By A Noton

Retail business is becoming more competitive. A smart business planner needs to find new strategies to keep ahead of their competitors. Customer loyalty program is one of retail marketing strategies with many benefits for both the customers and your business. The other name that is often used to describe this program is reward program.

Customer loyalty program is a way to attract your customer to come back to your store by giving them some benefits. Usually the most common benefits for members are special discount, gifts, or points that they can collect and exchange with other items. There are many variations to this program, depending on how you set it up.

In customer loyalty program, each member is given a loyalty card. Customer should show this card when they are paying for their purchase to gain the program benefits. However, if you are an online shop, you can give them a number to use when they checkout instead of a card.

There are several ways for customers to gain this card. They can make purchase for certain amount at once or in a period of time. You can also give the cards away when you first open the business to attract new customers. Some stores ask the customer to buy the loyalty cards.

Another variation of the reward program is stamp system, which is not limited to members. Each time a customer buys certain amount of purchase, he or she will get a stamp. After they collect certain amount of stamps in a period of time, they can exchange it for a reward. There are many rewards you can provide. They can exchange it for a shopping voucher, an item, or they can purchase certain item which price is reduced.

Each company will have different strategies in their program. Some companies give loyalty cards and member benefits discount generously while other companies save them for their top buyers. There is no right or wrong answer, you need to adjust your strategy depending on the characteristic of your products and customers.

You can also combine several strategies at once. For example, you can offer general member cards to the majority of your customers and reserved VIP cards for your top customers. This is very useful when your business encompasses large amount of products with different price ranges.

It is important to remember that loyalty program is meant to give rewards to your customer and improve their satisfaction in shopping at your place. With that in mind, avoid upsetting your customers. Most customers are upset because they find too many conditions and terms when using their member card. It is best to use simple term and condition that is clear and easy to understand. Avoid hidden fees that will disappoint your customers. Remember that if you lose your customers, it is not as easy to gain them.

If you intend to make sure your customer is satisfied with your products and services for long term success, your customer loyalty program will be successful. However if your intention is merely to increase profit quickly, then maybe customer loyalty program is not suitable for your retail marketing strategy.

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