Building Relevant Rewards for Your Loyalty Program

Posted by Hadley Nichols on Thu, Jul 22, 2021 @ 11:00 AM

 

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When it comes to loyalty programs across the country, it's no surprise that there is parity. What a convenience store in Hawaii offers might be vastly different than one from Pennsylvania. Knowing your clientele and their tastes is key to building a successful program. And as convenience stores with a strong loyalty program know, providing customers offers that encourage and excite them not only for the purchase at hand but for purchases down the road is paramount. Figuring out relevant rewards specific to your loyalty is an integral part of forging a successful rewards program. Here at Simpliconnect, our team has promoted a myriad of different offerings perfectly suited to our partner’s strengths and the latest trends, and we’ve compiled a few concepts below to consider when choosing pertinent rewards for your loyalty program.

Follow Habits
As glossed over above, understanding your customer’s purchase behavior is an essential part of providing relevant rewards for your program. Choosing rewards that fit within their purchasing habits provides more motivation for participation. Utilizing individualized purchasing data and offering targeted rewards is an excellent solution that brings high-value incentives to customers with a proven track record. To use an example here from Simpliconnect, one of our partners who launched with us in 2019 was looking for a way to increase customer spending. By observing customer tendencies and simply adding a $0.99 fountain drink special, the average member basket spend shot up 43% in 2020, and 17% in the first month alone! Another way to flesh out this concept is to create an exclusive club or a VIP program aimed at top members that not only provides them status but also creates a goal to strive towards while encouraging further loyalty to your brand.


Innovate
All customers who have engaged in loyalty programs are probably familiar with the original punch card reward system, “Buy 10, Get the 11th Free!” Though tactics like this have been successful in the past, this particular concept may be stale and likely won’t have customers flocking to your program in today’s tech-driven world. Spicing things up and innovating your rewards could pique the curiosity of your customers and drive engagement. Setting up double reward points over a certain timeframe or featuring real-time reward pop-ups at the register or pump could provide a sense of spontaneity and excitement to your program. Sticking to the tried-and-true methods can work, but if you want to stay relevant and up to date with new trends, evolving your methods is a must.


Offer Local Products
From region to region, tastes change, and values differ. Tapping into what makes your region special could create a shared sense of belonging and pride among your customers. Working with local, high reputation brands and providing deals specific for their products could pull in members to your program who value local businesses. In 2020 alone, almost 70% of consumers chose to shop locally. Some of that is due to the pandemic but there is no reason to think the trend will go away. You’d be surprised how many customers take pride in keeping money flowing within their respective communities and are avid supporters of local businesses.

When it comes down to it, having a rewards program is a great tool, but if you don’t coordinate and provide relevant rewards, then you won’t reach the fullest potential your program has to offer. At Simpliconnect, we pride ourselves on implementing a program designed for your needs and customers' preferences, complete with an account manager to help you every step of the way.


Contact us today to learn how a loyalty app could be the tool you are missing and what offers would work best for your program.

Tags: Loyalty Marketing, Convenience Stores, Rewards Program, convenience store rewards, Simpliconnect