As an ecommerce business, it’s always interesting to have new customers. But what makes your business stand out, in the long run, are the customers that always return to you. This is why if you have a Shopify store, it is essential that you also have a Shopify loyalty program.
Ecommerce loyalty programs can elevate your brand image. They help create a balance between new and old customers. This balance is essential for your ecommerce business to thrive.
We understand this importance. Thus, we have curated this guide to help you set up your Shopify loyalty program.
What is a Shopify Loyalty Program?
A customer loyalty program is a system of rewards and incentives in the form of points to encourage repeat customers. When you set up a Shopify loyalty program, it allows customers to utilize the rewards acquired from their past purchases to receive benefits such as discounts, coupons, exclusive offers, special privileges, delivery benefits, and more.
What are the benefits of a customer loyalty program?
To earn maximum rewards through a loyalty program, 64% of customers spend more money. You will see the results when you have an interesting Shopify loyalty program set up in your ecommerce store.
Here are 3 most important benefits:
1. Helps reduce customer churn rate
Customer churn rate, the rate of customers that stop engaging with your business, is a significant issue in ecommerce. And you want to keep this value as low as possible.
Because it is easier to have repeat customers to rely on for consistent business instead of acquiring new customers, while you want to focus on new customers, older customers make your brand.
When you have a good ecommerce loyalty program, customers will consistently engage with your brand. You become more than a brand that they buy from. You provide them with an experience that lasts beyond their first order. When they see that you offer benefits for their purchase, they will return to use them.
2. Increases the customer lifetime value
The customer lifetime value is the business value you receive from their association. Every time a customer makes an order, you want a higher price order value as a business. A Shopify loyalty program can help you maximize this value for your store.
With an array of benefits in the loyalty program, customers will be drawn to making more orders. Whether using your brand to purchase tickets online, buying more skin care products for an additional discount, or even purchasing that shoe to receive another one free. These are all offers customers will appreciate.
Over time, these purchasing benefits become redeemable in terms of points, and they will place more orders. And this is how you will get the most out of your Shopify store.
3. Increases brand image
If you have a Shopify loyalty program with great benefits, then you can be sure someone will tell their friend about it. Offering a free beverage for every 10th order? A surprise gift on your customers’ birthday? A discount coupon generated because of a previous order? All of these and more are rewards that people will talk about.
Your rewards system could also ensure customers that you are giving back to society. Extend that happiness and share a percentage of your earnings with the charity of your choice. Such acts leave a lasting impact on customers and create a positive association with your brand.
How to create a Shopify loyalty program?
Now you know how important it is to develop customer loyalty and repeat customers. But if you are wondering which is the best loyalty program for Shopify and how to create one, then we will break it down for you.
1. Understand your customers well
The first step is to understand your customers. Collaborate with your marketing team, dive into your customer data, and target audience demographics.
- What is their age range?
- What are their possible interests?
- Which countries do they belong to?
- What kind of rewards would entice them the most?
Have an answer to such questions and then understand what your store can offer.
Understanding your business’ capacity at the moment and intersecting it with your customer’s interest is the first step to creating a Shopify loyalty program.
2. Define objectives and rewards
Dive into the ‘why’ of the loyalty program.
Introspect what you are trying to achieve? Is it to increase the minimum order value? Does it increase brand image? Is it to engage customers more on your Shopify store?
Each of these answers provides several options for the rewards program.
For example, if you want to increase engagement on your website, then you want to add gamification elements to your Shopify loyalty program. So every time your customers want to earn more points, they would have to spend more time on your online store.
3. Make it interesting
Create a message that shows what customers will find interesting with your rewards system. Make the program stand out with exciting graphics and names.
Several brands use “insider” or “club” as a part of the loyalty program names. Such terms automatically generate curiosity and make your customers want to be a part of something exclusive.
4. Show them how they can use the points well
Always be crystal clear in your messaging. You don’t want to sound misleading and make your customer order more only to be disappointed by the rewards later.
Using clickbait headlines can only take you so far. Foster genuine connections with your customers by showing them exactly what they get for their purchases.
Do they receive points for every order? Do they receive 10% of the points of the order? Is there a timeline for using the reward points before they expire? Be honest about it.
Don’t make your customers jump through hoops to understand the loyalty programs. If you complicate it, they could just order a similar item on your competitor’s site, and you don’t want that.
5. Reward non-purchasing behavior
Of course, rewards are primarily for placing orders with your business. But if you want to build customer loyalty, give your customers a choice to earn reward points even without purchasing.
Actions like writing a product review, shouting out on social media, and adding customer images of the purchased product are reward worthy.
6. Provide benefits beyond your product
Show your customers that you want them to have fun with the reward points, even if it is not with you! Allow them to redeem the points as coupons for their favorite food brands, create a gift card from the reward points, movie tickets, and so much more.
Such options make you a brand that cares about their customer. Because you allow them to use the Shopify loyalty program benefits beyond your business, they will come back to you more often.
7. Additional privileges of joining a rewards program
If you have a paid loyalty program, that could also be a great source of revenue. However, it gets trickier to convince customers to sign up for it unless you make it worth their money.
Several brands that have the best loyalty program on Shopify offer more than just a system to redeem purchasing points. They provide benefits such as faster delivery, product demo, free subscription to their favorite OTT platforms like Netflix, exclusive access to product launches and new sales and more.
Such rewards show customers how much you care about making their investment worth it.
8. Measure your loyalty program results
Once you have set up your loyalty programs, you must consistently measure the results.
How much are you investing in these programs? How much has the customer retention rate improved since then? Do you see results the way you hoped, or do you need to change your loyalty program strategy?
Understanding these points will help you make the most out of your Shopify loyalty program.
9. Provide reliable and quick customer service
A big part of customer retention is how quickly you resolve their concerns. If you are not helpful when they are unsatisfied with their services or cannot find help when they need it, rest assured they will not order again.
56% of customers worldwide agree that customer service is “very important” in brand loyalty. You want customers to associate your business as the one that cares about them. To ensure this is done well, implement multi-channel customer service systems.
Add chatbots to your Shopify store, provide live chat options, and have a clearly written, well-organized FAQ page. Track your social media mentions and understand where customers need your help. Additionally, be proactive in responding to customers on social media. You can automate the process, but you cannot leave them unread.
Customer loyalty program examples
The best loyalty programs for Shopify can rely on tried and tested methods and add their own personal touch. To inspire your loyalty programs, here are some examples of businesses who are acing the customer loyalty program game.
1. Myntra: Myntra Insider
Myntra is an ecommerce brand with a loyalty program called Myntra Insider. As you can see below, they offer supercoins with purchases and assure rewards beyond coupons that can be used for internal purchases.
They have different levels for the program, each with a different set of benefits. You also earn points for every review.
2. Sephora: Beauty Insider
Sephora is a popular beauty brand with a loyalty program called Beauty Insider. They are very clear with their messaging and show the customer all the benefits they’ll receive after they sign up.
They also have different tiers of memberships, each with different perks.
3. Amazon: Amazon Prime
Amazon is an ecommerce giant with a popular loyalty program called Amazon Prime Membership.
This is a one-tier membership but offers so many benefits that it is among the most successful loyalty programs. It provides free access to its prime video, an OTT platform, and the most enticing one or two-day delivery feature, among many other perks.
4. Chik fil A: Chick-fil-A One
Chik fil A knows how to keep its customers engaged and active on its online platforms through its loyalty program called Chik-fil-A.
They have even owed a lot of their ecommerce success to the loyalty program that offers a simple yet effective reward system. If your favorite fast food joint offers discounts every time with free treats, it will make you a repeat customer– this simple formula racks up significant sales for the brand.
5. Body Shop: Love Your Body Club
Body Shop is a popular cosmetics and skincare brand with a successful loyalty program called the Love Your Body Club.
Automatically, the name fits the brand’s products and shows interest in the customers. They offer a lot of exciting rewards through this program. Customers get discounts, entry to exclusive product launch events, and more. They even offer reward points when customers bring their empty product containers for recycling.
Earn customer loyalty with Shopify loyalty programs
In 2023, there is a lot of competition for every ecommerce business. The market is extremely crowded, so gaining customer loyalty has never been more essential.
Additionally, customer acquisition is becoming challenging. With the decline of third-party cookies, targeting customers is becoming harder. However, when you create a good balance between new and old customers, you can achieve sustainable growth.
Moreover, you can always leverage the help of industry experts for your loyalty program.
The Appstle Loyalty app is built keeping growing eCommerce businesses in mind and the changing consumer behavior. We help you not just set up a loyalty program, but make it stand out and engage customers in a proactive manner with a powerful set of features!
Install the Appstle Loyalty app to create a customer loyalty program today.
