Most of us have vowed never to return to a place of business out of frustration with the service, product, or brand perception. Some take it a step further by joining the “cancel culture” train while others make sure their place of business never leaves a shopper feeling undervalued. How you establish/re-establish trust with a lost or potential shopper is important, but don’t forget to take care of your loyal shoppers! This blog will discuss leveraging a loyalty/rewards program to retain shoppers and drive sales.
To grow the basket-size of this shopper over time, consider making the buying process even sweeter by implementing a rewards program! AppCard, Inc. collects data that proves members participating in rewards programs spend more than non-members. In fact, the average member participation rate for independent grocers is 62%. Of that group, each member’s basket-size increased by roughly $9/mo.
Data is a game-changer for setting your marketing initiatives up for success! The solution to competing in today’s market and preparing for shifts to come relies on insights that are easy to understand and can be turned into actions. Understanding members’ preferences and spending in comparison with non-members allows businesses to incentivize for more frequent trips or higher baskets. Which can be used to enhance the shopper’s experience. For example; If your shopper is allergic to peanuts, they’re more than likely not going to take advantage of a buy one, get one Snickers promotion/coupon. If you know a shopper buys toilet paper once every two weeks, you can send incentives to the shopper around their next 2-week mark to get double points on that specific item. Your shopper is then encouraged to buy from your store again, earn rewards on a regular purchase, and redeem discounts/freebies. Utilize targeted offers to improve shopper satisfaction, increase frequency, and drive sales.
A modern Point-of-Sales (POS) system, like CresLane, is key to speed up the checkout process with features like barcode scanning and self check out payment options like Credit, Debit, EBT, WIC, Check, WeChatPay, AliPay, Venmo, PayPal, BitPay, and more. A quick and smooth checkout experience leaves customers with a positive impression, encouraging repeat visits. CresLane also integrates with digital coupons, personalized marketing and loyalty programs, like AppCard, that reward customers for repeat business. Points, discounts, or special offers can be automatically tracked and applied, encouraging customers to return.
To send the right offer, to the right shopper, at the right time you need technology that collects unique shopper data. “Look for services that grant the ability to engage shoppers through seamless integration and turn your campaign data into actionable insights”, says SVP Corporate Development and Strategic Partnerships, Eran Harel. Use technology to better understand shopper behavior. CresLane affords retailers reports on items purchased, how much is spent per transaction, the number of voided transactions, and even detect item issues or cashier mistakes.
The shopper who buys a pint of ice cream every Friday or a pack of toilet paper every two weeks is who we’re focused on. The incentives behind their regular buys are somewhere between necessary, familiar, and convenient. A 4-location grocery store in Indiana benefited from an AI-powered rewards program that increased shopper retention by turning point of sale data into targeted offers. This store has 73,000 shoppers participating in their loyalty program which now accounts for 83% of their sales. Needless to say, proof is in that data! Shopper loyalty is earned when businesses invest in the tools to better understand their shoppers. Reach out to your retailer network, wholesalers, or AppCard for help taking your business to the next level with a rewards program.
AppCard is more than just loyalty! It’s a robust and easy-to-manage shopper retention, personalized marketing, shopper analytics and digital coupons platform trusted by over 2,000 independent grocers to send the right offer to the right shopper at the right time. Grocers count on AppCard to recommend, automate and drive success with actionable marketing campaigns through its dedicated teams and machine learning and AI technology – Pinky. AppCard processes nearly 1 billion transactions annually and reaches 28 million shoppers.
