Loyalty and reward programs have become common place in today’s society and are the destination for daily insights from leading industry blogs. Loyalty Programs were started to extend our reach to a large population of customers who are the once considered as an asset for the business which is used by traditional companies to keep pace with the evolving e-commerce world, and e-commerce sites are using them to boost retention and drive down acquisition cost.
Loyalty and Rewards
LOYALTY TODAY
Earlier, first buyers used to get credit notes/cash backs which used to be adjusted either in their outstanding or to purchase a new material but now because due to emergence of e-commerce/change in aspirations towards redemption options these points are hence given directly from the company and it is accumulated as in gifts of the participating members. Today, nobody wants to really, impose on customers whatever we want to give. Buyers according to its taste and choice can decide what he wants.
Influential Loyalty Program (Free Lancers)
Promotional Scheme that seeks to recognize and reward customers whoever recommend & use the products
Influential Loyalty Program (Channel)
Promotional Scheme to recognize & reward the customers for buying the products and increasing the value and brand name in the market.
Solutions Deployed
Stakeholders
- Clients
- Gifting Partners
- Clients Consumer
- Engagement Center
- In-situ
Program Management
- Experience Management
- Program Compliance
- Engagement
- Communications (linguistic)
- Program Administration
Insights
- VOC
- Analytics
- Consumer Behavior
Operations
- Enrollment, Earn, dispatch Redemption, Complaints & Field Management
- Sales Validation
- Communications (SMS, Email, IVR)
- Organizational Message
- Core Value
IT Services
- Platform
- MIS
- Dashboards
- Business Intelligence
- 2nd and 3rd Party Integration
Technology
- Infrastructural Requirement
- Analytics
- Database & Design
- UAT & Maintenance
Loyalty Program Benefits
- Brings ‘Customer Centricity’
- End to End Customer engagement with human touch
- Reach , Access & single point of contact
- Redemption brings family together
- Ease of buying (wish list, within catalogue)
- Positive rub off to the conventional sales channel
- Stakeholders get a long term outlook to the symbiotic association
- Emboldening Quality, Trust & Care
- Reduces the gap between trade and company
- Bring more cherished moments there by increasing joy and warmth
- Emotional Connect beyond primary consumer
- Reduction in mundane tasks / Sales reporting with wider access
- Faster and better visibility of life cycle brings higher productivity
- Enhanced business portfolio – upsell and cross sell
- Consumer Insights, VOC
- Outsourcing of non- core activities using partner’s network
Benefits to Business
- Warm relationship of repeat business
- Better customer retention
- Understanding business of trade partners
- More credibility in business (seen as a long term partner)
- Opportunity of tapping e-Commerce (B2E or B2C ordering system)
- Tracking the secondary purchase pattern
Benefits to Customers
- Emotional connect to customers and their family by involving each one of them during redemption.
- Redemption/gifting is sort of a family event
- Engaging with the customers in their anniversaries and birthdays
- Appreciation for the hard work and the gamut of program/mechanics draws extra bit of helping hand from the trade partners
- Getting rewards for every buying
- Getting gifts at your doorstep
- Recognition within your fraternity
Challenges
- Business Viability
- Entry barriers
- Exit Barriers
- Arduous Task (calculations, gifting, understanding etc)
- Picking the right mix of rewards and benefits and Limited Rewards
- Conceptual Challenge (stakeholder & benefits)
- rewards and benefits and Limited Rewards
- Customer Reach and Product delivery (located in remote areas)
- Designing of schemes and offers
- Program Management Challenge
- Maintain the fabric of the trust and care for program
- Involvement of the program (offerings, benefits, innovation)
- Platform creation with integrated multi-channel contact management with Communications
- Real time processing of information for useful insights to business
- Business Reports (KPI and Time specific)
- Data Maintenance (Sales updates and validations – offline, online, blended )
- Restrictions with respect to IT governance/ cyber laws
- Data confidentiality and rights of use
- Points upload process and methodology
- Creating an effective agile engagement across multi-media platform
- Infrastructural aspects (web, mobile, CRM, Telecom, CTI/CLI)
- Routing (skill based, role based, region based, language, priority, SSO (RMN)/Non-SSO)
- VAS (using IT and Telecom to communicate)
- 3rd Party Integration with respect t gifting partner
- Communications campaign
- Creating effective Field Management System
- 2nd Party Integration (Mapping, allocation, inventory, ID, Sales Validation, Bonus Points)
Business Risks
- Stay away from short term objectives
- Points have a validity window hence, redemption is must
- Immediate growth in business Not possible, mid to long term yes
- Any bad experience in the Loyalty Management may tarnish brand image of the company and its offerings
- Mid – Long term possible conflict with trade if one decides to go D2H / D2C business model
- Data Confidentiality and Data Security
- Downtime during critical system failure
Specialized research to track effectiveness
Periodic Audit – Program Objectives and Milestones
New Business Strategy built around evolving objectives – Business plan, Strategy and execution