From Disney to Starbucks to Reebok to Samsung, all leverage Ecommerce loyalty programs to nurture their customers, which helps them build long-term engagement.
A customer loyalty program is a proven strategy to retain customers and build brand trust, which can make a big difference in any business and help them sustain themselves in the competitive landscape.
Due to digitalization, online shopping has created a buzz as brands can offer convenience to the consumers they want, no standing in a long queue and getting their favorite stuff at affordable pricing. Isn’t it great?
Want to know more? The Ecommerce industry shows an upward surge: In 2021, Ecommerce sales landed at $4.9 trillion, which is expected to show a growth of $8.1 trillion by 2026.
As these numbers seem impressive but also shoot up the huge competition. So, more than ever, providing the best customer experience becomes more prominent. Although brands attract customers with lucrative discounts but can’t be given all the time as it diminishes the brand value.
An option better than this is- Customer-centric Ecommerce loyalty program
Before understanding the Ecommerce loyalty program, let’s plunge into the Ecommerce industry trends to know why your business should leverage these programs
Ecommerce Industry trends
With the growing online shopping demand, Ecommerce website development would be more approachable than brick-and-mortar stores. So let’s look at the industry trends to gain more valuable insights.
Mobile commerce: It is estimated that at the end of 2023, mobile Ecommerce sales of $344.5 billion will come from smartphones, which keeps increasing.
Ecommerce hyper-personalization: It is stated that 80% of consumers are willing to purchase from a brand that gives them a personalized experience. So, your website development Ecommerce must focus on features and functionalities that can give a seamless experience to your users.
Customer service is a differentiating factor: A brand should provide great before and after-sales customer service by being available for their customers, listening to their problems, and resolving them quickly. According to Salesforce research, 89% of customers are willing to make their next purchase if they receive a positive customer service experience.
Well, What’s exactly the Ecommerce loyalty program?
It is a customer retention strategy to build a proactive community for a brand and geared them to keep them engaged. Loyalty programs for Ecommerce offer rewards, discounts, and special incentives to the shoppers depending upon their spending so that they can grab more customers for their brand and retain them to generate more revenues and attain sustainable growth.
Lucrative benefits of Customer loyalty programs
Interact. Buy. Share.
Loyalty programs create a closed community that helps loyalty customers engage with brands seamlessly, encouraging them to take buying action and share their brand across digital platforms.
A win-win scenario
As your customers repeatedly buy from your brand so, through loyalty programs, you can give the best experience to your repeat buyers and make them feel valued for trusting their brand.
Customer retention is a business asset.
A company needs to acquire new customers to make its business grow. But relying only on new customer acquisition is a dangerous game. So instead, the brand will call them ‘ king of the game ‘as they worked on customer retention at the core.
Best Online Loyalty programs to retain more customers
Online Loyalty programs help to retain more customers and help brands to build trust, enhance customer engagement and boost their revenues. Here are some of the programs that you can use to delight your customers and encourage them to keep purchasing from your brand.
- Point programs
- Tiered loyalty Programs
- Paid Programs
- Universal loyalty programs
- Point Programs (Earn & Redeem)
- It is one of the oldest customer loyalty programs, and us all about earning points and then spending them.
- It is not only about purchase transactions, but customers can also earn points by sharing project pages across social media, subscribing to a newsletter, or completing their profile.
- Companies who want to launch themselves in the digital landscape quickly can use the point-based Loyalty program as it is easy to manage with quick implementation. This kind of gamification program motivates customers to repeat their behavior to earn more points.
- One perfect example of a point program is Starbucks, which rewards its customers with stars on every purchase using its app.
Benefit: When people share a post on social media, it helps brands build positive brand awareness and trust and entices more customers to come to their brand.
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Tiered Loyalty Program (Exclusivity with VIP rewards)
- It is a type of Ecommerce Loyalty program that is a fan-favorite among online shoppers.
- This program provides more privileges and better benefits. For example, a brand can offer early access to its new products to its elite customers before making them available to the general public.
- This program provides an exclusive brand experience along with VIP rewards. Also, it gives them status within the brand.
- An example of this program is Sephora Beauty insider, which provides unique perks, and gives access to member-only events.
Benefit: It boosts customer loyalty and drives more repeat customers, driving more revenue and rapidly achieving growth goals.
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Paid Programs (Gain Exclusive access with high-touch experience)
- Customers can generally pay the membership fee for a year, and after that, they can renew the plan.
- This Ecommerce loyalty program gives privileges to members to gain exclusive access to make them connected to the brand.
- One of the prominent examples is Amazon which offers a paid program in which it provides special access to its members, including free next-day shipping, access to its streaming platform, etc.
Benefit: Paid loyalty programs help brands to get positioned uniquely by offering their customers a personalized experience that drives more revenue.
Wrapping up
Customer Loyalty programs provide tangible benefits to businesses by making their customers feel valued and special. In addition, these programs turn shoppers into buying customers by giving them a personalized experience.
Whether you want to create a well-optimized Ecommerce store or are looking to revamp your store, the Zenesys team is delighted to assist you. We provide Ecommerce website development services to stand businesses that outperform the competition in the digital ecosystem.