The ROI of a Robust Loyalty Program for Shopify Merchants

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Mrudul

With more than 200 million subscribers, Prime, Amazon’s loyalty program, is the world’s biggest. It is successful because of the exclusive benefits that it offers. From personalized recommendations to expedited shipping, the perks are aplenty. Prime members spend 4x as much as other Amazon customers. That’s how powerful loyalty programs are. It is the perfect example of a win-win for both parties.

In this article, we look at the ROI of customer loyalty initiatives and it gives you an understanding of why you must invest in a program too.

Shopify Loyalty Program Statistics

Implementing a successful loyalty strategy requires guts, gumption, and the right loyalty program software. Let’s look at some of the interesting stats on Shopify store customer loyalty.

  • More than 62 million buyers have bought twice from the same store, which represents only 14% of buyers overall
  • 90% of companies have some type of loyalty program
  • According to research by Bain & Company, the ability to earn rewards changes the spending behavior of customers
  • 49% of customers agree that they have spent more after joining a loyalty program
  • A whopping 88% of shoppers believe that the experience that the brand provides is as important as the product itself
  • Consumers are 62% more likely to spend on a brand after joining a loyalty program

Shopify Loyalty Program Benefits ROI That You Must Know About

Boosting sales with loyalty programs isn’t its prime objective. There are more goals that Shopify stores want to achieve when they set up a loyalty program. Let’s look at the ROI you can expect after effective loyalty program implementation for Shopify stores.

Increase in Order Value

When faced with the consequence of getting more loyalty points, the average customer is going to spend more to get them. Do remember that customers will be willing to spend more only when your program offers killer benefits. It is that simple, customers would love to get their hands on perks and incentives that they might not have usually expected when they decided to shop from your store. This is where a loyalty program and its cool perks can persuade the customer to make the purchase.

Retains Customers

An existing customer is 5x as valuable as a new customer. Why? Because they are more likely to be easier to upsell and cross-sell to. They would be the ones unhesitant about picking up the phone and saying, “Hey Edward, this brand makes sustainable shoes. I’m sure you will love it.” The best part about this is that they will do this without even expecting anything. With a rewards program, you are increasing the chances and frequency of them sharing it more. Customer retention on Shopify is possible when you have the right retention strategy in the form of an attractive loyalty program.

Deepens Relationships

Building relationships with customers needs a lot of trust and a considerable amount of time. For a customer to believe in your brand, they must feel engaged with it. The more they interact with your brand, the easier it gets to forge a deeper relationship. Every customer service interaction, email conversation, app push notification, messaging style, and more can have an impact on the customer-brand relationship. A highly engaged loyalty program can easily provide the much-needed connection between both parties. When you deepen relationships, increasing customer lifetime value becomes less of an issue.

Improves Brand Engagement

One of the main benefits of loyalty programs on Shopify is that they make customers engage with your brand without a lot of effort. For example, gamification elements in a loyalty program can result in customers getting hooked on it. When customers know that they are eligible for certain benefits, they will be more enthused to participate in your campaigns. This not only increases engagement, but it results in customers feeling closer to the brand.

Better Communication With Customers

One of the best things about personalization in loyalty programs is that you engage with them at multiple intervals with incentives or messaging that resonates with them. This increases the quality of conversations you get to have with them since they will engage back because of the customization. Even without taking personalization into account, the engagement with your customers is still being welcomed by them as they stand to gain more.

Access to Customer Insights

The best part about working with loyalty program software is that you get access to a dashboard using which you can create reports to understand and analyze the results of the campaign. These reports are filled with data that can be converted into insights that can be used to make crucial decisions.

For example, you will get to understand that your loyalty program customers aren’t really looking for discounts while they might enjoy a perk like exclusive access to the latest product. After knowing this insight, you can stop discounted rates and come up with other benefits that will keep them obsessed.

Automated Rewards

Loyalty program automation for Shopify stores is possible when you work with software like the one offered by 99minds. Imagine if you had to hire someone with the title “Loyalty Program Delivery Manager” who is tasked with manually issuing rewards for loyalty and referrals. That would make loyalty programs too difficult a task for most Shopify stores to implement. A loyalty program software would automatically issue discounts or rewards without any prompt since all of this is pre-decided. You don’t have to create a loyalty program tool from scratch, especially when there are fully functional ones with attractive features.

Things to Keep in Mind to Increase Customer Loyalty

Building trust is no easy task and it requires an emotional connection with your customers. Below are some of the factors that can increase trust and belief in your brand.

  • Quality of offering: The quality of products or services that you offer has a huge bearing on how your customers perceive your brand. High-quality offerings always result in customers who vouch for your brand.
  • The ability to offer excellent customer service at every single touchpoint is the hallmark of a business that can be trusted to deliver– every single time.
  • Offering a level of customer service that can always be depended upon where your team is ready to offer assistance to a “stranded” customer is something that they will value. It will result in customers coming to you in droves.
  • Spreading the word about your loyalty program is another activity that is perfectly executed by brands that believe in what they offer.
  • Make sure you have a rewards program where your most loyal customers keep getting incentives and perks that make them keep coming back to your store. Give them so many delightful experiences that they don’t shy away from recommending your Shopify store to their friends and family.

Why is 99minds the Best Choice for Your Loyalty Program Software?

The best part about working with a loyalty program software like 99minds is that you can sit back and relax once you set the terms and conditions for getting rewards. The rest of the part is done automatically by the tool without any external help.

Let’s look at how you can increase Shopify loyalty program case studies with 99minds

  • It can design different types of loyalty programs– Points, VIP Tiered, Cashback, Paid, and Hybrid loyalty programs. You can create one based on what works for you.
  • In the tiered programs, you can set up milestones, using which customers can go to the next tier. The milestones could be based on time duration, purchases, points accrued, etc.
  • You can automate the activities that customers can do to earn points.
  • Customers can redeem points for the rewards of their choice, at their own convenience.
  • 99minds’ loyalty program engagement strategies ensure that you get the highest ROI possible out of this program.
  • You can manage every aspect of the customer loyalty program, from custom branding to integration.
  • It offers a full range of customizable options to offer a branded experience for your customers.
  • 99minds’ automation marketing ensures that you market to your loyalty program enrollees through several channels.
  • Check the full impact of your loyalty program by tracking sales and other data like average spending, most used rewards, spending comparisons of loyalty and non-loyalty customers, and so on.

Wrapping Up

Measuring success in loyalty programs is not only about the reduction in churn ratio or the new customers you got from these campaigns, there is much more to it. You will gain a lot of goodwill through the campaigns too, and that is an intangible benefit that is invaluable. You can ensure customer loyalty from the first instance by providing unmatched customer experience at every single point. This is what you must aim for. Once you have this in place, getting your loyalty program ROI metrics and creating an array of rewards program success stories will only become easier.

For those who are yet to get started with it, here is one of the best Shopify loyalty app recommendations, 99minds should be your go-to tool. Get in touch with us and we will show you how we can be of help.