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How to reward your customers for more than just purchases

The traditional spend-and-get approach to loyalty is simply not enough to foster genuine, lasting relationships with today’s consumers. You want your customers to feel valued and appreciated – both before and after a transaction. Rewarding your customers for non-transactional behaviour is a solid way to build lasting loyalty.

Four ways to build lasting loyalty that goes beyond purchases

1. Reward interactions

Have they shared your social posts? Reviewed a product? Completed their online profile? These are all opportunities to reward your customers. The lure of distant points redemption is not enough to ensure repeat business. Find your customers where they are, discover their touchpoints and reward them for engagement with your brand.

Getting it right:

Fashion brand Kipling has effectively embraced their customers as brand ambassadors through their Kipling Friends program. Reward points are awarded for sending friends invitations to join the Kipling site, converting invitations into customers (when the friend registers) and for every invitation that leads to a sale. Customers can also earn points through gamification with the retailer’s in-app Monkey Game, allowing them to catch Kipling’s signature monkeys. As a result, customers can build their points quickly, which generates excitement and the ability to redeem their points on a new purchase.

Kipling.Me Loyalty Program

2. Offer added value

The perception of value is crucial for your customers – this is a make or break for your loyalty program. Get it wrong and the dreaded retention rate drop is not far behind. Get it right and your customers remain incentivised to continue participating. Think perks and rewards to ensure they feel your loyalty program is of benefit to them.

Getting it right:

Global restaurant chain La Place has achieved success with their Extra’s loyalty program in part due to the promise of an reward with every visit. The reward may be a special discount, free item or a surprise which is always personalised – so no free coffee for tea drinkers. That’s what makes it extra relevant to the customer and increases their perception of value.

La Place Extra Loyalty Program

3. Make it personal

Treat your customer like an individual. From offers based on their interests to product recommendations based on their purchase history, there are countless ways to tell your customer you value their loyalty. To put it simply: personalised interactions mean better customer experiences.

Getting it right:

Dutch fashion retailer Shoeby offers a personal ‘StyleID’ feature as a core part of their Shoeby Style program. Customers are incentivised to provide personal information varying from their hair colour to body shape. They then receive personal member communications and accurate product recommendations across email, the webshop and app. The result is a hyper-personalised, omni-channel member program which uses available customer data in the broadest sense to create relevant and personalised communications, content and promotions.

Shoeby Loyalty Program

4. Surprise and delight

Triggered messages via email, geo push or sms are a great way to surprise and delight your customers instantly. Using customer-centric insights can help ensure your efforts are highly relevant. From a free birthday gift to an exclusive deal for your best customers – the opportunities are endless when you let the data be your guide.

Getting it right:

Hunkemöller moved from a discount-driven loyalty approach to the truly customer-centric MyHunkemöller program. Customers earn Passion Points in fun and engaging ways. They can even try a gamification feature which sees them spin the ‘Wheel of Passion’ for the chance to win extra points. Customers are also surprised with Bonus Passion Point events and access to exclusive events, not to mention regular offers and discounts.

Hunkemoller loyalty program

Want to know more?

We help brands create highly effective omni-channel loyalty programs worldwide. Our goal is to help companies like yours to build better relationships with their customers by understanding, engaging and rewarding across all channels – online, in-store, in-app, social media, SMS, geo-push, augmented reality and so much more. With m—wise Loyalty Cloud, our clients are delivering a next-gen loyalty experience that keeps their customers coming back for more.

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