There is no one effective method for developing a unique rewards system. You can personalise awards, go totally mobile, offer both monetary and non-monetary rewards, and gamify the experience. Whatever your goals may be, incentives programmes like Evolve can help you achieve them by providing flexibility, affordability, and scalability.
Offer personalised rewards with the Sephora Beauty Insider Program.
The most well-known brand in luxury retailing worldwide is Sephora. The company was founded in France in 1970, and after launching its loyalty programme in 2007 (only in the US and Canada), it quickly gained a reputation as one of the industry’s best. It is a free rewards programme that enables users to accrue points and exchange them for rewards (typically free samples of deluxe products or product bundles) available on the Reward Bazaar, where you can also find personalised rewards and products, such as those that complement your skin tone or hair colour.
The curriculum is accessible both online (and via an app) and offline, and the premises are quite simple to understand. Interestingly, clients might also get unique cards (white, black, and gold) as physical confirmation of their programme involvement.
The Sephora program’s three tiers and use of gamification are its most noteworthy features (Insider, Very Important Beauty Insider and Rouge). Each tier is determined by how much a consumer spends on Sephora products in a given year; for example, a customer must spend $350 to become a VIB and $1000 to become a Rouge. Each grade offers unique discounts, incentives, and benefits. For instance, Rouge rank offers free 2-day shipping. Additionally, each status offers additional points per dollar spent:
1 dollar = 1 beauty point with Beauty Insider.
Extremely Vital 1$ = 1.25 Beauty Points for a Beauty Insider.
$1 – 1.5 Beauty Points for Rouge.
Creating a successful rewards programme
As we’ve just seen, there are a lot of components to putting together a successful rewards programme or any campaign meant to win over customers for both large and small businesses. To help you create a rewards programme, we’ve put together a list of best practises:
Clear guidelines and conversion factors, such as awarding a consumer one point for every dollar spent in your store, which may then be redeemed for exclusive benefits. Here, a well-written explainer page with all the advantages your programme provides is a terrific idea.
Make it challenging; levels and tiers could motivate your clients to make additional purchases and stick with the programme for a longer period of time. Utilize the primordial desire that drives most individuals to compete and succeed by incorporating game-like aspects into your incentives scheme.
There are two ways to approach this problem: make it simple and open to the public or VIP-only. Knowing your audience can help you decide whether to create a public programme that everyone can join for free (such as providing your customers with cards they can use to accumulate points) or perhaps a more exclusive, fee-based programme (Amazon Prime).
Create a sense of urgency. You can make your rewards programme temporary or semi-permanent, but in any case, you must make sure to regularly refresh it to avoid becoming monotonous and dull.
Avoid any confusion at all costs; we advise against launching many rewards programmes at once since you run the risk of confusing your clients.
Get personal (but in a good way!) – many customers value and look for opportunities to tailor any rewards they may receive. More options are better in this case. If customising your products is not an option, make sure to compensate by providing a wide range of prizes.
Diversify your rewards; while we’re on the subject, keep in mind that not all rewards need to be tangible or monetary. Vouchers, gift cards, and even charitable donations are further options (like TOMS). By doing this, you will strengthen the relationship between you and the consumer by increasing the emotional attachment that your customers have to your business.
The more the merrier—you might consider partnering with another business to operate a coalition programme and have its services included as potential rewards. For instance, if you’re managing a loyalty programme for a hair salon, teaming up with a company that makes hair products might be a fantastic choice.
Should we add anything further to “Go Mobile”? It’s absurdly simple for customers to get points and for you to evaluate their preferences and behaviour when they pay using your business’s app. Fortunately, Evolve has a mobile app as well!
To be inclusive, make sure your rewards programme is available both online and offline (e.g. both an app and a card).
Reward your clients for their behaviours, like as joining your site or introducing a friend, in addition to their purchases. In this manner, it appears to be a meaningful exchange rather than a transaction.