Customer Loyalty Programs For Retail Marketing

| Wednesday, August 18, 2010
By Adriana Noton

Competition is stiff in retail business. You need to be ahead of your competitors to stay in business. One of the retail marketing strategies to keep your customer coming back to you is to use customer loyalty program. It has the benefits of encouraging customers to shop at your place and to give them many benefits. Other name for this program is reward program.

The purpose of a reward program is to attract your customers to return or shop more. Benefits that are very attractive to your customers to apply for this program special discounts and gifts for members. You can also assign point or token system where they will get points they can exchange for some items. There are wide range of varieties for this kind of program.

To identify members from non members, you can usually give your customer a member or loyalty card. Members will show their card to get the benefit when they are checking out. You can still employ customer loyalty program in an online shop. Instead of physical card, you can assign them an ID number instead.

There are several ways for customers to gain this card. They can make purchase for certain amount at once or in a period of time. You can also give the cards away when you first open the business to attract new customers. Some stores ask the customer to buy the loyalty cards.

You can combine your members only benefit with stamp system which is open to non members and members alike. Each time a customer make a purchase that fits the criteria, you give them a stamp. After they collect certain amount of stamp, they can use it to exchange for rewards. The rewards vary. You can give them shopping vouchers, gifts, or an opportunity to buy limited items with lower price.

Each company will have different strategies in their program. Some companies give loyalty cards and member benefits discount generously while other companies save them for their top buyers. There is no right or wrong answer, you need to adjust your strategy depending on the characteristic of your products and customers.

It is perfectly fine to mix a few strategies in one campaign. You can do this by reserving VIP cards for your best customers. In the same time, you also offer general member cards for regular customers. You may need to employ this strategy if your shop has many kinds of products with wide range of price.

It is important to remember that loyalty program is meant to give rewards to your customer and improve their satisfaction in shopping at your place. With that in mind, avoid upsetting your customers. Most customers are upset because they find too many conditions and terms when using their member card. It is best to use simple term and condition that is clear and easy to understand. Avoid hidden fees that will disappoint your customers. Remember that if you lose your customers, it is not as easy to gain them.

If you intend to make sure your customer is satisfied with your products and services for long term success, your customer loyalty program will be successful. However if your intention is merely to increase profit quickly, then maybe Customer loyalty program is not suitable for your retail marketing strategy.

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