Ever since Betty Crocker introduced the first brand loyalty program back in 1929, reward systems have been extremely popular and continue to be a highly efficient way to strengthen customer relationships. In such a competitive business environment as eCommerce, loyalty programs give you a competitive edge and make you stand out from the crowd. They allow you to retain clients, attract new ones and entice the older customers to shop with you again.
Advantages
Amongst the most popular advantages of loyalty programs, we can mention discounts, rebates, rewards, free products, coupons and even access to new unreleased items. These reward systems are beneficial to any merchant, however when it comes to eCommerce, things get a little bit more specific.
An online retailer needs to integrate a loyalty program on the online platform, which is not a complicated thing to do, but it should definitely be added to the “to do” list when redesigning or recreating a website. For online usage, the most popular systems you can use are the following:
⦿ Spend Program – this type of program revolves around the expenditure of the customer
⦿ Subscription Program – the user pays extra to receive exclusive benefits
⦿ Points Programs – spend money, gather points and use them later to get other benefits
⦿ Tiered Program – allows customers to upgrade for more benefits
Here are some interesting statistics about loyalty programs:
Benefits of loyalty programs for merchants:
⇨ Increases customer retention
⇨ Better customer communication
⇨ Relevant customer data and consumer trends
⇨ Higher cart value
⇨ They get new customers through referrals
⇨ Increased conversion rates
⇨ Increased customer lifetime value
⇨ Increased customer satisfaction
⇨ Segmented customer database
⇨ Advanced insights about your customers
An effective loyalty program should include the following features:
◘ A simple offer which doesn’t confuse the customers
◘ A motivational factor
◘ A rewarding factor
◘ A visible place on the website to place the offer – banner on homepage or on the checkout page
◘ Brand your program – come up with a unique name which is relevant to the business
◘ Clear benefits
◘ Redemption should be easy to use
◘ Include your offer in your marketing emails
Here are some examples of websites that offer loyalty points.
https://www.cosbar.com/loyalty/
https://www.sephora.com/rewards
https://shop.nordstrom.com/content/nordy-benefits
https://my.nintendo.com/
https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/how-flying-club-works/membership-tier-benefits.html
https://www.amazon.com/amazonprime?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0
Loyalty and reward programs are perfect tools to keep clients happy, engaged and connected to your brand. Depending on your business model, you can create various loyalty programs to stimulate your shoppers to buy more or subscribe to certain services you provide. Everyone is interested in taking advantage of a profitable deal, so make it exciting for your customers! They appreciate this type of approach, especially if they have something to gain out of it.
Find out more about implementing loyalty programs on your website, contact us today!
