Customer loyalty can be a hard thing to earn. There is so much choice out there these days and it is extremely easy to switch to another retailer, service provider or organisation who is offering something better, cheaper, or extra.
While there can be no mistaking the power of a good quality product, many businesses simply can’t afford to reduce their sales prices to continue bringing in custom. However, another way in which you can keep customer loyalty is through a loyalty scheme.
Gaining and retaining customers is much more cost effective than continually promoting, marketing and advertising to get new customers, so investing in a loyalty scheme can reward you as well as them.
Lots of companies give customer rewards these days for loyalty. Even when customers don’t get rewards that often, they’ll continue to use that company because they’re working towards or nearly at the payout point and don’t want their efforts thus far to go to waste.
Companies such as Superdrug, Costa Coffee, Shell Petrol Stations and Boots all offer different incentive schemes which keep their customers coming back – particularly as the rewards offered then have to be spent on their products.
Other companies such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have reward schemes where the rewards can be spent or earned outside of their own stores. This doesn’t mean that customers will be less loyal, as they will still have to keep shopping in the same places in order to earn the rewards, and in fact they may well be more willing to do so because they have more variety on offer for spending their prize.
In order for a rewards or loyalty programme to be successful it needs to be attractive to those who use it. If the reward is unattainable because it takes too long to reach, customers may well abandon the scheme, and thus their loyalty to your store or product.
If the reward is undesired, such as a coupon or voucher for something that the customer never buys, then they will also abandon the scheme.
Our loyalty programmes are completely tailored to you and designed to your brand specifications. They can be offered across a single country or several, and you can rest assured that the gift cards, vouchers and e-codes on offer will be suitable for each country where the programme is run.
For example, in the UK, we offer over 100 different retailers for you to choose from to create your rewards programme, including popular retailers such as M&S, Argos and Amazon. Obviously, you need to be careful when selecting your rewards that you’re not sending your customers off to spend their ‘free’ money at your competitors!
As well as offering rewards as frequently as you can afford, while still ensuring your customers keep having that motivation to come back, you may want to include elements in their reward account or statements that remind them just how much they earned in vouchers or gift cards by continuing to shop with you, as this will serve as an extra motivator.