.
Access to partner offers
Surfacing relevant deals from the partner network alongside everyday shopping, giving customers even greater value.
All deals in one place
Savings, partner offers and exclusive rewards consolidated into a single intuitive interface.
Built for scale
Backend powered by Salesforce, with architecture designed to grow with the programme’s ambition to serve millions of customers daily.
Impact from Day 1
On launch day, the Keells Nexus app climbed to number one in the Shopping categories in the Sri Lankan App Store and Play Store, where it stayed for 3 weeks after launch.
The app has an onboarding completion rate of 80%, and generates an average of 8 sessions per user, with less than 1% churn.
Customer satisfaction is reflected in the App Store Ratings, with a 4.7* rating on Android and 4.5* on iOS, with users feeding back how much they’re already enjoying the mobilised Keells Nexus experience.
Results
The results so far show just how much of an impact the app is already making in the region.
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#1
app in App Store and Play Store shopping category for 3 weeks
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400K
downloads in the first 3 months
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4.6*
average app store rating
Shaping the future of loyalty in Sri Lanka
Apadmi is continuing to support the core Nexus experience, working in close cross-continental collaboration between Keells’ Colombo base and Apadmi’s multidisciplinary teams across Sri Lanka and Europe.
Together, we’re evolving the experience with a roadmap built around behavioral data, designed to drive long-term loyalty habits and unlock next-level personalisation.
“At the heart of Keells Nexus is a simple but powerful belief that life is better when we’re connected. Working in partnership with Apadmi, we have created an app which brings our purpose to life by helping customers save more, enjoy exclusive rewards and feel part of a community. The partnership has been incredibly successful, and we can’t wait to see what we achieve together next.”
Nilusha Fernando, Head of Marketing, Keells Supermarkets & SVP, John Keells Group
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