Sustaining brand loyalty has never been more critical in gaining an upper edge against your competitors. One of the simplest ways through which brands can win loyalty is by rewarding their customers.
In a survey by HelloWorld, about 61 percent of respondents expressed that the most effective way a brand could interact with them was by rewarding them for being a valued customer.
To win loyalty, brands implement several loyalty techniques such as incentives, brand ambassadors, trials, rewards, and loyalty programs.
Apps that can enhance loyalty can get developed for –
- An individual retail business (like a marketplace for daily needs)
- brands (as a brand app)
Loyalty Apps Used By Retailers
In-app rewards are one of the most effective ways of creating customer loyalty and also an impressive customer retention strategy.
Rewarding users for loyalty to your brand through points, gamified rewards programs, or concessions can inspire them to keep approaching you again and again.
For instance, making customers earn points within a branded mobile app boosts customer loyalty to your product or service. Customers can use points as in-app currency, which is collected and exchanged for rewards.
To deliver value to your customers, you must know the needs and expectations of the customer.
These parameters are troublesome to figure out initially, and thus, you must take some time to do customer research and review user interactions with your app.
Loyalty programs can bring meaningful results once you get to know your customers and the ways through which they use your app.
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Customer Loyalty Program Categories
When introducing a loyalty program, the primary challenge is how you reward your customers. Most rewards land into one of three categories:
Points – Loyalty points programs enable customers to gather points that they can redeem for free products/services. Such programs can get set up conveniently, which is why this the most common category of the loyalty program.
Tiers – Companies like Arteza and Sephora use Tiers to drive customer loyalty. Tiers can help get their customers more engaged by gamifying their reward programs and making them exclusive.
Such programs provide different rewards as per the Tier. To move to the next Tier, a customer must pass a milestone.
Milestones can be anything, ranging from spending a fixed amount in a month to carrying out a specific number of lifetime purchases.
Paid loyalty programs – Customers pay a fee to get enrolled in a paid loyalty program. Such programs offer rapid ROI via membership fees and enable businesses to prioritize their most engaged customers.
Customers who pay for loyalty programs remain engaged from the beginning and keep investing in the brand.
Restoration Hardware is such an instance of a company that provides a paid loyalty program. They charge $100 for a year to provide access to discounts as-well-as design consultations.
Actions Worth Rewarded
Here are some actions or gestures that can get rewarded if customers reach these at a specific time –
- Hitting Spending Targets
For instance, when a customer hits a spending target, they can get 10 percent off their next purchase of $100 or higher. Bear in mind that limited-time offers can encourage prompt purchases.
- Reaching a Specified Number of Purchases
If a customer hits a certain number of purchases, they become eligible for a free item as a gift or even receive discounted premium membership when purchasing products from your website.
- Providing Feedback After a Free Trial.
By requesting consumers to fill out feedback on a new product before launching can give them a sense of ownership, brands can drive more sand a spread of positive word-of-mouth.
- Recommendations to Acquaintances
One of the most common ways through which brands incentivize their customers is by providing customers with discounts and gifts in exchange for every new purchaser they bring to you.
- Other Gestures
Enable customers to gain points for several other actions. These might include viewing product videos, using the brand’s mobile app, following and sharing your social media content, or even subscribing to your blog.
You can reward any valuable signs or gestures which show that a customer is engaging with your brand since it will lead to greater customer loyalty.
Functionality For a Retailer Loyalty App
You can add several intriguing features during loyalty app development, some of which include –
- Loyalty Card Management
If an app provides loyalty cards, it must simplify the way users engage with them.
For instance, Starbucks ensures that its app stays connected to existing loyalty cards familiar to customers. Customers can pay for a coffee, offer a tip, and refill their loyalty card by using their mobile device.
- Location-based Notifications
You can employ location-based pushes to offer extremely targeted offers. The Starbucks app gains access to the location and purchase history of a user. When the user crosses a Starbucks coffee shop, they get an offer.
- Search
Geolocation-based search enables users to find rewards and coupons for adjacent places. If you are a food delivery company, you can provide an online menu and offer order placing via the app.
- Payments
You must ensure seamless and quick payment options within a loyalty app. You can provide a one-touch mobile payment system, which makes it easy for users to pay for your products and minimize hassle.
Tips To Maximize The Effect of Your Loyalty Program
After successfully including all the fancy features in your loyalty app, check out these tips to help you maximize the impact of your loyalty program amongst your users –
- Gather Feedback
Taking into account the feedback of customers can bring into your understanding of ways to optimize your service. Customers offer a second perspective to your services and help you improve your program.
- Personalized Offers
Personalized offers instill a sense of being associated with the brand in your customers. As per a RedPoint Global survey, about 63 percent of consumers anticipate personalization.
- Put Customers In Charge
Providing customers with access to all their points and recent purchases can empower them to keep track of their spending and work out further orders. The capability to order and pay beforehand can save time when picking up orders.
Josh Fetcher can act as a free loyalty app builder to help you develop a competent app that engages your customers and is easy to maintain and navigate.
Final Words
Engagement strategies must satisfy the demands of customers that demand smooth, real-time experiences. They must also retain customers of regular brick-and-mortar stores via differentiated loyalty offerings.
A loyalty app for retailers can ensure loyalty through various rewards. Check out the tips mentioned above to help you build a decent loyalty app that retains maximum customers.