Last week I attended the “What’s hot in Rewards” webinar
hosted by Loyalty 360 & Best Buy¹.
Best Buy shared their thoughts on how to
leverage loyalty points for the merchandise that’s in high demand by their
customers.
One of the key topics discussed in this webinar was Best
Buy’s view on their lessons learnt while creating a successful loyalty
programme.²
A common message coming out of any loyalty discussion these
days is that loyalty is no longer just about points but it’s about that
mutually beneficial dialogue between a brand & the consumer.
This dialogue needs to withdraw information from the consumer
about their wants & needs and in turn brands need to provide insight to the
consumer on how they will deliver these wants & needs.
Companies are realising the important role of loyalty and
list it as one of their number one facets when determining their marketing
strategy & budget. In the US, the average consumer has over 18 loyalty
cards and it’s therefore no surprise that loyalty is becoming (or forced to
become) the forefront of all marketing decisions.
Best Buy’s lesson one says, that
when developing a loyalty programme or revising your current one, brands should
always offer a broad assortment of services, such as various redemption options
and reward options. A survey by Best Buy and Affinion Loyalty Group in a
webinar earlier this year showed that the attendees felt that loyalty
programmes that are not unique and are too restrictive & unattainable are
the main reason they are no longer attractive to the consumer. Others say that
the lack of options available when redeeming points also plays a major role. It
seems marketers are falling short by providing a seamless loyalty programme
that has all the right elements to it (simplistic, transparent & engaging)
but when it comes to wanting to redeem your points you are faced with minimal
or simply unappealing.
This leads to lesson two & three: focusing on
convenience and flexibility & therefore increasing the need to shift to mobile
as one of your loyalty platforms. Shoppers want everything in real time. The
digital & mobile worlds have customers expecting to be able to shop when
they want, how they want and where they want. What once was seen as a benefit,
like free shipping & tailored offers is now the norm. Mobile enables the
customer to easily & more quickly redeem points, check points balances
& special offers on the go. Brands failing to meet these expectations will soon
lose relevancy.
Lesson
four: customers are becoming street wise about the value of
points they earn and what this value means to them. It is vital that brands are
informative & transparent about the value of their points’ currency and
show their customers the extent of the value and how it can positively impact
their day to day lives.
Always innovate is lesson five. Innovation
goes beyond what is expected. Understand what your customers expect from you
and blow them away with something remarkable.
With your customers being bombarded by everyone else’s
loyalty programmes you need to ensure you create an unique experience from
start to finish (lessons 1 – 5) noting that a positive redemption experience,
that offers your customers choice on how to redeem points, is key to meeting
the current needs of your customers.
Ros Siddle, Marketing & Loyalty Research Manager, Truth
¹Best Buy is the no.4 US retail brand & the world’s largest consumer
electronic brand with annual revenue of $50 Billion (2010).
² The loyalty programme Reward Zone launched
in 2003, now has over 30 million members making them one of the largest loyalty
programmes out there.
