Loyalty programs for small business

Launching a loyalty program

As a small business owner, offering customers tailored promotions may help with customer spend amounts and repeat visits.

When businesses do offer loyalty programs, businesses surveyed estimated that about half of their customers enroll.

Close to 80% of these businesses say benefits like loyalty programs have a positive impact on average ticket size, repeat customers, and revenue.¹

A third believe a loyalty program isn’t important and/or they don’t need the information about their customers, even though 62% of SMBs agree that business is highly dependent on customer loyalty.¹

¹ Insights listed above are from Visa’s Digital Transformation Research, 2018 Maru/Matchbox survey.

Some guidelines for creating a loyalty program

Keep it simple: Complex rules for earning points may discourage customers from signing up.

Speed matters: Customers should earn a reward in a timely manner.

Stay flexible: Offer a reward that people want, and an easy path to getting rewarded. Consider offering customers the flexibility to choose the type of reward such as a discount or a free item.

There are multiple providers and options available to help you get up and running with a loyalty program

Point of Sale (POS) enabled: Check to see if your POS provider has a built-in loyalty program. For example, if your POS can prompt customers to provide their email address, you can automatically credit customers with points tied to their emails.

Card-linked programs: Usually offered by payment networks, banks and third parties, these programs allow customers to seamlessly enroll and automatically receive discounts and rewards if their registered card is used to make a qualifying purchase.

Plug and play solution: There are various customer loyalty solutions online. When evaluating these, think about what offers and rewards matter most to your customers and pick the provider that suits your business best.

Customized: It’s also possible to work with a loyalty provider to create a custom program for your customers.  Full service loyalty providers can help you analyze, track, and examine your customer’s engagement with the loyalty program.

Promote to your customers. The more they use it, the more likely they are to turn into loyal customers

Make employees experts: Be sure to train employees so they can promote the program and answer any related customer questions.

Offer special deals

A special deal can entice customers to buy. These could be a price markdown, two for the price of one, a free sample with purchase, or a flash, one-day only sale.

Bundle your products

All customers like the idea of getting a deal. Think about ways you could package multiple products or services together to offer a greater value.

Coupons

These can be an inexpensive way to promote your business. They may be email coupons, coupon codes or exclusive invitations (perhaps to that flash sale you’re planning).

Offer free shipping

If you sell your products online, consider offering free shipping for purchases over a certain amount to encourage customers to buy more.

Consider online exclusives

Use an online marketplace and post your exclusive product for potential buyers, including a special discount.

Create a customer referral program

Word of mouth is powerful. Offer existing customers a discount for referring a new customer to you.

Events for small business

The best way to get to know your customers is to get out there and meet them. Holiday pop-ups, local parades and street fairs are terrific ways to sell products, promote your service and get to know potential customers in your community. You can also create your own events. If you run a boutique clothing store, an invite-only shopping event that allows customers to check out the latest arrivals could help increase sales.

A good strategy is to have a clear objective in mind before you plan your event. Track your results, too. Keeping a record of what works and what doesn’t will help you decide what you should focus on.

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