Discounts. Reward points. Free shipping. In the hyper competitive space of loyalty programs, every brand is trying to steal customers’ attention.
However, rewards and discounts may not be enough to impress today’s customers to stay loyal in the long run.
So what is it that Shopify customer loyalty programs can offer to hook customers for life?
AdiClub – Adidas loyalty program has some answers.
This blog looks at the many drivers of AdiClub, which go beyond discounts and points, and build a perception of value.
Let’s get started!
Lessons to learn from AdiClub for Shopify customer loyalty programs
Facing challenges, such as loyalty and rewards fatigue, boring points collection via monetary transactions, lack of unique loyalty programs, and surface-level engagement with customers, how should Shopify fitness stores achieve success with their loyalty programs?
We collected key takeaways from one of the best loyalty programs in the market. Read these 9 actionable strategies used by Adidas AdiClub and learn how you can apply them in your Shopify customer loyalty program.
1. AdiClub is free
As humans, it’s our tendency to love everything that comes free. Smart brands like Adidas tap into this emotional need by making their loyalty programs free of cost. Well, at least to bring customers into joining their loyalty programs.
That’s what AdiClub has done. The loyalty program is free to join. And they aren’t shy about letting customers know. Every CTA says ‘Join for Free’.
When loyalty and rewards programs are free, customers feel like they’re receiving something more. They get a feeling that the rewards and loyalty system is designed keeping their needs at the center.
2. Joining AdiClub is easy
‘First impression is the last impression.’ If you make it difficult, time-consuming, and complex for customers to join your rewards program, they may not move past the first steps.
And getting more customers to join your loyalty program is critical if you want to scale and grow your Shopify business.
Joining AdiClub is easy. Let’s see a few takeaways from the process:
- The AdiClub page has the CTA ‘Join for Free’ multiple times
- Customers can sign up via Gmail, Apple or Facebook
- When customers click on the CTA, it opens a pop-up asking to sign up or login
- The process is simple. Customers can sign up in just two clicks with minimal information
3. AdiClub loyalty program is simple and straightforward
Consumers increasingly choose brands that make their experience easy and hassle-free. No one wants to go through a loyalty program that’s complex, where they aren’t sure about how to earn or redeem points, or ways to get more benefits.
Adidas builds value perception by keeping its loyalty membership program simple and easy for customers. On the website, they explain, in three simple steps, how the program works.
- Register and access instant benefits: Joining AdiClub is easy. All that customers need to do is register and receive instant first points for becoming a member.
- Customers earn points by doing what they love: Adidas loyalty program is about the customer, which is evident from the way they designed it. Customers can earn loyalty points for activities, such as moving (think running and training), writing reviews and shopping. Customers can keep accumulating points for various activities.
- Redeem points: Members can redeem points and unlock exclusive experiences, products, vouchers, and more.
Also read: Predictions and Trends For Customer Loyalty Programs 2025
4. Multiple ways to earn points
Another learning for Shopify customer loyalty programs from AdiClub is to make earning points easy for customers, as well as exciting.
With AdiClub, members earn points in many ways – when they sign up and create an account, when they complete their profile, for training sessions, for participating in running events, for shopping, writing reviews, and sharing.
When brands make things difficult for customers, it can easily put them off. Conversely, when things seem easy and achievable, it taps into human beings’ inherent motivation to achieve more, accomplish, and increase or grow something.
AdiClub, thus, not only lets customers earn more points, it also increases sales, revenue, and engagement opportunities with members.
5. Offers rewards with points
AdiClub is an example of how brands can create more value for customers by offering more than just run of the mill points. Apart from points, the brand also gives rewards to members.
Fitness brands on Shopify can take inspiration from AdiClub.
Members can redeem points towards discount vouchers, members-only giveaways, points-only products, vouchers from Adidas partner brands, and contribute points towards charitable causes. These rewards enhance the loyalty program’s value perception.
So how can Shopify fitness stores apply this strategy to their loyalty program?
- Shopify brands must align these rewards to their products and brands. That’s how rewards can become unique and exclusive to your brand, helping you stand apart in the sea of loyalty programs
- Ensure that in the pursuit to offer unique rewards, you don’t offer things that eat into your profits
- Make sure you are able to keep up with the rewards for a long term so that members do not feel let down and continue enjoying these rewards
6. AdiClub has 4 levels
AdiClub has four levels based on the number of points customers earn. Each level offers different perks. Creating a tiered loyalty program has many benefits:
- You can cater to a wider range of potential members based on their spending capacity
- Tiers enable members to shift from one level to the other based on their desires and needs
- It gives greater opportunities to collaborate with other complementing brands – for instance, for offering vouchers, discounts on other websites/brands
Shopify fitness stores looking to start or enhance their customer loyalty programs can take inspiration and cues from AdiClub levels and perks.
Level 1
- 0-999 points
- Welcome bonus
- Members-only products
- Early access to sales
Level 2
- 1,000-3,999 points
- All Level 1 benefits
- Members-only sales
- 3 months free premium access to adidas Running app
- Birthday gift voucher
- Level 2 bonus
Level 3
- 4,000-11,999 points
- All Level 2 benefits
- Early access to products
- Level 3 bonus
Level 4
- 12,000 + points
- All Level 3 benefits
- 12 months free premium access to adidas Running and Training apps
- Level 4 bonus
7. Creates exciting offers and experiences
Here’s more inspiration for Shopify customer loyalty programs of fitness brands. AdiClub offers more unique and unmatched experiences to keep their members engaged. These are perks that are any sports fans’ dream.
However, there’s a catch. Members have to win these experiences by participating in contests, quizzes, and other forms of gamification.
- AdiClub days: Members get exclusive experiences, rewards, and more during AdiClub Days
- VIP home game: This is exclusively for members of Level 4. They get to win tickets to the Adidas box, pre-match side-pitch access, and a home jersey.
- Signed products: Members receive products, such as football boots, t-shirts or basketball shoes signed by top athletes
- Train with your hero: Members can complete challenges and win training sessions with their hero athletes
8. One community across Adidas apps
Adidas has a couple of apps, such as Adidas App and Adidas Running. The brand offers points for various activities on all its apps. Members of AdiClub can earn points for activities such as running, training, hiking, biking, shopping, and more. AdiClub members can earn more points by downloading and joining these apps.
Here are a few takeaways for Shopify customer loyalty programs:
- Don’t make points accumulation feel like a task or work for members. Make points accumulation as easy as Adidas does by combining points from across apps
- Link loyalty points and rewards to your members’ brand experience. For instance, fitness brands on Shopify can create opportunities to earn points via activities that relate to their brands – training, running marathons, etc.
- Keep your loyalty programs fluid, think about the experiences your members would like, as opposed to equating their loyalty to monetary transactions only
9. An FAQs section
The AdiClub page on Adidas website, has a detailed FAQs section, making it easy for people to know all the basic information.
Today’s customers do not want to go through the process of contacting customer support to get simple questions answered. They’d rather do it themselves. That’s why having self-service features on eCommerce websites, such as an FAQ section helps.
AdiClub FAQs answer questions, such as why should one join the loyalty program, how one can become a member, information about points, different tiers of AdiClub, and more.
How to start a Shopify customer loyalty program for your brand?
Value, personalization, gamification, community, engagement, and unique rewards are some of the factors that make consumers, especially the younger generation consumers, to join loyalty programs of brands.
When it comes to Shopify fitness stores, there’s a lot they can do to create these experiences via their loyalty programs, for members.
To create a human-centric loyalty program that connects your sports brand with your customers, you will require an intuitive loyalty app — Appstle Loyalty & Rewards App.
The app helps you create an engaging loyalty program and manage it to align it with your customers actions, needs, and preferences.
Install Appstle Loyalty & Rewards App on your Shopify fitness store today!
