Who really uses loyalty programs?
When you think of a loyalty program, you wonder who really uses it. While others might be quick to mention the type of company or companies that use loyalty and reward programs, you may find out that most of what they will say might appear vague.
So, in this article, we’ll be doing justice by telling you the industries that harness loyalty marketing strategies. Here, you are going to find the exact industries that use loyalty programs to rake in more customers, retain them and boost sales. If you are an aspiring business owner or a business owner looking to retain more of your customers, we advise that you pay attention as what we will discuss will prove helpful.
The Food and Beverage industry
Yes, the food and beverage industry are perceived as the beginner of loyalty programs. You often hear the phrasal classic that says, “buy 6 and get one free.” This line has been embraced by bars, cafes, and restaurants across the globe. This system is also easy to imitate and implement and is quite effective in bringing people back time and again. As subtle as this loyalty program is, you would find that it brings back customers to have the 7th coffee, tenth burger, or fifth cocktail.
When customers understand that a company like McDonald’s is ready to give them a freebie on their purchases, they have no choice but to become repeat buyers. In this regard, loyalty programs are twice as efficient.
The cosmetics industry is also another booming industry that leverages loyalty programs to retain customers. However, loyalty programs in the cosmetic industry are quite dynamic as they have to keep up with changing friends. Most companies in the cosmetic industry have been able to forge a loyalty marketing strategy that allows them to retain more customers. For instance, a company like Sephora released a loyalty Program app with clever features.
These features allow users to digitally wear makeup on their faces to see how they look before they go on to purchase a cosmetic product. This single loyalty marketing strategy has allowed the company to retain more customers.
Vitamins and supplements
Any product or service that consumers tend to purchase regularly on an ongoing basis, such as coffee, haircuts, car washes, and the likes, can easily be converted into a source for rewards and accumulation redemption. On the other hand, people who happen to take the gym memberships quite seriously workout routinely, maintain a strict diet would need to supplement their efforts with supplements and vitamins. In this regard, it makes more sense that a vitamins or supplements loyalty program would strategically be used as an incentive to retain customers.
Plus, vitamins or supplements companies can offer a loyalty program that allows customers to redeem discounts on other groceries and household products. This way, even if another supplement company sells for a lower price, customers are likely to still purchase from them, given that they are saving much more on things like groceries, toiletries, and the likes.
Retail stores
Of course, the retail industry is the typical place where loyalty programs are most appreciated. Ranging from departmental stores to supermarkets to fashion chains, any retailer without a loyalty marketing strategy risks losing customers to its competitor.
In this modern time, consumers have more options than ever before. So, it’s quite crucial that you give your existing customers several reasons to come back time and again. While digital POS loyalty programs and paper punch cards offer an incentive to buy a product and get a freebie, digital loyalty apps are the ideal and modern way to create a customized and personalized shopping experience for each individual customer.
The Beauty industry
The beauty industry is synonymous with loyalty programs as similar to the retail and hospitality industry. You would find it rare to walk into a hairdresser, nail salon, beauty parlor, or massage spa without immediately observing the stack of punch cards at the reception desk.
The same applies to the retail and hospitality industries. Companies in the beauty industry often make use of loyalty marketing strategies that seek to offer customers a freebie session such as a free wax or massage session whenever they come in for a manicure or pedicure.
Travel and tourism industry
The travel and tourism industry aren’t left out of offering loyalty programs as they are arguably the first sector to harness loyalty program partnerships. Companies in this industry tend to offer a bunch of discounts or freebies. Some of these discounts could be a discounted flight for every x miles known within a specific time and a specific airline.
Another thing is also to offer customers free car rentals, free upgrades to exquisite hotel rooms, and discounted tickets to various remarkable sites and attractions. The travel and tourism sector helps in establishing that companies with the same customers can share customers without being competitors. This way, brands can provide a more exciting experience for customers instead of just a discount.
The gaming industry
We can’t talk about loyalty and reward programs without mentioning the gaming industry. Mobile games and apps revolutionized the way people play video games. The gaming industry is also the starter of in-app purchases, which have obviously introduced a model not too different from your average loyalty program. Instead of people paying an upfront cost for the game, many game developers are deciding to make the game free and offer in-app purchases that are too enticing or juicy to refuse.
On the good hand, this has stopped game developers from resorting to in-app advertising, which happens to impede user experience. Loyalty marketing strategies like this in the gaming industry tend to be very efficient as the gaming industry, as of 2017, was worth a booming figure of $18.4 billion in the US alone.
Final thoughtsNow you know the various industries that make use of loyalty programs. As a business owner looking to build a company in any of these industries, this article should serve as background knowledge on how you can create an optimized loyalty program.