Loyalty Programs Are More Than Just Offering Rewards

A lot has changed with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The entire world has shifted to the new normal of working from home and massive changes in how people shop. Today’s always-connected consumers are much smarter, and they know exactly which brand is just trying to lure in and which are providing relevant offers and rewards.

While retailers are embracing loyalty programs to capture customer data, the pandemic has adversely affected customer loyalty. A study by McKinsey states that 35% of consumers in the United States have tried a new brand since the pandemic. What’s more, around 77% have considered new shopping behaviors and brands. So, it is a sign that you upgrade your loyalty programs to the latest trends and customer expectations.

Nowadays, consumers have higher expectations of rewards and loyalty programs. They merely don’t want gifts or redeemable coupons but rather valuable experiences that make them keep coming back to your brand. And with the boom of eCommerce stores, retailers have to pull up their socks to compete effectively. Hence, you need to shift from a program that focuses on earning and redeeming to something that offers continual and active customer engagement.

OptCulture’s loyalty programs are pretty innovative and can help you achieve an edge. You can choose the kind of loyalty program you want – Percentage Based, Roll Over, or Promo Based. However, the best features of OptCulture loyalty programs are that it is fully customizable and offers real-time updates. With real-time updates, you can serve your customers faster and drive more sales than your competitors.

Loyalty memberships in the United States alone are around 3.3 million. This number will grow as the global loyalty management market was valued at around US$2.47 billion in 2019, which will reach US$10.02 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 19.9% during the forecast period. 67% of existing consumers opine that loyalty programs spell their buying decision. As the dynamics of loyalty programs are evolving continually, retailers have to meet the audience’s expectations and cope with the ever-growing competition.

The key to making loyalty programs more rewarding is striking conversation and engaging with customers. In short, the more personalized experiences, the better the customer retention. Further, customers want such experiences seamless and fully digital across all touchpoints. OptCulture loyalty programs provide persistent, unvarying, and thriving customer-brand relationships to ensure your brand loyalty stands out in the market. With its automated email and text reminders, you can offer the personal touch that customers want, increasing your sales and brand recognition.

Moreover, when customers are looking for product information, reviewing reward status, or simply browsing, they want their needs to be recognized, understood, and, more importantly, valued. Hence, you can stay in the game if your offerings reflect all of the above and provide customized services. Ease of shopping and convenience is the key – which OptCulture loyalty programs provide by recommending offers based on past purchases, giving digital access to rewards, and providing payment and discount options at their fingertips.

Ultimately, loyalty programs shouldn’t be just a way to retain customers but to enhance customer relationships. Hence, to make your loyalty program an experience that offers authentic relationship building, it must make customers feel valued and give them rewards to spend. So, it is crucial to have a loyalty program like OptCulture that takes care of entire loyalty initiatives. Acquiring more loyalty implies earning more sales, visits, references, customers, and profits.

Don’t forget that loyalty programs don’t come under short-term customer retention strategies. The longer a customer prevails from a loyalty program, the more they choose a particular brand and remain loyal.