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78%
increase in order count
68%
higher customer spend
Originally published on 24/07/2019 but updated by the editor on 26/06/2020
By coming to this page, it’s likely you’re well aware of the benefits a loyalty program – and how a customer loyalty platform can boost your business. In a saturated market, it’s so important to make sure your offering stands out from your competitors. And one way to do that is to create a loyalty customer program that works for the people who buy from you.
Members of your customer loyalty program will buy more often and spend more often than non- members. What could that mean for your business? Well, research from Accenture found that loyalty program members drive between 12 and 18% revenue growth each year.
But it’s not all about revenue. Some of the best examples of loyalty programs are helping brands to keep hold of more customers. It gives shoppers a reason to return to your store. It could be the lure of relevant offers and the chance to redeem points. With the help of LoyaltyLion’s data-driven customer loyalty platform , we can help your ecommerce store do the same.
So, if you’d like to reward your customers, we’re here to share some of the brilliant and best-in-class loyalty programs from the ecommerce industry. From beauty loyalty programs to fashion – brands across multiple industries are harnessing the power of loyalty. To grow your revenue and customer retention, learn from some of these loyalty program examples.
This page will cover the following topics:
Just before you get started, why not read of
The LoyaltyLion Hall of Fame
– our celebration of the best customer loyalty programs in the business.
The best examples of customer loyalty programs put the customer’s needs and desires at the heart. It’s important to entice the shopper into your brand’s world – surprising and delighting them with the benefits you can offer them straight away. Here are three great examples of customer loyalty systems that are helping drive revenue and retention for some big-name brands .
Sephora offers a best-in-class loyalty program that pays close attention to the customer and their long-term experience – as well as the types of rewards that will appeal to them.
Members have the chance to test a range of “trial-sized” products and unique experiences – such as full-face makeovers. So, it gives customers tangible benefits in exchange for their loyalty.
Sephora is using their loyalty program to build an emotional connection with their shoppers in a private community. “ Beauty Insider Community ” is a space that lets beauty lovers find their inspiration and seek advice from other members.
The French brand stays ahead of the curve by getting one vital thing right. It continues to transform and tweak this loyalty program example to best meet the ever-changing needs of its customers. And that’s a great way to stop them from losing interest.
“ My Starbucks Rewards ” is the app-based loyalty program from coffee giant Starbucks. It’s a clever and simple way to mine data from customers – not to mention there’s no loyalty card to lose or forget !
To earn customer loyalty rewards, members order or pay with the Starbucks app. This gives the company a chance to collect personal data on each customer. This includes how often they buy a coffee, seasonal favourites, go-to drink orders, most visited stores and more. The list goes on.
A report by Deloitte found that more than a fifth of all consumers are happy to share data with a brand in return for a more personalised offer. My Starbucks Rewards is an example of a loyalty program that uses data to deliver a curated service. As a result, Starbucks can offer relevant and appealing perks to their members.
Tarte Cosmetics has set up a program called Team Tarte , which puts organic growth and referrals at the heart of its mission. Members receive customer loyalty rewards for social sneezing – spreading the word about Tarte and referring friends and family.
In this example of a customer loyalty program, members can also earn points when they purchase something – as well as every time they open an email.
Tarte’s engagement rewards are a great way to keep the brand at the front of shoppers’ minds. But it also helps to expand the company’s organic reach on top of that.
Customer loyalty programs aren’t just for the American Expresses and Starbucks of this world. They can also be really important for stores and brands at any stage of the growth process.
To inspire you and show you how we can help, here are some of the stores using LoyaltyLion’s loyalty and engagement platform to create fantastic examples of loyalty programs.
Fashion brand Lively is an example of a loyalty program that make their most loyal customers feel special. It rewards members with points on their birthday, when they refer a friend and if they follow Lively on social media.
It’s easy for members to see the perks because benefits are clearly explained across their site.
Not only is it an effective loyalty strategy for a fashion brand , but customers also see the value of joining straight away. They’ll get 100 “Lively points” just for signing up. And that translates into $10 off their next purchase.
So, it’s a customer loyalty program that offers instant gratification. It also creates a strong and lasting emotional bond with the customer early on.
Women’s fashion store Pulse Boutique offers customers a better chance to engage with their brand by inviting them to be part of a trusted fashion community.
This customer loyalty program is called Pulse Perks. It aims to encourage customer engagement on social media. At the same time though, it also helps increase user-generated content (UGC), customer reviews and photo submissions.
UGC and reviews are vital to brands because research has found that at least 92% of people trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends or family. Meanwhile, people are four times more likely to buy a product if a friend or family member recommends it.
Since its launch, this example of a loyalty program generated a 39% uplift in returning shoppers. It also drove a 19% growth in average order value (AOV).
The aim of Annmarie Skin Care was to develop a loyalty program where members felt part of a community that shared similar beliefs and values. So, they created the “Wild and Beautiful Collective” to bring their members together.
It’s so important to create a sense of community – especially in the beauty industry. Beauty shoppers are more vocal on social media, for example. They’ll share tips, recommendations and look to learn and thrive from each other.
The “Wild and Beautiful Collective” is a membership program example that nurtures this sense of inclusion through its name and mission. And Annmarie Skin Care’s approach speaks volumes. Members spend (on average) 140% more than non-members. The brand generated more than 1000 reviews too. Meanwhile, they enjoy high levels of engagement with members, with 40% of points being redeemed within three months of being awarded.
Pacifica Beauty’s customer loyalty system seeks to engage customers through the whole buyer journey. It has a branded, easy-to-use loyalty page . And there’s a pop-up display that will show you how many points you can redeem in the cart. At each stage of the process, the brand aims to make it easy for the customer.
Once you near the end of your buyer journey, Pacifica Beauty shows a checkout slider. This lets you claim the rewards you’ve earned towards your purchase. It really is as simple as that!
Now, thanks to this example of a customer loyalty strategy, Pacifica Beauty’s members spend 130% more on average than non-members. If this sounds like an outcome that your business would love to achieve, talk to us today about booking a demo .
Beauty brand Mirenesse elevated their loyalty program by introducing a special paid member tier. This is known as the “Gold” tier.
In exchange for a $10 monthly membership, customers of this VIP tier get extra perks on top of the basic rewards. This includes two points for every dollar spent, access to secret sales and the chance to trial new products as part of a tester panel.
Gold tier members also get the “Gold treatment”. Put simply, it’s the ability to jump the queue.
100% Pure is a natural beauty brand that created a different tier-based system. As a member, you’ll move up based on how much you buy from – and engage with – the brand. If you interact with the brand more, you’ll receive more exclusive, personalised and experiential rewards.
Since the launch of “Purist Perks”, the loyalty customer program has generated more than $1m from reward-driven purchases. More than 130k members spent 6.52m points while doing so too.
If you’re looking for good examples of loyalty programs, sometimes the clue is in the name. It’s the first thing your customer will engage with, after all. So, it needs to be interesting to hook potential members into your brand world.
Nicce Clothing paid special attention to the name of their program and how they named their point ‘currency’. “N Coin” is a simple, yet memorable term. It’s a customer loyalty program that clearly has its own brand. But Nicce Clothing also ensures it works with their overall contemporary and minimalist identity.
A family-run oat bar company, Eat Bobo’s got creative in naming their loyalty program example. “Bobo’s Love Mitts” is the name, while the points are called “Love Mitts”. This approach reflects that Eat Bobo’s makes their products by hand and with care.
As a result, this is an example of a loyalty program that feels coherent and consistent with the rest of their brand messaging.
Walker Information’s Customers 2020 study predicted back in 2013 that “customer sentiment, or feelings that customers have about their interactions, will increase in value as companies look to differentiate based on the experience they deliver.”
To offer this superior experience, customer loyalty programs provide a great platform for brands. And photo entertainment website TheCHIVE is doing exactly this. By rewarding their customers for photo uploads and social sharing, community is being put at the heart of their gamified blog.
As a result, the brand has gained an active community of highly engaged customers. They now attribute 6% of their annual revenue to their loyalty strategy – generating 6,800 referred visits per month.
By giving customers a reason to return to the site, they are more likely to shop again and again.
Lucy and Yak is a sustainable dungarees brand that made their integrated loyalty page extremely visual . Using UGC photos of customers wearing their products and lifestyle imagery to showcase how customers can earn points, it is fun and on-brand.
The brand describes their customer loyalty platform in their own tone of voice. “Yak points” are the name of the rewards, for example. The loyalty tiers, meanwhile, are named in a similar fashion. “Comfort Lover” “Yak Enthusiast” and “Dungaree Devotee” are among the highlights.
This is a loyalty program example that shows you can let your language be playful – and reflect the values or mood of your business.
Waterdrop – a “micro drinks” company – are paying careful attention to the look and feel of their loyalty program page . It means the Waterdrop Club is synonymous with the overall branding.
It uses fresh colours, light imagery and language that evokes a sense of inclusivity. On the page itself, everything is signposted clearly – from actions that customers must take to earn points, to information on the free gifts they can acquire.
Since January 2019, Waterdrop’s loyalty program welcomed 619 new customers – each one helping the brand to generate more than €58,000 from referrals.
We hope these examples of best-in-class loyalty programs give you the inspiration you need to create and launch your own. If you want to find out why these loyalty customer programs work so well and how you can match up, download our LoyaltyLion Hall of Fame .
It’s a celebration of some of the best loyalty programs in ecommerce . But if you’re ready to put your inspiration into action and create your own program, talk to us now about booking a demo – and find out exactly how LoyaltyLion can help you drive customer loyalty and engagement.
