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Are loyalty programmes really worth it?

The worth of any given loyalty programme is up to the retainer running it, says Truth Customer Academy. Customers are savvy, and they’ll sign up if the programme offers a good deal but will switch off unless the long-term value proposition is sufficiently attractive.

Chief executive Amanda Cromhout says the programme itself is secondary to what’s done with it: “A loyalty programme is a mechanic. A loyalty programme alone doesn’t create customer loyalty.”

True customer loyalty is achieved through long-term customer focus on all aspects of a retailer’s offering, which is achieved through effective engagement.

The point of offering a loyalty programme isn’t to incentivize customers with points or discounts, but to encourage them to share their data and information consistently by offering attractive and relevant rewards, frequently. That data can then be combined with in-house data from inventory, POS and other aspects of the business to create an accurate picture of customer behaviour patterns and preferences.

Once this data is created and analysed, it can form the basis of much more than marketing. Insights from a loyalty programme which measures what, when, how and how often shoppers buy, bank and travel, and records their preferences can form the core of a customer-centric business strategy.

Truth Customer Academy stresses that this approach is completely opaque to competitors. Even if a competitor subscribes to the programme, they can’t see how the data is being used once it’s supplied.

New Zealand consumers are enthusiastic adopters of loyalty programmes, with Horizon Research showing the average Kiwi shopper belongs to 4.2 programmes. This is a 17 percent increase from January 2017, and a 35 percent increase since August 2016.

With the right loyalty programme, you can make your programme the sole focus of your customers and reap the rewards.

Truth is offering a six-week online course to help retailers refine their loyalty programmes. It covers:

1. The evolution of loyalty 

2. Strategic rationale for loyalty 

3. Global loyalty landscape 

4. Framework to design a loyalty programme 

5. Understand the importance of acquiring customer data and how to use it to drive strategic insights 

6. Key commercial inputs for your loyalty business case 

7. How to write a customer-led engagement plan 

Further loyalty insights will be available on October 30, when Truth Customer Academy’s 2018 Whitepaper will be launched. Those who would like to obtain a copy, or book a spot on the six-week online course before enrolments close on Wednesday October 17, should email Debra.

Email: [email protected]
Mobile:+ 64 2102866547
Landline:+ 64 4 499 1022
Website: www.truthcustomeracademy.co.nz

The next Truth Customer Academy course is on the 7th February 2019.

This article originally appeared on The Register. 

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