fbpx As a retailer today, you’re no longer just competing with your competitors’ products and prices, but also with their customer loyalty programs. Shoppers are becoming more and more inclined to shop with a retailer who rewards them for their purchases. So how do you create a loyalty program that rewards your customers and creates a higher demand for your products? Check out the best ways to create an effective data-driven loyalty program that will actually help you sell more.

Get to know your customers

This may seem like a given, but it’s impossible to deliver a genuine, personalized experience when you assume all of your customers are the same. The truth is, they’re not and they’ll be less likely to continue shopping with you if they fell they are just being treated as a number. Data-driven tip: Use your POS to collect information on your customers as they check out. Collect basic information like name, email, and birthdate. Consider adding in notes about the customer’s purchasing habits. The more information you have about them, the better you can serve them in the future, and the more likely they’ll be to return to your store.

Implement a ‘buy to earn’ strategy

The concept is simple; reward purchases with points that can be used on later purchases. Smart retailers choose a threshold that customers must hit in order to get a reward amount (i.e. each dollar spent equals one point, but points can’t be redeemed until you have 250). Once customers earn the appropriate amount of points, reward them with a percentage or dollar amount off of their next purchase. Data-driven tip: Use reporting in your POS and inventory management system to find customers who are nearing in on a reward. Send out emails to those customers reminding them of the incentive. When customers know they are close to a reward, they’re more likely to pull the trigger on a purchase they’ve been considering.

Personalize rewards

Customers today expect a personalized experience when shopping. Go above and beyond your competitors by using your data to target rewards and incentives by past purchases. Use the information you have on your clients to dictate what offers you send them and when. Data-driven tip: Pull a report on your customers who are closing in on their loyalty reward. Using that list, cross-reference past purchases with new products to send personalized offer emails to your customers. The more genuine and personalized experience a customer receives, the more likely they will be to purchase again. When it comes to customer loyalty, focusing on collecting and using your data in your marketing and sales tactics is the best bet to keep your customers coming back again and again. Stay tuned for more posts on becoming a data-driven retailer using data to run a more successful business.