E-commerce has flourished in the past decade, but following the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping went through a tremendous leap.
So, whether you operate an essential business that’s witnessing higher demand or a non-essential business that’s realigning, one thing is for sure:
E-commerce Loyalty Programs are more crucial than ever before to improve sustained growth and overcome competitive challenges.
Most consumers spend more time on the internet looking for products than ever before. And relying entirely on discounts isn’t enough to stand up against big brands like Amazon and Walmart.
That means you need to offer great prices and excellent products. Also, you need to provide a convenient purchasing process and loads of engagement points to keep your customers coming back for more.
This article will discuss what an e-commerce loyalty program is and how to set it up. It's also important to consider when and how to measure customer loyalty and estimating the cost of running your eCommerce business.
What is an eCommerce Loyalty Program?
E-commerce loyalty programs are customer retention tools aimed toward retaining and engaging your current customers so they’ll buy more, buy more often, or interact with your business regularly.
The best loyalty programs have a clear path to higher rewards or tiers, are easy to understand, and provide an excellent experience. To learn about loyalty marketing metrics, check out this post.
The e-commerce world is marked by high purchase frequencies and high customer churn rates. As a result, many businesses believe customer loyalty doesn’t exist and leverage discounts and offers to set themselves apart from the massive competition.
However, constant price wars have conditioned consumers to hunt for the lowest prices, making brand loyalty challenging to achieve.
Fortunately, leveraging e-commerce loyalty programs can help you build a loyal community around your company by differentiating yourself in the following ways:
- A refined purchasing process, making online shopping more seamless.
- Incentivized consumer profiling to collect richer data and improve other marketing strategies, such as personalization.
- Special interest clubs create loyal communities while emphasizing exclusivity.
- Viral social media competitions to encourage word-of-mouth marketing and build customer trust.
- Experimental VIP benefits and rewards to boost overall customer lifetime value.
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How to Set Up an E-Commerce Loyalty Program
Starting an e-commerce loyalty program can be a daunting process. However, if you follow these four steps, you’ll quickly launch one yourself.
1. Pick loyalty rewards
Consider the rewards that will encourage customers to remain devoted to your brand. Try rewarding your customers with exclusive products, free shipping, discounts, and other tempting perks.
To break even, you must execute a point-based reward system. This will help you determine the cost of your rewards and assess if it's profitable to give them en masse.
2. Identify your reward system
E-commerce businesses often stick to a specific reward system. For instance, point-based reward systems allow customers to earn points or credits by purchasing products from your store.
Alternatively, tier-based loyalty programs give members perks depending on their tier. Belonging to a higher level guarantees customers access to exclusive bonuses or valuable products.
3. Use a loyalty program software
E-commerce managers can easily set up loyalty programs by leveraging loyalty rewards software. These tools can help you create and launch your loyalty program within minutes.
They can also automate your loyalty reward process and offer extensive data on your customers’ browsing behavior, purchasing behavior, and the number of dedicated customers.
4. Market your eCommerce loyalty program
How will customers join your loyalty program if they don’t know it exists? Launching marketing campaigns will improve loyalty program awareness and encourage new prospects to try your products.
Although one of the most crucial steps to creating loyalty programs is the web design and landing pages that encourage potential customers to join, you must also leverage marketing to make customers aware of your program.
Personalization is one of the most effective ways of marketing your loyalty program. It can help boost engagement rates by ensuring all customers are engaged and feel like they’re part of your brand.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t matter if you’re experiencing a downturn or a boom in customer engagement. That’s because e-commerce loyalty programs are vital tools for improving customer engagement.
So, it’s time to set up your loyalty reward program and take your customer engagement rates to the next level.
