Customer Loyalty Schemes: Going Digital
What is a customer loyalty scheme?
Customer loyalty schemes range from personalised thank you cards from small businesses to point collection cards from large corporations. Rewards can be anything from money off, free discounts or even invitations to events. Rewarding loyalty by building a relationship with the customer and encouraging them to interact with the brand is one of the most important factors in establishing a growing business.
Customer loyalty schemes are an important factor of any business, from data gathering to marketing the latest products and deals, industries are able to both attract and retain customers in one campaign. Through the employment of loyalty schemes, companies are also able to utilise their greatest advertisers- their customers. By rewarding customers with deals and gifts, they are more likely to bring in new customers through word of mouth.
Loyalty schemes are also great marketing tools, and can range from rewarding customers at payment points with promotional coupons, to the possibility of a gift or money off. Businesses have started to take advantage of technology by digitally presenting their loyalty schemes in-store through the use oftablet kiosks, such as Marks and Spencers new Sparks card. The functionality of iPad kiosks have shown to improve customer interaction with brands, from purchasing goods to promotional videos, the tablet enclosure rewards customers for their loyalty to the company and encourages them to come back with vouchers for the following month.
Why are they important for retailers?
Customer loyalty schemes often track rewards using cards that customers can easily fit in their wallets, and use to redeem their reward or collect points in-store. The schemes are important for retailers as they are proven to help attract new customers and improve customer retention. By encouraging new customers to return while also building relationships with existing customers, businesses are able to improve both sales and marketing.
When loyalty cards are digitalised, the benefits grow vastly. The ability to collect customer data such as: email address, age, and postal address – which is a subtler, less invasive way of acquiring further information – is a priceless coupe for marketing, sales and brand analysis. This knowledge can then be used tactically to personalise offers and rewards for consumers according to their buying habits through online and offline advertising, and can also entice ‘lost’ customers to return to the business.
Why should a loyalty scheme go digital?
The potential impact of digital marketing from loyalty schemes is colossal; customer details can now be used for newsletters, email marketing, targeted adverts and so much more. By using emails to advertise promotions and loyalty cards to replace the vouchers, the result becomes paper free, while the in-store tablet kiosks still push the marketing and promotions in a user friendly and approachable manner.
Additionally, iPads and tablets with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology are making the entire process easier and much more exciting for the customer. iPad retail stands and tablet kiosks with built-in NFC technology can streamline the use of MPOS, and by presenting the loyalty scheme within a branded tablet kiosk the customer can enter their data at ease and collect the gift, card or points.
Integrating devices
By utilising the latest technology available, tablet kiosks can integrate scanners and printers to create a self service enclosure for customers to interact with. Scanning a loyalty card at a retail POS system to collect points for a recent purchase, or looking in-store for new products and discounts promotes and improves the customer’s relationship with the brand. By using tablets, marketing videos and social media streams can be shown in-store, allowing for the intended audience to receive a multi-channel experience in-store.
For more information
Talk to a member of our team today to find out the tablet enclosure to best suit your purposes and let us answer any questions you may have. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, it’s likely we’ll be able to create it so call us on 01202 892 863 (UK) or +1 877 450 2172 (US). Alternatively you can email [email protected].