How to increase customer’s loyalty

One of the most important marketing strategies of a retail company is developing a loyalty program and improve the client’s fidelity. World’s biggest retailers have different ways to approach their audience, mostly through innovation at costs-effective, and some of them less expensive, but very well embraced by the loyal customers. One simple and effective type of program is VirtualCards, a mobile phone application, which is user-friendly and helps you to store all your loyalty cards in one place.

VirtualCards provides a few strategies and techniques that may help you to build up a coherent fidelity program with long-term benefits.

1. Connect with your customers on a personal level

Surveys show that more than 70% of the consumers once their purchasing experience was negative and the direct communication with the trader was difficult, have been giving up certain products and services, or they stop going to a certain store. 

People feel the need to connect and communicate constantly, to feel important for their favorite brands, and their feedback to be heard. Latest studies highlight that people, on average, look at their phones about 3 hours a day? It's even more than watching TV. How can you better reach your target customers, if not using the device they spend the most time with?

VirtualCards, an extremely understandable developed mobile phone application, helps you build up a customer database and keep in touch with the users, using the device they love and use the most: the smartphone. How? Using the option to issue virtual cards directly from the application, thus the loyalty cards are easier to be accessed directly from the mobile phone.

VirtualCards offers you several options:

- Feedback – you receive messages from your customers and reply to them in real-time 

- Communication platform - in the offers dedicated area you notify them of your plans, new collections, thematic or seasonal products

- Social Media –  Facebook’s Application page attracts daily users who share the same interests and like shopping, novelty or discounts

- Blog – your customers will feel a closer and more personal connection with your brand and this will increase your loyalty.

Treat your clients as part of your family, keep them updated with news from inside your company, ask them for feedback and take their opinion into account. Respond to their feedback and apologize if you are wrong. They will reward you with their loyalty, and stay with your company in the long run.

2. Stand out!

Try to do something special for your customers, something unexpected. For instance, offer them a special gift if they come to the store on their birthday. Send them a message for the birthday or invite them to use a gift coupon.

Give your clients a reason to talk about your company and put it in a positive light. People feel the need to share their memorable experiences with their friends. Make them a simple and straightforward way to accomplish this.

VirtualCards, the loyalty virtual cards wallet application also helps you with the share option. 

Users can send to their friends an offer they liked, a new product or a store opening. Also, the app helps you to send messages targeted by the name day.

You can send wishes notifications to your clients, on their name day, and you can invite them to stores to give them a custom offer or a great promotion. They will surely want to share this with their friends.

3. Offer relevant promotions!

Empathize with your customers. Ask yourself regularly, if you were a customer, what would you like to receive? What would make you return to the same store or frequently buy the same products of a particular brand? Stop and think about it, if you want to buy coffee, wine, appliances, movie tickets or go to the restaurant, what would please you in particular? What would make you feel special? Start from that point! Don't you know yet?

Virtual Cards allow the possibility to test out many types of promotions and choose the ones that your customers love the most. You can choose to promote only certain products at certain times. Virtual Cards is a virtual wallet and the customers choose exactly what they need.

For instance, on Labour Day you can increase sales on traditional products, ice-cream during summertime or different heating appliances in the cold season. You can choose to boost sales during the Easter and Christmas period on traditional sweet bread, using appealing promotions to attract clients to the store. They will repay you by purchasing many other products they need. Do not forget to always accomplish what you promise.

4. Measure, review, adapt!

If you can persuade a client of the long-term benefits, he will remain loyal. Usually, we do not come back over the statistics after a promotion, to measure the satisfaction of customers and to see where we failed.

Clients must feel the added value when they buy from you. Therefore, earn their trust and convince them that you and your products are the best choices. When you reach this point, you will be able to raise the price for quality products and the customers will understand that this is right.

With VirtualCards you have a variety of indicators to analyze what really interests your customers. You can view the number of clicks on offers, their actions over a certain time, the number of website visits or how many times a customer has viewed the discount card.

Analyze and adapt! Choose to continue promoting only what is relevant to your customers.

5. Don’t forget about costs

Always keep in mind what the final goal is. With a solid developed loyalty program, everyone should be happy. So, even if you want to provide as much as possible to your clients, don’t forget to keep your costs under control.

Take advantage of your negotiation power with the suppliers, make sure that you are financially safe to offer a discount. Give up your profit share on some of your top products, considering that your customers will buy other products that will bring you a bigger profit.

You have to calculate the total costs, including the loyalty program maintenance expenses. Overall you should be on profit and your clients satisfied.

Regarding this matter, Virtual Cards App is a reliable alternative. 

Why invest in plastic cards, dedicated departments or complex logistics, when you can pay a monthly subscription and let professionals take care of your loyalty program for you? On top of all that, you will get tips on how to reach your goal in the shortest amount of time and have access to the know-how that these people achieved in time. Virtual cards represent the future.

6. Challenges brought by GDPR

Adapt to the changes that appear on the market, not only regarding the marketing strategy but also from the perspective of the latest challenge, GDPR. Customer's agreement, personal data security, and rights of access are the three basic pillars that you have to keep in mind when running a loyalty program.

To comply with GDPR, you have to update or create a data security program, which involves a great effort both in financial terms and the time invested. There are databases created until the GDPR implementation that will no longer be used. This means reducing purchases through loyalty programs from 30% to 50%, as most customers will not respond to email communications.

Virtual cards help you rebuild your database, direct communication with your clients, permanent access to statistics where you can analyze your consumer behavior.  All these without having direct access to the user’s personal data. VirtualCards facilitates loyalty programs using an anonymized database, under GDPR requirements.

In years to come, users will become more aware of how their data is used and will be faithful to the brands they trust. Trust, respect, and reward are basic conditions for loyal users.

These are just a few tips that you can use to get started building a successful loyalty program. Begin to increase your customer retention as soon as possible to grow your business. Or better give us a call! We will be happy to help you!