How expanding a loyalty programme helps your company grow

A thousand-year-old tradition to reward people for their loyalty has deep historical roots. The desire to reward and be rewarded coexists in harmony. In the modern world, however, not every brand has an accessible loyalty programme fitted to its customers. At giftmall, we offer an option to help expand your programme so that you can boost your customers’ loyalty and ensure they stay with you, ideally, for a lifetime. Let us share how.

Loyalty programmes: what are those?

Loyalty programmes are not new. The first loyalty-like tokens to award citizens or workers can be traced to Ancient Egypt^[1]. People could exchange bread and beer tokens for more than just bread and beer, including goods and services. Mind you, this system existed long before money came along.

In its present form, though, loyalty programmes are believed to have originated with 18th-century merchants who used copper tokens and stamps to reward repeat customers^[1]. So, creating a bond with the client or user has always been on the table, transforming to reflect the current age. And ‘bond’ is the right word here, because this is exactly what it does. At its essence, a loyalty programme is the set of strategies and tools a business can use to retain its customers and encourage them to use the service or support the business.

There are different types of programmes, including points, rewards, tiers, subscriptions and value-based. Brands can give points to customers based on their purchase value. They can provide them with gifts based on their commitment time. Tiers are based on level progression, and subscriptions are fee-based. Value-based programmes include donations from each purchase to the charity funds.

It’s worth mentioning employee-to-employee or peer-to-peer recognition and referral programmes as popular loyalty programmes. Today, more and more companies are turning to instant gratification for targeted action. For instance, once the receiver finishes a product survey, they get a micro-bonus.

The brand can combine or use those types of loyalty initiatives separately, depending on its needs and goals.

One of the most effective programmes, though, is based on sharing the brand gift cards with the users.

How can a loyalty programme attract more customers

You can actually attract more customers with your loyalty programme, and here is how.

Increase retention

Loyalty programmes grow the love for your brand through gifting and rewards, creating that special bond with your customers. They stay, then they keep buying more, then their word of mouth leads you to new customers. Those programmes save your revenue and stabilise it.

Understand your users

Gathering user data may be a sensitive subject now. However, with all the right agreements, you get access to your customers’ buying behaviours. For instance, if you choose gift cards as the incentive method, you can see what your users prefer to buy when it is gifted to them and not a necessity.

Save on advertisement

Paid ads do not always work, but you know what does? Free recommendation from a loyal brand advocate. If you can satisfy your customer, they will be head over heels for your business and may as well bring you more money. Personalise the rewards, make them mean something, and the customers will pay back big time^[2]. And you will save on ads.

Get ahead of the competition

Allowing a broader spectrum of services and additional rewards and gifts through the loyalty programme can be a great advantage over your competitors. If your customers already have everything here, why would they go anywhere else?

Let giftmall strengthen your loyalty programme with gift cards

The more people care about your business, the greater the chance they choose you over competitors. And nowadays, competitors do not simply include other businesses in your niche. That can also mean buying something else and spending on some other, unrelated service. You need to fight for the spot in the sun with every other attention-grabber there is.

In that way, your loyalty programme is a serious advantage you can leverage in this customer-centred fight. If you broaden the options of your programme with favourite users’ brand gift cards, they will definitely be more interested. Allowing them to choose their reward is the next level altogether, and with a giftmall multibrand card you can do that easily. Give your users the freedom of choice, and they will never forget you.

Gift cards are the only reward currency with a 100% target hit rate. You can’t know what a customer wants – coffee or new headphones, for example. But by giving them a giftmall multibrand card or access to the entire catalogue via API, you ensure they’ll find their perfect reward. This removes the risk of the bonus being perceived as yet another thing they won’t use.

We provide you with access to all your favourite brands from the giftmall catalogue, and you don’t have to worry about each and every one. No administrative overhead, no logistics, no ordering oversized T-shirts for everyone. You can easily transform users’ reward points into an actual value in the blink of an eye. As a bonus, you choose and control what your users get, while simultaneously giving them the freedom of choice within the budget and categories you set up.

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Сontact our team

If you want to strengthen your brand’s loyalty programme with gift cards, contact our sales team at [email protected].