GUIDE TO CUSTOMER
LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

WHAT ARE CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAMMES?

Wondering about customer loyalty programmes and how they can benefit a small business? Building customer loyalty can be a tough part of owning a small business, but can prove to be very valuable in the long run. 

But what are loyalty programmes? Usually offered by retailers where customers are likely to return to buy again in the future, they are often cardboard or plastic cards, online accounts, or apps, that you can gain points on when you’ve purchased. They offer rewards, discounts or other special incentives as a way to encourage repeat business and build customer loyalty.
 

HOW DO LOYALTY PROGRAMMES WORK?

When a customer makes a purchase, this can be registered to their account or your business’ loyalty cards. Following this, the customer can enjoy a range of different incentives depending on what you’d like to offer, such as:

• Early access to new products
• Early access to sales
• Enhanced services
• Free or expedited shipping
• Earning pionts/stamps that can be exchanged in the future

Loyalty programmes also assist a business by providing them with a huge amount of consumer data. A business can learn about which items are commonly purchased with each other (and therefore recommend them to the customer), and which incentives they’re offering are working. For smaller businesses, a single customer can be so important – so offering a way to build customer loyalty and keep someone coming back could be a huge win.
 

THE BENEFITS OF BUILDING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

There are a range of benefits to mocking up some business loyalty cards and offering them to patrons, or offering a sign-up service on your website. 

Not only can you utilise consumer data and trends to better understand those who use your business, but you can communicate with your customers too. Loyalty programmes offer a direct line of communication for you to announce new products and promote sales. 

Your consumers also become advocates of your brand too. When someone returns to you again and again to purchase your product, they’re more likely to share your product with their friends and family or even their social media followers, helping you to grow.

E-COMMERCE LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

If your business is predominantly digital and you’re looking to offer a loyalty programme, then it may be worth reconsidering where you’re hosting your shopfront.

A marketplace website like Shopify has a range of add-ons that can be added to your store with ease, including a range of exciting loyalty programme options that can keep users returning for more. 

In fact, many of these app add-ons to Shopify state they can actively increase repeat purchases, help to acquire customers and help to collect product reviews too – another way to help your business grow.

REWARD LOYALTY BY SENDING WITH DHL eCommerce UK

Orders flying in after you’ve implemented a customer loyalty programme? Keep customers happy from a delivery perspective by sending your parcels with DHL eCommerce UK.

We can link your marketplace account with your DHL account, allowing you to send out your orders as an online business with ease.

Get a quick quote on delivery today.