Let’s talk about its inception
There used to be a time when consumers were left with barely a few options. They were forced to remain loyal to the only store down the lane. Limited choices, store owner’s discretion and sheer helplessness, they remain oppressed due to the non-availability of an option to fall back on. Options increase power and too many options, often determine survival. This is exactly what the eCommerce and online shopping revolution has brought about. Today, we too as consumers, barely stick with a particular brand, let alone a store. We have too many options. Hence, maintaining a loyal group of customers is a challenge that every business owner faces.
To overcome this consumer behaviour, after a lot many brainstorming sessions surfaced the discovery — the loyalty program. Consumers expect and demand a lot more than what is offered hence loyalty programs then seemed to be an effective way to make sure that businesses don’t lose their customers to a competitor. A reward card was definitely a way out but most consumers find it difficult to carry and keep a check on their reward cards. That’s when the game changer makes its mark in the digital age — the loyalty program on demand app solution.
Mobile apps are indeed an easier and proven method to keep a record of individual purchases, preferences, and expectations — a plus is that a user is more connected to a personal device than any other channel. Research suggests that most app users have vouched for the loyalty app as compared to their paper or digital coupons and cards.
How does it help business?
Loyalty app is a digitalised personal interaction between the customers and the owners with a mobile phone in the forefront. It helps business owners track and assimilate the customers and their behaviors. Some of the findings are with regard to:
1. The consumers’ taste preferences
2. The mode of payment
3. The pattern of purchases
4. Their expectations with regard to the future purchases
5. The strength of their association with the brand
These observations and findings have helped businesses to understand their strengths and flaws and they address the customer’s concern by working towards satiating their expectations in the best possible way.
So how does the loyalty program app work?
Loyalty programs infuse more value into the customer. Most consumers have been able to feel the sheer delight of having been a part of the loyalty program. It is simply a way to tell the customer that the more they spend, the more they earn. Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Every coupon or points that a customer receives generates a certain value for their purchase and this, in turn, will go back to the customer in a multiplied fashion.
For example, Mr. Banerjee is a frequent flyer in the economy class. The trips are about 8 to 9 in a month. Mr. Banerjee is a part of the airline loyalty program and his app has been able to tell the business that this year Mr. Banerjee has taken about 50 flights across the country. He has been receiving points for each travel and now the airline has decided to upgrade him to the business class at the rate of an economy ticket for the next 6 months. Mr. Banerjee is happy with the deal and this assures the company of a loyalist and a few more referrals.
What actually surfaces here is that the app has been instrumental in tracking Mr. Banerjee’s and similar customers’ travel and has helped the airlines design a deal for repeat and loyal customers like him. Hence a loyalty program feature with an app definitely does its part well.
On the consumer’s level, Mr Banerjee has quickly come to know through his Airline Booking App that he is these many points short in reaching a reward or some other perk milestone — so he is encouraged to make an early purchase.
Which kinds of business can benefit from a loyalty app?
The example above is based on an airline but a loyalty program can work even in the smallest of businesses. Most of the companies across the world have realized the power of the mobile loyalty app and have implemented it only to feel the rewards of having invested in one.
Starbucks, one of the world’s biggest coffee chains have worked on their loyalty app and the results were amazing. They created an app that could track their customers and help them locate the nearby Starbucks outlet, pick or even order and pay online for their cup of Joe. This has definitely become one of their customers’ favorite apps and has helped Starbucks expand further.
Loyalty programs and the introduction of an app can be the perfect game changer for your online B2B marketplace platform. Apart from the popularity it brings about, it helps study the market and instills the importance of accommodating the customer’s requirement along with the business’s ideology.
For more details on designing the perfect loyalty program app for your business, write to us at info@valueappz.com
