How Refreshing and Revitalizing is Creating The Best Grocery Loyalty Programs Yet
The pandemic has created unprecedented changes across all industries, from disrupting supply chains and pushing customers to online platforms to forcing store closures. However, even though things have changed, customers still demand top-of-the-line experiences from their favorite natural health stores and grocers. In fact, they may be holding grocery stores to a higher standard than ever before. Whether customers are shopping in the store or taking advantage of online shopping and curbside pickup, they demand excellent shopping and grocery loyalty program experiences. Furthermore, Clarus Commerce research found that 68 percent of customers say their loyalty is now difficult to earn and keep. If a grocery or natural health store doesn’t meet customer expectations, customers will likely go to a competitor who offers a better experience.
The keys to creating better customer experiences that will yield repeat business are personalization, engagement, and excellent customer service, but they must be supported by technology—both in-person and online. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to refresh your loyalty program.
Boost Revenue and Transactions
Fivestars Loyalty reports that acquiring a new customer costs 6-7 times more than retaining an existing one, but keeping customers loyal to your brand takes work.
That work, however, will produce ROI. Research shows that retailers with the best grocery loyalty programs grow their revenue 2.5 times faster than their competitors. Also, loyalty customers typically spend four times more money than non-loyalty members, helping retailers earn an 88% higher revenue. In addition, by using point of sale (POS) loyalty software, you can incentivize customers to spend more on each transaction. By utilizing data collected on your POS system, you can easily take advantage of the opportunity to make a connection with your customers on the spot, send out promotions automatically, and increase impulse buys by assigning extra points to promotional items.
How to Improve Customer Experiences
With a loyalty program, grocery stores can use data to give customers the personalized experiences they want. Being able to use data collected from a grocery loyalty program can allow you to offer more effective promotions. Customizing a shopper’s experiences will also help increase their willingness to return to your store. Additionally, employees can easily take advantage of the opportunity to make a connection with customers during checkout at the point of sale. Loyalty solutions can effortlessly integrate with your POS software to keep all your data in one place, so employees can automatically recognize loyalty members.
Grocers and natural health stores can also improve the customer experience by using mobile POS solutions. With this technology, sales associates can assist customers in the aisles or manage curbside pickup more efficiently. These mobile systems can also allow staff to answer questions on the fly about current promotions, stocking issues and even reduce wait times at the checkout.
Create Repeat Customers
Eighty-three percent of consumers say they visit between four and nine different stores each year to purchase their groceries. So how do you get these customers to stop traveling and only return to your store? Long-term loyalty is earned by creating relationships and meeting customers’ demands.
Ninety-four percent of premium loyalty members say they shop at that program’s store at least once a month, 44 percent of retailers with premium loyalty programs say members shop with them at least every few days. Additionally, these patrons can also work as brand evangelists for your business, providing you with positive word of mouth, essentially free and arguably the best marketing. By improving your customer experience and utilizing an advanced loyalty program, you can boost loyalty and continue to bring customers back to your store.
Starting From Scratch
Although loyalty programs often focus on retaining established customers, in the competitive grocery space, the question is how do you turn a new customer into a loyal one? For customers who may be hesitant to join your loyalty program, you can try offering gift cards or discounts as an incentive to join. Advertising your loyalty program can also work to draw in customers who crave a more personalized experience.
Also, creating a tiered system of loyalty rewards can also be an effective strategy. By allowing your customers to choose to what degree they become involved adds another level of customization to their grocery loyalty program. Empowering the customer through choice helps them feel more comfortable spending their hard-earned cash in your grocery store.
Stand Out From The Competition
The grocery and natural health industries are highly competitive, and with a few brands dominating the space, it’s harder than ever for smaller businesses to stand out. While loyalty programs are a staple for large chain and box stores, less than half of independent grocers utilize a loyalty program. To make your business a crowd favorite and go-to destination, you need a robust POS system to manage your grocery loyalty program efficiently. Additionally, when your store offers a genuinely good loyalty program that’s designed to create unique, gratifying shopping experiences for customers, it will help your staff create a friendly shopping atmosphere.
Now more than ever, it’s crucial to refresh your grocery loyalty program. With features like the POS customer loyalty software from Auto-Star, you never have to miss an opportunity to connect with your customers again.
