Next Level Customer Loyalty

Customers love rewards, special offers and discounts. Large companies are demonstrating how to put seamless, value-added app experiences and loyalty at the center of their approaches to growth, retention, and customer value.

Integration of loyalty programs

In the meantime, both companies and customers have acquired a taste for what is possible with technology. One exciting approach is digital loyalty programs and couponing, integrated into a retailer's own app. Recent studies show that it is precisely this area of the customer experience that is ready for innovation. In fact, more than half of customers believe retailers should use technology to make their loyalty programs easier and more effective, and would even download a retailer's app to get better loyalty rewards. But how can retailers put this into practice?

One possibility is Emotional Loyalty. With emotional loyalty, companies support the trend toward value-based shopping. Customers are still concerned with a good price and practical considerations, but they also want to have a good feeling when shopping. The value of a brand is defined by environmental and social sustainability. In this case, customers can do something for their conscience. Such a loyalty program therefore provides an "emotional plus" for customers.

Another interesting approach is Strategic Loyalty Partnerships. In order to expand their own loyalty program and thus update and increase the flow of data into the company, companies look for cooperation partners. Depending on the structure of the cooperation, the selection of rewards for customers is also increased. As a result, the company's own loyalty program is more frequently present with customers, and retailers gain new insights into the behavior and preferences of their customers through the additional data. The aim here is to select partners who offer added value for customers and at the same time attractively expand the retailer's own offering.

Premium Loyalty, on the other hand, promises lasting benefits with every purchase, for a fee. This sounds contradictory at first, but there are studies that prove that the value of the shopping cart increases for customers who are participants in a premium loyalty program. For example, the retailer WalMart has implemented such a loyalty program and offers its members a very attractive additional benefit that goes far beyond exclusive promotions and coupons.

More targeted addressing

Retailers who integrate loyalty programs into their own retailer app can analyze their customers' activities by evaluating personal data, usage data, and payment data and thus gain more insight into customer behavior. This makes it possible to monitor in-app activities and see which content and actions arouse the greatest interest among customers.

These insights allow digital and mobile coupons to be personalized in a more targeted way. This offers retailers the ideal opportunity to address customers directly, situationally, and contextually. In addition, shopping histories enable a data-driven understanding of customers' routes through the store. On this basis, the assortment arrangement can be optimized according to demand. Not to mention that the validation and accounting of data in real time leads to improved cash flow, faster checkout and less friction for customers and staff.

Added value for retailers

Insights from acquired user data should be used to personalize the shopping experience and marketing activities in a more targeted manner, to place cross-selling offers correctly, and to further increase sales figures as a result.