I constructed websites and webshops when I first started my business many years ago, long before Antavo, investing a lot of time in their design. My personal experience taught me that interaction and exploration are the foundations of customer engagement. This insight was a necessary first step in developing the idea of progressive loyalty rewards.

In other words, individuals want to be a part of a never-ending journey in their relationships with businesses (or loyalty programmes), progressing toward small rewards and fresh surprises. However, this raises concerns that the entire procedure may become tedious. To keep people content, you need emotional design.

Progressive Loyalty Rewards: What Are They?

Within loyalty programmes, there is a notion known as “progressive loyalty incentives” that emphasises the customer journey. Progressive loyalty rewards offer new objectives, innovations, and awards with increasing value to keep people hooked and prevent members from becoming disinterested.

How Do Loyalty Programs Relate to Emotional Design?

To appreciate the value of a sincere grin and discover the ideal virtual tool to establish true connections with people online, we need a genuine shift of perspective. Even if the smoothie is excellent, you won’t return if the shop’s unfavourable atmosphere spoils your day. Yes, a friendly smile and good service are what turn first-time consumers into devoted patrons. And that’s what emotional design is all about—exceeding the influence of a brand or a product.

It goes without saying that building relationships online is more difficult, but using a well-designed loyalty programme is a smart approach for brands and shops to interact in a more individualised way. It becomes the “human touch” that internet retail stores’ conversion-driven world is missing. Relevance is the cause of this: a strong loyalty programme tells you what you want to hear at the most crucial time.

Empathy is the goal of emotional design—to thoroughly comprehend your clients’ viewpoint. The intention is not to cloak a message in jests that make people cry or laugh. Your goal should be to engage your audience, address their problems and wants, and make them feel good. Simply put, connect with them and show empathy.

1. Conduct research and develop personas
   You can develop ideal profiles of the people you anticipate turning into your devoted clients based on your brand vision. This will remain a theory until you actually speak with them, but properly done UX research not only explores areas that require improvement and roots previous assumptions, but also enables you to determine the following:

Your actual devoted customer personas should include information about their reasons for making purchases and returning them as well as their histories and values (to find the common perspectives that you can represent in your loyalty program)

the kinds of inducements, rewards, and escalating reward levels customers desire
Creating a progressive customer experience and getting that extra smile when clients see your brand name is a piece of cake when you have this kind of information at your disposal.

2. Design an Engaging User Journey
   Take into account how your clients navigate your online store’s whole purchasing and browsing experience, from the initial interaction to the final step before they finish the checkout. You’ll be able to see which behaviours need to be rewarded for loyalty if you identify any possible pain points along the way.

Gratitude and appreciation can be shown after actions that require a lot of effort from your consumer and can be subtly preceded with the promise of a reward. For instance, you could give customers rewards for sharing part of their buying preferences and then bonus loyalty points for making several transactions quickly.

3. Encourage customers With Progressive Tiers
   Loyalty tiers are one of the best systems if you’re seeking for one that perfectly captures the concept of increasing loyalty incentives. Customer rankings are established by a specific criterion, such as total spending or accrued points, in tier-based membership systems. The benefits vary depending on the progressive membership level; the higher and more prestigious the tier, the more attractive the benefits are.
   
   Nielsen reports that 60% of consumers worldwide said that tiers appeal to them. Why? First off, unlike most point systems, ranks never expire, alleviating customers from a persistent source of worry. Achieving a rising member level makes people feel proud and accomplished, thus seeking out greater and better prizes is really exciting. They aren’t concerned about losing their progressive loyalty status at the same time.

4. Create a Statement With “Surprise & Delight”
   The goal of Surprise & Delight, as its name suggests, is to make customers happy by providing them with unanticipated benefits. People are more likely to go out of their way and make a purchase when they receive a personalised email on a special occasion, even if they hadn’t planned on doing so before, especially if it includes a tiny gift of thanks. Any type of gift, such as extra points or free delivery on the following order, could be given as a mark of appreciation. As a result, first-time clients are more likely to return and add a few more things to their (virtual) shopping basket.

The online clothing shop LuisaViaRoma’s birthday marketing served as an example of the effectiveness of Surprise & Delight.

In short, based on their tier level, LVR Privilege members received a specific number of loyalty points for their birthday.

The award-winning case study based on the email campaign indicated that participants who received the birthday greeting were 60% more likely to make a repeat purchase. The email campaign generated more revenue than all non-loyalty email efforts put together.

5. Interact with Clients Outside of the Buying Cycle
   Naturally, transaction-based rewards shouldn’t be the only type of emotional design used. In fact, interacting with clients even if they don’t directly buy from you increases your chances of making them happy. For instance, you can give members rewards for recycling old clothing, going for a run, or wearing your products every day (yes, Bluetooth technology makes that possible).

Recognition By providing something that genuinely resonates with their personality, loyalty is a next-generation loyalty framework that cultivates long-lasting brand love and high customer lifetime value. Customers enjoy a more distinctive experience and continue interacting with the brand since they are identified in multiple ways, not just when they are making a purchase.

Emotional Design and Progressive Loyalty Rewards Conclusion
Progressive loyalty benefits hold their attention while emotional design in loyalty programmes helps you identify individuals who wish to enjoy your items.

The way you market your business needs to alter in light of the ongoing move toward online buying. You should adopt a strategy that encourages loyalty programme UX research, emotional design, and sophisticated customer retention tactics like Recognition Loyalty.