Customer Loyalty: one of the best investments your business can make

Loyal customers are the lifeblood of your business. This is true at any given time, but even more so when things get tough. For many businesses, it’s been their loyal customers which have kept them going over the last few months, which only goes to show that we must not wait for a global crisis to prioritise customer relationships.

Not only are your loyal customers more profitable to your business, it’s also much more cost efficient to focus on building loyalty than acquiring new customers – especially given the current economic climate.

Customer loyalty is an important investment.

Building customer loyalty is one of the most important investments a business can make, and one that will always prove to be fruitful in the long run. According to Adobe the top 10% of your customer base is spending 3 times more per order than your average customer, while the top 1% is spending 5 times more per order.

In addition to spending more, your top customers are more likely to return:

• After one purchase, the chance of returning is 27%
• After 2 purchases, the chance of returning is 45%
• After 3 purchases, the chance of returning is 54%

With this in mind, it makes sense to focus investment on nurturing your existing customers who are spending money with you time and time again.

Rewards drive loyalty

Rewards are a great way to demonstrate value, drive engagement and ultimately, build customer loyalty. A recent report from Blackhawk Network* reveals that:

• 72% of people who receive a special offer from a brand or retailer say it makes them feel valued
• 70% say their loyalty to a brand increases when they receive a special offer
• 72% say they are encouraged to purchase more often from that brand when they receive a special offer

Increase competitiveness with a tailored rewards program

There are a number of different ways you can use rewards to increase competitiveness in market and drive customer loyalty, but one of the most effective and efficient strategies is to create your own rewards program.

Creating your own branded loyalty program may sound daunting, but it doesn't need to be. Using a loyalty platform to run your program is a cost effective solution which takes care of all the hard work for you and can even be customised for your brand. Make life easy and turn to the experts to get up and running quickly so you can start reaping the benefits.

Rewards programs have a number of benefits:

• Increase revenue through customer retention
• Gather valuable customer data
• Build emotional relationships with your customers which in turn increases loyalty
• Measure loyalty through engagement data
• Open up a new channel for communication with your customers

Plus, a great loyalty program can help attract new customers too.

Edge’s Lifestyle Rewards platform is a white-label solution which allows you to create a unique member benefits program specifically tailored to your customers or employees. Using this platform, you can give your members access to personalised offers from hundreds of leading retail and experience brands so they can choose the rewards they really want.

The platform is scalable, highly customisable and includes a web-based portal and app technology. It leverages your existing branding and UX to ensure consistency across all interactions and is accessed via a single sign on API.

Talk to Edge today about our rewards platforms and solutions to help your business build customer loyalty.

*Blackhawk Network Global Payments Report, 17/04/2020