Category: b2b

5 effective ways to reward customer loyalty

Posted on by shopkick

These days, rewarding customer loyalty is often expected in the competitive marketplace as part of doing business. One study found that 79% of customers will only consider shopping with brands that demonstrate they understand and care about them. Brands looking to prove to customers they care should consider ways to reward customer loyalty.  

On average, loyal customers are worth ten times the value of their first purchase, so it pays to court newcomers to become regulars. The decision to reward loyal customers is, of course, the easy part. The more difficult task is finding effective ways to reward customer loyalty that are also profitable for your business.

What Do People Want From a Customer Loyalty Program?

In any loyalty program, customers expect to:

  • Easily understand what your program is all about.
  • Save money through store credit or members-only discounts.
  • Have some choice in reward.
  • Receive a reward they don’t have to wait for. 
  • Receive special treatment with exclusive VIP perks.
  • Feel an emotional connection with your brand.

It’s not enough to simply say, “Thank You.” Businesses these days are expected to show their gratitude in a unique, brand-focused way. 

5 Effective Ways to Reward Customer Loyalty

Consider these popular methods of rewarding the most loyal brand ambassadors:

  1. VIP Services

Department stores in particular benefit from rolling out the red carpet for their shoppers; Forrester Research found that more than three-quarters of department store shoppers say they prefer to receive premium service through their loyalty programs. For instance, members of Nordstrom’s “Nordy Club” receive VIP services that other shoppers don’t have access to such as early access to the retailer’s anniversary sale, extra points with every purchase, curbside pickup, free clothing alterations, and priority access to special events. The program is free to join but is structured in four different levels, depending on spending, with benefits increasing at each tier. 

  1. Partnerships

5 ways to reward customer loyaltyStrategic brand partnerships are increasingly becoming more important, as companies look to add value; expand their benefits beyond what they alone provide; and find exciting new ways to reinvigorate their brand image. When the benefits are reciprocal, they also serve to increase the size of their loyalty base. The NikePlus Unlocks reward program began providing partner perks from Apple Music, the Headspace mindfulness app, and ClassPass studio fitness program membership when their own fitness app users reached running milestones or completed new workout routines. Select purchases also aligned with partner perks. Members purchasing a Nike Epic React Flyknit shoe in an exclusive color would receive four months of Apple Music for free. 

  1. Punch Cards

Punch cards are traditional ways to build brand affinity and encourage customer loyalty. What do you want your customers to buy or do? Clearly state the path and reward and watch participation grow. It’s as simple as offering a free coffee and a fresh punch card after a loyal customer has already purchased nine. They’re encouraged to return to your business with a promise of being rewarded for their loyalty.   

  1. Referral Bonus

Often, your already loyal customers will lead to even more loyal customers because people tend to trust their family and friends’ recommendations. Offering a referral bonus is an easy way to introduce yourself to an expanded network. The best referrals provide something free for the referrer and the referee, so it’s a win-win proposition. For instance, meal service HelloFresh provides three free referral gift cards worth $40 off for up to three months. Friends and family receive the discounted meals, while the referrer gets a $20 credit for each new referral. Once a person starts referring, the perks increase. 

  1. Gift Cards

For the last 12 years, the National Retail Federation has reported that gift cards are the most desired gift. When it comes to loyalty programs, consumers say they prefer gift cards 2:1 over any other type of reward. If consumers can choose their own gift cards, they are even more satisfied. Shopkick is a mobile shopping app that offers gift cards to retailers like Target, Walmart, and Sephora in exchange for shopper engagement. With Shopkick, consumers receive “kicks” that can be redeemed for gift cards to the retailer of their choice. These incentives don’t just encourage the use of the app. They also build brand affinity, as the consumer attributes the rewards to the brand they used to get them. 

For the last 12 years, the National Retail Federation has reported that gift cards are the most desired gift.

By leveraging one or all of these ways to reward customer loyalty, brands can bet on building a relationship that encourages customers to return time after time.  

If you’re looking for the most effective ways to reward customer loyalty, become one of our partners. Shopkick users are encouraged to engage with partnering brands and retailers through rewards and incentives. Contact us to learn how easy it is to offer greater rewards and earn customer loyalty. 

Image courtesy of Black Salmon

The most effective marketing channels for CPG brands to reach customers

Posted on by shopkick

The most effective marketing channels for CPG brands to reach customers

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The most effective marketing strategy for CPG brands is an omnichannel strategy. You’re likely already dividing your marketing budget between traditional broadcasting, print advertising, digital advertising, and maybe social media—and all of these channels work together to increase brand awareness and hopefully steal market share from competitors who are doing the exact same thing. 

The beauty of the omnichannel strategy is its inherent flexibility. As the market shifts, you can A/B test and integrate new marketing channels that will be most effective for your business in the coming months. 

Three of the Most Effective Marketing Channels for CPG Brands 

The most effective marketing channels will depend on your particular situation, but the following three strategies are currently your best bet for maximizing opportunities in digital advertising. They should definitely be on your radar if you aren’t pursuing them already.

#1: Online Paid Advertising

We’d be willing to bet you’re already doing some significant work in this channel already—but are you utilizing the most up-and-coming methods within paid advertising? PPC and display ads seem to be losing priority in the wake of bigger and better opportunities that target your most valuable customers where they spend the most time: on social media, video streaming platforms, and the online marketplace.

Paid Social

CPG brands will find that paid video ads on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook (and the newest craze platform, TikTok) are likely to bring in far more revenue than your internally-run social media campaigns themselves. The “stories” feature on each of these platforms is the perfect place for video ads to gain traction in 2020 and beyond. 

Video Streaming

Streaming platforms like Hulu, YouTube, and now Facebook Watch offer a unique opportunity for CPG brands to place full-length video advertisements that must be watched to completion. It’s like broadcast advertising on steroids—because of the sheer volume of users consuming content on these platforms on a daily basis, this is one category not to miss out on.

Amazon Ads

Amazon is already the #3 digital ad seller in the United States, and eMarketer forecasts that by the end of 2021 one out of every ten digital advertising dollars will be spent for placements on this platform. CPG brands should be capitalizing on the sponsored products and sponsored display categories—the second of which is still in beta and therefore has a lot of room for growth in the coming years.

#2: Search Engine Optimization

According to Google data, 80% of shoppers say mobile searches impact their purchasing decisions in the CPG category. Anecdotally, we know that an incredibly high percentage of shoppers use their smartphones in stores to compare products and prices. Knowing this, it’s amazing how few CPG brands are taking advantage of SEO as a marketing channel.

As eCommerce continues to boom and buy-online-pickup-in-store grows more and more prevalent, it’s more important than ever for CPG brands and retailers to invest in a positive website UX and an impressive presence in SERP results. If you’re not actively pursuing SEO strategies, consider implementing the following: 

  • Prioritize your technical on-page SEO. CPG brands often maintain an inventory of tens or even hundreds of products, which makes for complex websites with thousands of unique pages—all of which need optimized meta page titles, keyword-rich H1 tags, and alt text on every image. This is a heavy lift for sure but will guarantee that your site conforms to the most foundational SEO best practices. Most importantly, do whatever it takes to streamline your website and improve site speeds. Google (and your users) will thank you. 
  • Create keyword-targeted blog content. Very few CPG brands maintain a regularly-published blog schedule, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be tapping into the content marketing channel. Figure out your most valuable long-tail keywords and target each of them with an original, well-written, and insightful blog post. Question keywords are particularly valuable for CPG brands looking to build out a SERP presence through Google’s “people also ask” feature, and they make great fodder for social media syndication. 
  • Streamline your eCommerce experience. Even with all of the technological advancements available today, online shopping at individual websites continues to be a frustrating experience for consumers. eCommerce brands identify the result of this frustration “cart abandonment”—but in the SEO world, this translates to high bounce rates and lowered “Google trust.” Whether you outsource your eCommerce to Amazon or run your own native shop on-site, make sure it’s glitch-free and lightning-fast to ease the customer path to purchase. 
  • Achieve balance with PPC efforts. Most major CPG brands secure PPC ads for keywords that contain their brand name—but 8 out of 10 undecided shoppers aren’t searching by brand names at all. They’re typing in product types or categories instead. Start pursuing keywords like “best toilet bowl cleaner for stains” or “what is the top organic skincare brand” through a mix of PPC and targeted original content. While PPC and SEO are decidedly separate disciplines, anecdotal evidence suggests that their partnership could be the most promising for increasing product awareness for CPG and other retail brands. 

#3: In-App Advertising

Finally, we take a look at yet another emerging digital advertising trend—in-app advertising, which is often combined with proximity marketing and customer rewards. There’s a whole world of apps aside from social media that can help CPG brands reach low-funnel customers. Mobile games are an obvious choice. Innovative shopping apps are another.

Shopping rewards apps like Shopkick offer brands and retailers the opportunity to collaborate and give shoppers a truly unique experience. Our innovative shopping app turns shopping trips into scavenger hunts, rewarding customers for viewing branded content in the app, entering store locations, finding their way to sponsored products, and actually interacting with products in-aisle alongside targeted advertising. Shopkick lets you reach customers at the very moment where they’re most likely to make a purchase—in the aisle, with your product in their hands.

Here’s how a few major CPG brands are already using in-app advertising to reach their goals: 

Kraft

Leading up to the 2018 holiday season, Kraft leveraged Shopkick to deliver targeted advertising content to customers. Through in-app videos, holiday-themed content, and recipes, Kraft managed to increase their pre-shop consideration metrics and drive over 18 million total campaign impressions. Fifty-five percent of purchasing customers report they weren’t intending to buy the Kraft products before interacting with them within the Shopkick app.

Rimmel-London

In order to cut through the noise of the cosmetics aisle, Rimmel-London used in-app advertising through Shopkick to increase their reputation as a top beauty brand. Customers were reached and rewarded through proximity messaging and an innovative “trial in aisle” program that resulted in a 5:1 ROI. Thirty-eight percent of those new customers had never used Rimmel products before—which resulted in 14% market share stolen from their closest competitors.

Tyson

Tyson also increased their brand and product awareness through a partnership with Shopkick. They launched exclusive Superbowl-related content in the app to inspire customers pre-shop, and drove a significant increase in foot traffic and in-aisle engagement through targeted video advertising. This particular campaign resulted in an overall 85% video completion rate with a sales impact of over $195K in Sam’s Club stores.

Plenty of other retailers and brands have utilized similar in-app advertising strategies using Shopkick—including big name brands in convenience products, quick-service foods, coffee, wine, and household cleaning. Read more of their success stories here. 
In conclusion, the three strategies above have the potential to take any CPG brand to the next level in today’s marketplace. They could be the most effective marketing channels you experiment with this year. 
At Shopkick, we’re passionate about helping CPG brands reach customers in new and exciting ways. To join our partners in the innovative shopping app revolution, contact us today.

4 ways to improve customer experience in retail

Posted on by shopkick

4 ways to improve customer experience in retail

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Friction is the biggest obstacle to a positive customer experience in retail. Whether it’s waiting in line at the cash register or getting lost in the aisles, struggling to find a salesperson, or discovering your order isn’t ready for pickup, customers feel frustrated and annoyed by these moments and are ultimately unlikely to return to retail stores the more they occur. 

With retail innovations like automation and rewards, store owners have the opportunity to reduce friction and improve customer experience across the board. Alleviating these challenges can have significant positive impacts on sales, customer satisfaction rates, and overall revenue. In a recent study of 15 enterprise retail leaders, NTT DATA Solutions found that those who prioritized reducing customer friction achieved a 48% improvement in revenue growth and a 45% improvement in net income compared to those with poor friction ratings. The following four strategies will help you replace friction-filled experiences with those that are personalized, exciting, and positive. 

#1: Prioritize Speed And Convenience

Most brick-and-mortar stores are designed to strategically move customers past as many products as possible in order to get what they came for. That impulse-buy trapping strategy is quickly falling out of favor with audiences who are accustomed to online convenience and next-day shipping. As seen in the buy-online-pickup-in-store model, speed should really be prioritized above all else. Additional sales, surprisingly, are positively affected as a result.

Streamline Store Layouts

It’s time to rethink the classic milk-and-eggs strategy, where retailers put the most crucial items at the back corners of the store. Innovative store locations are putting must-have items (like the BOPIS station) right up front so customers can find what they need quickly and easily. Surprisingly, customers still end up making plenty of add-on purchases before they find their way out the door—so it pays to make things quick and efficient.

Introduce Frictionless Checkout

Checkout lines are some of the most annoying staples of CPG stores—so certain players are starting to innovate without cash registers at all. Amazon Go store locations utilize machine learning and computer vision to make convenience stores 100% more convenient. If frictionless checkout isn’t in your immediate future, consider increasing staffing at checkout to relieve pressure and improve wait times. 

Optimize the BOPIS Experience

According to the same report from NTT DATA Services, 50% of surveyed stores couldn’t fulfill a same-day BOPIS order, and only 33% could fulfill an order within one hour. These are immediate opportunities to reduce friction and improve customer experience. By investing in automation and improving stocking logistics, stores can ensure that the items being ordered are in stock and ready to pick up in a timeframe that meets (or exceeds) customer expectations.

#2: Improve Omnichannel Consistency

NTT Data Systems found that a significant number of retail leaders fell behind in the area of online ordering. The worst sites required customers to re-enter processing information multiple times and complete 25% more steps before checkout. Your goal should be to create a seamless online experience that remains consistent with the convenient experience you provide in stores. That way, customers get a far more positive omnichannel experience from your brand and are more likely to offer their loyalty.

According to the same report, 26% of surveyed retailers provided very different experiences between their online and physical locations. If this sounds like an issue for your company, consider implementing the following strategies:

  • Invest in an updated website. Too many retail sites are cluttered, clunky, and slow to load—all of which contribute to customer frustration and cart abandonment. Investing in updated eCommerce strategies and a streamlined sitemap will do wonders for improving customer satisfaction scores and increasing online sales. 
  • Make returns and exchanges easier. One of the biggest perks of ordering from an eCommerce giant like Amazon is the speed and efficiency of returns and exchanges. While your business may not be able to reach the heights of speed at Amazon, you can certainly make returns easier with generous policies and convenient in-store options.
  • Resolve billing problems quickly. A report on enterprise fashion brands found that problems with billing, multiple charges, and trouble resolving credit card issues ranked high on the list of customer complaints. You should aim to make your online bill pay system as smooth as possible to avoid these high-tension moments. 

#3: Revolutionize Staff Training

Believe it or not, staff interactions (or lack thereof) often produce the highest volume of friction-filled moments for customers in retail stores. All too often, it’s the sheer lack of adequate staffing that leads to customer annoyance and refusal to return. Increasing staff numbers at high-traffic times can significantly improve customer satisfaction scores. The rest of the time, improvements in retail technology and staff training can ensure that every customer need is met in a more-than-satisfactory manner.

Increase Automated Tools

Well-equipped retail apps offer customers the opportunity to carry a store associate in their pocket. From in-store mobile navigation to digital store maps and mobile price checks, these automated tools can make a customer’s path to purchase much quicker and easier. Try implementing some of these automated tools in your stores, or experiment with beacon technology and digital store map kiosks to help customers get what they need. 

Experiment With Mobile Registers

In lieu of frictionless checkout, many major retailers are launching teams of mobile registers—staff members who roam the aisles and can complete purchases directly from the shelves. This is a particularly timely solution for the months leading up to the holiday season, where frantic shoppers are looking for any way to avoid lines. Advertise your new mobile register offering, and you’ll likely snag a few desperate time-conscious shoppers.

Prioritize Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution training materials are ever-evolving for staff members at retail stores—but they’re even more important now in the age of instant gratification. Customers expect conflicts to be resolved swiftly and courteously, and to be offered some form of compensation in return for their trouble. By offering plenty of staff members and training those employees on proper conflict resolution techniques, you’ll go a long way toward ameliorating and pleasing disgruntled customers.

#4: Create Innovative Experiences

Reducing customer friction is only half the battle when it comes to improving customer experience in retail. After you’ve created a truly seamless experience, customers still expect more. They’re looking for an experience—a memory—that will help them feel aligned with your brand. Innovative retail experiences create brand advocates. And through the omnipresence of social media, brand advocates are what will improve your sales the most.

Launch Experiential Concepts

Experiential retail stores are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason. They’re exciting, new, and perfectly Instagrammable. Experiential concepts like the House of Vans in London or the Nike House of Innovation in New York offer customers exactly what they’re looking for: an attraction, and not just a retail store. Try launching a pop-up experiential concept to see how much buzz your brand can generate. 

Personalize Your Marketing

Go beyond birthday coupon emails and offer your customers a personalized marketing experience backed by the latest mobile technology. One study found that personalized customer loyalty programs brought a 71% satisfaction rate and brought in 2.7 times more members than those that weren’t highly personalized. These strategies allow you to connect directly with your most loyal customers—those who opt-in because they want more from your brand.

Offer Truly Unique Rewards

A powerful rewards program can help beef up your marketing strategy and offer customers high-value rewards that don’t rely on slashing prices. With a third party app like Shopkick, you can reward customers for going on adventures in your stores and opting into targeted advertising experiences. Shopkick rewards program partnerships often see impressive ROI’s and a significant 

By reducing friction in your retail stores and offering customers positive experiences in exchange, you’ll solidify their loyalty and provide an experience they’ll want to talk about online and in person. This is the most effective way to holistically improve customer experience in retail, and it’s a powerful way to increase revenue as a result. With the four strategies above, you’ll be well equipped to tackle the challenges of today’s retail environment and provide an experience that customers will appreciate. 
Shopkick is an innovative retail rewards app that’s changing the way shoppers, retailers, and brands think about everyday errands. Our partners use Shopkick to provide uber-valuable rewards to their customers and increase market share, sales, and revenues as a result. Contact us to learn more about how an app like Shopkick can help you improve the customer experience in retail.