Loyalty Challenges of Multi-channel Retailers

I know, it is passé to speak about Covid-19, but hear me out! Covid-19 has firmly established the virtual middlemen in the lives of most retailers.

Huh!?! Let me backup a bit.

Covid-19 and post that has seen a significant shift to online buying on ecommerce platforms. Around 80% of consumers tried new brands during and post the lockdown. Amidst all this chaos, it becomes more important than ever for brands to have effective customer retention strategies. It is crucial for brands that follow a multi-channel retail strategy–selling their products in-person as well as through other point-of-sale vendors both in-store and online.

For example, consumers can find your product at Walmart, SevenEleven, or online sites like Amazon and eBay. Even social media channels can be considered a channel as today these networking sites enable in-app purchases–Instagram lets you buy without leaving the app.

Loyalty Challenges for Multi-channel Retailers

Offering more buying places to consumers has helped retailers tap more prospective customers and grow business, creating a need for brands to improve customer loyalty.

But here’s the catch, customer loyalty is not about maintaining a customer base but engaging with customers and rewarding them for their effort and time. With so many product options, brands need to earn and keep the mindshare of consumers.

But, single-channel and non-flexible customer loyalty programs don’t work in a multi-channel environment. While multi-channel retailing offers a lot of convenience to users, it becomes challenging for such brands to engage customers in loyalty programs as there’s a gap (the middlemen) between the brand and the customer. Making these customers a part of omnichannel loyalty and engagement is difficult as brands have little to no data about these customers.

So, what can brands do?

Consumers not directly buying from the brand also expect to be acknowledged and even rewarded for their purchases–they don’t want them to be treated differently to a shopper in a brand owned store. Indeed, rewards are the ultimate purpose for consumers to join a loyalty program! In fact, 66% of consumers say earning rewards changes their shopping preferences.

But there is a way brands can engage customers and earn points while getting to know the customer better.

The Solution: QR Coupons

Once a customer makes a purchase in a brand store, brands can use either email or SMS to interact with them and offer valuable post-purchase experiences or rewards. But when customers make purchases from retail and online marketplaces, brands don’t know much about these customers, and they also have less control over how they can present their brand.

Imagine finding how customers interact with your brand amongst 2 million brands on Amazon; tricky, isn’t it?

This is where brands can use QR codes and gain two essential benefits–firstly, they can engage with the customers directly, and secondly, they encourage them to enrol in their loyalty programs and get customer details. Here, customer details can help them to study their purchases and offer personalised rewards.

Multi-channel brands have to add QR codes to their products and actual packaging to make them a part of loyalty programs. What customers have to do is simply scan the code from their mobile phones! Customers are taken to the website or app loyalty page and are asked to fill in their details. Voila, they have earned their reward points and joined your loyalty program!

Besides loyalty program opt-in, brands can use QR codes for service subscriptions, exclusive content, etc. So, next time when walking down an aisle at Walmart, chances are high that a customer will buy your product amongst competitive brands because you’re offering a convenient and fast way to buy something as well as earn rewards.

Also, QR codes are not just limited to multi-channel retailers; brands can use them at their stores, send QR codes in email for exclusive discounts and access to events, or purchase limited edition products.

You can add gamification in QR coupon codes to make earning points fun for customers– a little encouragement goes a long way!

We at OptCulture believed in the accessibility of QR codes to help brands thrive on omni-channel marketing strategy in the most hassle-free way. Our loyalty program integration can help brands create unique QR codes, view all customer information once customers enrol in the loyalty program, track campaigns, and get insights about store location, total basket value, etc.

We also ensure the creation of QR codes aligned with your brand or marketing campaign theme. Customers also can check their balances and transactions through the app or website.

The data collected through QR codes can be used to optimise marketing efforts and identify new opportunities for growth, making the loyalty program a valuable tool for both the brand and the customer. And with 5.3 billion QR codes used globally to redeem coupons by 2022, we believe there’s much more we can do with QR codes.

**You can take a demo of our loyalty program solution to learn more about QR codes, and our team will help you understand everything from integration to the business value you can earn. **