Benefits Of Ecommerce Loyalty Programs

Ecommerce loyalty programs have grown in popularity over recent years. This has been fuelled by a competitive landscape, as well as an increasing understanding of the value of loyalty. Since loyalty programs are now widespread within the eCommerce world, let’s take a closer look. What are they? What kind of loyalty programs are there? Why are they valuable? And how can you ensure that your program is successful?

What Are Ecommerce Loyalty Programs

Ecommerce loyalty programs serve as ways of creating and securing strong relationships between the brand and the customer. It can have benefits such as:

• Deepen trust
• Expand touchpoints
• Grow personalization
• Create loyalty

Through customers proving their loyalty to a company, the company offers in return discounts, rewards and other benefits. The customers can prove loyalty through repeat purchases, sharing information or making subscriptions.

Kinds Of Loyalty Programs

There are three kinds of loyalty programs.

Subscriptions

Ecommerce subscriptions means that recurring charges are made in order for certain products or services to be delivered on a regular basis. This is a large commitment for customers, but can in turn offer the largest benefits of a loyalty program. Since customers are already signed up to payments, the loyalty benefits can be calculated and given according to a system.

These kinds of programs should always include a free trial in order for your shoppers to know if they want to commit to it. Subscriptions also usually offer the benefit of free shipping, which makes the program seem more worthwhile. This will be of overall benefit to the business, as the repeat custom counters the shipping costs.

Loyalty Reward Programs

This means that repeat customers get special benefits or build up points. These stem from frequent flier rewards in the 1970’s, and today are regularly used in eCommerce. These programs are free, and allow customers to build points based on things such as:

• Completing surveys
• Leaving reviews
• Sharing on social media
• Sharing information
• Making repeat purchases

They can also offer discounts or freebies on birthdays, and give free early access to products. This is a simple incentive based program: the more you spend, the more benefits you get. This is why these kinds of programs are popular.

Membership Programs

Membership programs don’t involve spending, so they are more about offering small benefits for personal information. This is a useful technique to grow your customer base and establish trust and connection. These can notify new products or sales, and can offer occasional promo codes. 



Benefits Of A Loyalty Program

Loyal Customers 

Creating a loyal customer base is a great asset to any business. They will be your biggest customer base, and account for a huge amount of your revenue. Customer acquisition is expensive, so ensuring you have repeat customers is huge. Loyalty programs create the potential for this, and on top of that it encourages shoppers to recommend your brand to others.

With overcrowded markets across the board, loyalty programs ensure that shoppers stick with you. It fosters brand trust and keeps you in their mind. Having a relationship with your shoppers is very important, as more customers feel that they need to align with the brands they spend money on.

Marketing Potential

If you have customers in a subscription model, marketing potential grows. If more customers have mobile apps, or you have their contact information, you can reach them in various ways. Whether this is through email/sms marketing, or push notifications, you can stay at the forefront of their minds.

If they have a loyalty program with you, they are also more likely to engage with your social media content which opens up another avenue for trust. If you offer marketing that is exclusively for loyalty membership customers, they will be more inclined to engage with it. Especially if this offers exclusive discounts, or personalized benefits.

Having these reliable shoppers involved is great for when new products drop, or exclusive sales happen. These are the shoppers you want to know about it first, and they want to too.

Higher Profits

The overall benefit of a strong customer loyalty program is that you will see increased profits overall. It encourages shoppers to buy more frequently, and retains customers overall. Creating the potential for long term loyal customers whilst making them feel valued is a great business strategy. It’s a win-win situation, as they are comfortable spending more money with you, and you foster trust that helps your business grow.

There are different types of loyalty programs that function in different ways. However, if you create your program from a customer-centric perspective, you will see the results. Customers want to feel valued, and the more valued they feel, the more likely they are to spend with your brand. When done mindfully, adding a customer loyalty program to your business is a great business strategy.