Unique customer experience and acts of appreciation are some effective ways to gain your customers’ trust. It is what will make you stand out amidst the tight competition. Instead of always focusing on finding new buyers, what you must prioritize for the long-term growth of your business is how to solidify your relationship with your existing customers.
Establishing customer loyalty is one of the best retention strategies to reward customers for repeatedly interacting with your brand. Since the number of rewards is based on the level of their engagement to you, it somehow motivates them to continue purchasing from your brand to earn more points rather than choose another brand. Companies can offer points or benefits to customers which will entitle them to discounts, free products, rewards, or insider perks. The goal is to motivate repeat purchases and build trust between customers and businesses.
Let’s look at a few common types of rewards programs you can adapt for your e-commerce store:
Point system program is one of the most common types of rewards programs. This is where customers accumulate points not only from purchases but also from sharing on social media, leaving reviews, celebrating their birthday, or through games. These can be exchanged with freebies, cashback, perks, and more.
Tiered loyalty programs are a type of membership rewards program giving customers a goal to get different benefits. The type of reward depending on their rank. Businesses often rank membership into groups depending on certain metrics like sales or engagement. So the higher their tier, the more exclusive prizes they’ll receive.
Paid loyalty or fee-based loyalty programs are where one-time or ongoing benefits are given after paying a registration fee. Since these types need proof-of-value to get signups, retailers giving them must make sure that the rewards will outweigh the fees paid to them.
Paid loyalty can suit many different business models so it is not so difficult to implement. You just have to ensure that these three elements are present to have a successful paid loyalty programs implementation:
First, to encourage registrants, the fees must not be so expensive, making the rewards not worth it.
Second, you can also provide experiential advantages like personalized customer experiences or members-only content to entice the customers.
Lastly, there must be consistent and intense engagement levels. Remember that well-paid programs have regular interaction with the customers to push the program’s value to a higher level.
Meanwhile, the idea behind a value-based loyalty program is to build a strong relationship with customers. It involves supporting a cause and donating a part of the purchases to charitable activities or programs. You can offer many different options that customers can choose from to hit that one cause engraved in the heart of your customers. This reward goes beyond giving a reward. Instead, it does something more fulfilling to customers. As cliché as it may be, it benefits society and helps make this world a better place.