There is an ever-growing list of retailers who offer loyalty programs and incentives throughout the year encouraging consumers to purchase products now in return for deals later. Sometimes these programs offer “loyalty points” that a visitor can accrue and later redeem; other times they may offer a coupon, which is emailed following the initial purchase. While many bemoan the current generation as lacking any sense of brand loyalty – preferring instead to frequent only those stores offering the deepest discounts and deals – recent studies show that a large majority of these shoppers actually took advantage of loyalty programs to get better or free deals throughout the 2014 holiday season.
This reveals an affinity amongst the new generation of shoppers to not only shop at the stores that offer the best deals, but to also enroll and take advantage of the best loyalty programs. This correlation pays off big during the holidays, but how can retailers achieve the inverse… how can retailers turn holiday shoppers into “loyalty shoppers?”
If you offered a compelling “first-time enrollment deal” during the holiday, you may have seen an influx of registrants, many of whom will not remain loyal throughout the year. Take advantage of this, and personalize your email-marketing program to cater to these folks. Retailers can accomplish this by first segmenting their email audience by when visitors enrolled, and purchase frequency. Depending on your program, the message could depict how the continued use of the program can result in amazing/free deals next Holiday season. Maybe even highlight some of the best deals other shoppers received due to their utilization of the program.
If history repeats itself, we can expect an even larger amount of millennial shoppers utilizing loyalty programs for the best 2015 holiday deals. It’s important to keep it on their minds throughout the entire year, so don’t just limit it to your email programs either. Echo this message with personalized on-site experiences as well. Many personalization platforms, like Monetate, offer the ability to pass CRM data to on-site experiences so you accomplish these exact types of tactics.
Good luck and get ready for next Holiday Season!
Loyalty Program Email Illustration courtesy of Shutterstock.
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