It’s every brand’s dream to gain a community of loyal customers. Brands are constantly looking for ways to keep customers engaged and create long-lasting relationships. From personalisation to gamification, to partnerships – and everything in between – there are a considerable number of possible strategies.
One of these strategies is forming an omnichannel loyalty programme. An omnichannel loyalty programme is one in which brands create a unified customer loyalty experience across multiple platforms. It’s aim? To make the overall brand interaction smooth and seamless.
In practical terms, whether a customer shops in-store, online, or via a mobile app, they can earn and redeem rewards with ease. The experience remains uniform across all channels.
In a world where technology is prevalent in our daily lives, customers aren’t limited to one form of interaction. They’re using multiple channels. From web, to mobile, to social media, to in-store offline.
The challenge then for brands is creating this personalised, consistent and enjoyable experience that translates in the same way across all these different channels.
Challenges often present opportunities.
In a 2022 business report, we’re told omnichannel customers spend 15 to 30% more than single and multi-channel customers.
With single channel loyalty programmes, customer interactions take place solely through one channel, whether online, in-store or via mobile. Multi-channel loyalty programmes will offer different channels but separately meaning they operate independently of each other, whereas with omnichannel loyalty it’s a cohesive interaction bringing together all channels, in an interconnected way.
An omnichannel loyalty programme allows your customers to make purchases via your website and have their points updated in real time. It allows them to easily view their points balance on the app for discounts or to see if their favourite items are in stock. It allows for store assistants to access customer profiles, see past purchases, and offer personalised recommendations.
Personalisation is particularly valuable, we delved deep into the topic in our article on personalisation here. One way to personalise customer interactions is through tailored content. This can help to show value and commitment to your customers, helping them to form emotional loyalty.
This level of smooth engagement has the power to drive customer loyalty by improving the customer experience. With an omnichannel experience, you’re putting the customer in control of how they want to interact and ensuring each touchpoint is not only well thought out but feels like one big, connected interaction as opposed to separate disconnected experiences. This in turn can help form a positive relationship between you and your customers.
‘The integrated channels allow customers to engage in all aspects of the retailer's activities beyond the purchase. When customers invest more time and energy into the retailer, their high level of engagement helps maintain an ongoing relationship with the retailer.’ Science Direct
Furthermore, data from LS Retail states that omnichannel shoppers have on average a 30% higher lifetime value than shoppers using single channels.
Positive experiences across different channels make it easier for your members to be loyal in the long term.
It goes deeper than just a single sale. It’s about instant access no matter where you are. When your customers interact with you using various channels, you create the opportunity for these customers to have richer and more convenient interactions with your brand. These can then translate into long-term relationships.
There are a few ways in which this kind of loyalty can be best practiced.
In an article on differentiation, value was identified as one of the most important aspects for setting yourself apart as a brand. Omnichannel strategies can allow for this if they can anticipate needs and assist the customer journey.
The British Airways Executive Club is a good example of a well operated omnichannel loyalty programme. Customers can access their accounts via the website or the mobile app, can earn points when flying with British Airways (or partner airlines) as well as shopping at partner retailers. They can also access services via phone. This approach encourages long-term engagement, as consumers can interact with the brand in a way that best suits them – with opportunities to earn through different avenues and multiple redemption options. Exclusive offers, shared across all these channels, add value and enhance the overall experience for customers.
Another great example of a brand doing this well is UK based brand, Revolution Beauty. The beauty brand adopted an omnichannel strategy, targeting their customers with a direct mail campaign that told them their individual points balance. This personalised approach was further enhanced by allowing customers to access the same information online through a link that showcased available rewards. By integrating their offline and online experiences, Revolution Beauty created a seamless customer journey, making it easy for shoppers to track and redeem their points, whether browsing online or in-store. This strategy strengthened customer loyalty and engagement by offering a consistent, convenient experience across multiple platforms.
This will look different for different businesses. For example, if your brand has a sizeable social media presence, you could consider running a competition on Instagram or Facebook where participants can win points through engagement, that can be added to their balance immediately, ready to be used both online and instore.
If you’re thinking of creating an omnichannel loyalty programme for your brand, there are a few considerations to ensure success and overcome potential challenges.
We mentioned the importance of integration in creating a seamless experience. This process of integrating different systems and channels can be both timely and costly. It requires tech and IT investment which can be a big cost, so it’s worth planning. This could mean rolling out the integration in phases to make this investment more manageable.
We identified understanding your customers as a fundamental part of the process, and the data you gather from them allows you to do this. Consequently, privacy and security are important aspects to consider whilst developing the programme. As a brand, it’s your responsibility to manage your customers personal data with the upmost care. It’s important to get permission before using your customers data, as data sharing is a common concern. However, so long as you’re using data to create richer and more tailored experiences, with the right permission, you can reassure your customers of this, hopefully making them more willing and open to share with you.
As always, measuring and monitoring success is a surefire way to ensure customer satisfaction. Feedback is beneficial. It’s about seeing what works and what doesn’t, and then being willing to change things. If you can improve based on what your customers say, then you’re setting yourself up for positive long-term relationships.
For more advice from IAGL on successfully implementing an omnichannel loyalty programme, please do not hesitate to contact us here.