In today's digital age, consumers have access to copious amount of information at their fingertips.
Loyalty towards a brand is starting to become obsolete as technology has enabled consumers to bargain and jump from one brand to another effortlessly.
As a result, companies struggle to keep their customers and their attention through the various of advertisements and promotions they release. However there is a company that has been able to tide through this issue of depreciating customer loyalty and in fact were able to increase their customer retention rate steadily.
Starbucks Loyalty Program
Starbucks, a renowned coffeehouse, and a well-established brand, that consumers will always come back to.
According to a survey by Manifest, a technology survey data company in 2018, Starbucks has the most regularly used loyalty rewards app (48%).
Imagine yourself in a country you're unfamiliar with, and you spot a Starbucks coffee sign, what would you feel? At home? At least a little? Would you rather go over to a random coffee shop or would you head over to Starbucks?
Apart from their exceptional branding, their customer loyalty program is one every business can learn from. They are always revamping their customer loyalty programs to fit their customer's needs. In 2016, the company switched to a value based program that awarded customers '2 stars' for every $1 spent and members received a free food or a free drink in exchange for 125 points.
During April this year, they revamped their loyalty program once again, allowing members to redeem rewards at 25 points. The 2 tiers program 'Green' and 'Gold' would also be eliminated. Apart from making it easier for their customers to redeem rewards, they also eliminated a pain point regarding the expiry of the points/stars expiring within 6 months, as of April 16, the points accumulated would be for a lifetime with no expiring dates.
Putting their outstanding loyalty program aside, Starbucks has also set an example for putting customer needs in the center of their focus when producing new range of products.
Starbucks constantly tweaked their product lines according to the ever changing customer preferences, they even started pushing fruity drinks instead of frapps when the industry became more health conscious.
Conclusion
Tried and tested, not only by Starbucks loyalty program but many other successful loyalty programs. In order for your business to cut through the clutter in the loyalty program market, your business should consider if your loyalty program adds value to your customer's purchasing journey.
A well executed loyalty program will act as a magnet that draws your customers in automatically without you having to pull them over. Want to increase your customer numbers? Start by putting your customers needs first now.
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