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Mobile Loyalty

How to Implement a Successful Loyalty Card App

Written by 
Alan Donaldson
 - 
April 8, 2013

In today’s competitive business landscape, adopting a mobile-first loyalty approach is not just a savvy move but a strategic business necessity. As customer expectations continue to evolve in the digital age, businesses have a huge opportunity to foster and boost customer retention, satisfaction, and growth through implementing a successful loyalty card app. 

In other words, a well-executed loyalty card app has the power to elevate your business’ bottom line effortlessly. By focusing on retaining your existing customers, you can create a robust foundation for sustained growth, with research showing a 5% increase in customer retention leading to a 25% increase in profit.

What makes loyalty apps so remarkably successful in boosting customer retention? It all boils down to the modern customers' demand for convenience and efficiency when dealing with businesses. A loyalty card app allows them to access rewards, track progress, and engage with your brand effortlessly all within the ease of their mobile devices. This level of convenience creates a positive impression and encourages customers to remain loyal to your brand. In fact, over 57% of members prefer to interact with their loyalty program on mobile devices

For your business, a loyalty card presents you with a golden chance to gather valuable customer insights and data which helps you to better understand your customers in order to make informed marketing decisions. Additionally, depending on the loyalty card app provider you choose, it unlocks new avenues of communication that were once difficult to access.

Having explored the reasons why loyalty card apps prove to be an excellent loyalty solution for both customers and your business, let's now delve into the key elements that ensure a successful implementation of a loyalty card app.

A Simple User Experience

When looking for a loyalty card app provider, the user experience is absolutely crucial to consider.

A simple and user experience is non-negotiable – both for the customers and your business. Over-complicated functionality or technology confuse your customers, lead to frustration, and ultimately hamper user engagement. 

A simple, intuitive interface facilitates quick access to information without overwhelming the user. For 53% of consumers, this ease of use marks a crucial element of any loyalty program app. When customers can conveniently access their rewards, track their progress, and monitor account details like points balance, transaction history and reward status, they’re motivated to continue using the app. 

Stamp Me is the perfect example of a digital loyalty platform that offers a seamless customer experience. As a modern solution to the traditional stamp card, Stamp Me makes it easy for you to engage and communicate directly with your customers, monitor customer loyalty activity, export customer data, and much more. Want to learn about all of our features? Click here

Attractive Sign-Up Incentives

Hands holding a present box.
Image source: Canva

Successful loyalty programs often begin with a compelling reason to sign up. By offering an immediate incentive to join, customers immediately feel good and this positive experience can enhance customer perception and increase their willingness to remain loyal in the long term.

Options for sign-up incentives include points or stamps, bringing customers closer to their first reward, or discounts on the next purchase. These incentives establish a beneficial relationship between your customers and the loyalty app, fostering an engaging journey from the onset. 

Real World Examples of Sign-Up Incentives:

Hilton Honors - Hotel and resorts chain, Hilton, have established their own honors program with a convenient app. From there, you can book your reservations, manage them, earn rewards and points, which can be redeemed for free stays and exclusive experiences. From signing up, you are awarded points onto your account to kickstart your loyalty journey. 

JB HI-FI - By joining the electronics retail company JB HI-Fi Perks program, you are given a $10 Perks coupon just for signing up. What these and many brands with loyalty programs have in common is that they prioritize getting customers to interact with the app from the sign-up process. 

Motte’s Cafe Verde - The popular Mexican restaurant in Canada, Motte’s Cafe Verde, utilizing Stamp Me’s digital loyalty app, gives customers a 10% discount voucher off their bill when they sign up for their loyalty program. This strategy incentivizes customers to join the loyalty program, as they see immediate value and a compelling reason to join. 

Consistent Notifications to Your Loyal Customers  

Graphic of a bell and mobile notifications over a yellow background.
Image source: Canva

Push notifications can serve as an essential tool to maintain consistent customer engagement. These timely alerts can remind members of their current stamp status, inform about limited-time offers, or simply express that they are missed. In fact, these notifications can improve app retention rates by 3 to 10 times

For example, merchants utilizing Stamp Me can send customized push notifications directly from their Merchant Console, including an optional reward voucher. This feature offers an excellent way to engage with customers even when they are not at your store, providing timely alerts about new promotions and enticing them to visit your store or website. 

Close to half of consumers interact with an app within an hour of receiving a push notification. This silent yet powerful feature keeps members in the loop, sends targeted messages that align with their buying habits, and ultimately fosters stronger, more loyal relationships over time. 

The Power of Personalization

A screenshot of the Starbucks Rewards app interface homepage.
Image source: Starbucks

Personalization goes a long way in strengthening customer relationships and making a loyalty card app successful. Messages tailored to customers’ interests, preferences, and behavior make them feel appreciated and understood. 

With 80% of your revenue coming from your top 20% of your customers, your greatest asset are your loyal customers. And if they are made to feel like just another faceless customer, your business will suffer because of it. 

The renowned Starbucks mobile app, treats each customer with an array of personalized features. For instance, the dashboard area of the app greets the customer with their name, and recommended items for them to buy based on previous purchase choices. This might seem like a small detail, but it goes a long way in making a customer feel special and seen by a brand they love. 

They also make use of a Birthday Club feature. On a member’s birthday, they’ll receive a personalized birthday offer to their app, which could be a free drink or a special discount on a menu item. 

Stamp Me offers features like the Birthday Club and Lapsed Customer campaigns, all working to customize your loyalty program and boost engagement. For more information on these features, click here

Robust Customer Support

While a successful loyalty card app will typically be self-serve, there will be times when customer issues arise. 

When this happens, it’s important that customers can find the information they need to troubleshoot the issue, or contact either your business or the loyalty card provider for support. 

In the case of Stamp Me, both customers and merchants benefit from readily available support. The Stamp Me app features a helpful FAQ area, offering immediate solutions to commonly-asked questions. For merchants, the Merchant Console provides a dedicated Help & Support area complete with FAQs, guides and contact details for further assistance. 

This aspect of a loyalty program shouldn’t be overlooked, as 59% of consumers believe that fast, consistent, and satisfactory answers to customer queries are key to gaining their trust.

The Game-Changer: Gamification

Person playing on a mobile game.
Image source: Canva

To cap this off, we can’t write about success without mentioning gamification. This trendy marketing tool introduces a new, exciting way to earn points and engages users more actively with the app. 

Gamification improves a loyalty program app by creating a more engaging and interactive experience for users. By incorporating game-like features such as scratch & win, quizzes, and surveys, gamification can incentivize users to engage more frequently to the app, encouraging a greater participation and loyalty. 

The proof is in the numbers, as studies show that gamification strategies increase engagement by up to 47%. As well as that, setting clear and attainable goals enhances user motivation and satisfaction. Even when these goals aren’t immediately achieved, the interactive nature of gamification encourages users to come back and try again. 

Stamp Me incorporates gamification features in the form of Scratch & Win games, which are a great way to create buzz around your loyalty program and get customers talking, while also giving them a new way to earn rewards. This keeps the loyalty program feeling fresh and exciting and is an essential tool for a successful loyalty card app

Conclusion

To sum up, creating a successful loyalty app is about striking a balance between an effortless user experience, attractive incentives, personalized communication, robust customer support, and engaging gamification. By focusing on these key aspects, businesses can foster a robust customer loyalty program that not only incentivizes repeat business, but also enhances overall satisfaction and retention. 

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