If you're thinking about developing an eCommerce reward program, you're not alone. Establishing and maintaining customer loyalty is an integral part of effective inbound marketing strategies for both online and offline retailers.
According to BigCommerce, it costs one-fifth as much to convert existing customers rather than acquiring new ones. Additionally, loyal buyers spend as much as 67 percent more than new shoppers.
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Increase CLTV with eCommerce Customer Retention
Brands are better positioned than ever to capitalize on this opportunity for growth. However, they need technology and thoughtful strategies to gain traction. This is where customer loyalty program apps come into play. Well-designed eCommerce loyalty apps play a key role in modern retention marketing, and they can even be integrated with recurring payment systems at companies that employ paid subscription models.
To help you improve your brand's retention efforts, we'll go over how to choose the best loyalty programs for eCommerce and cover some of the top eCommerce loyalty apps on the market in 2024.
Why Loyalty Programs Are Crucial for eCommerce Success
Customer loyalty programs provide a powerful way to promote customer retention, and few things are more crucial to eCommerce success than retaining the buyers you manage to attract. Existing customers both spend more and convert more easily, making them a key source of recurring revenue.
Speaking of recurring revenue, loyalty program apps and retention marketing tools are especially important for eCommerce brands that offer paid subscriptions. These companies rely heavily upon recurring revenue from existing customers. With eCommerce loyalty apps that integrate with recurring payment tools, you can reward customers for renewing subscriptions and updating their credit card details when necessary.
What to Look for in Loyalty Program Apps
Today, there are a lot of loyalty program apps on the market for eCommerce brands to compare. If you want to find the best loyalty programs for eCommerce, here are some of the most important features to seek:
- Customizable Rewards: Make sure an app allows you to tailor rewards to customer preferences. It should give you multiple reward options, such as discounts, free products, or exclusive perks.
- Integration Capabilities: Be sure to choose an app like Smile.io that integrates with major eCommerce platforms and tools, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and Klaviyo.
- Omnichannel Functionality: Programs that support email, SMS, and mobile apps will give you more flexibility in your retention marketing efforts.
- Ease of Use: Customer loyalty programs should be easy for both shoppers and merchants to use.
- Scalability for Subscriptions: Choosing an app that integrates with recurrent billing apps like Recharge will help boost retention for subscription-based eCommerce companies.
Spotlight on Smile.io
Although there is never a one-size-fits-all solution, we frequently recommend Smile.io (formerly Sweet Tooth) as a customer reward tool. We have implemented this tool for clients and believe in its power to help businesses grow.
Smile.io currently powers approximately 50,000 active merchants that use its software to increase customer loyalty. As a company, they work to help brands boost retention while reducing dependence on ads and promotion.
Differing from other solutions in the space, Smile.io centers its platform around three unique systems:
- Points (to motivate valuable customer actions, like joining a program)
- VIP (to engage your top customers by increasing rewards and status)
- Referrals (to turn engaged members into brand advocates)
This unique approach combined with Smile.io's user-friendly platform makes it one of the top retention marketing tools available today. This app also makes use of search engine optimization to help attract customers to its landing pages.
Exploring Other Loyalty Program Apps
There's a lot to like about Smile.io, but it isn't the only high-quality loyalty program app on the market. Here are a few other good choices to consider:
- Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals: Yotpo is a tool that helps brands build customer loyalty through customizable reward programs and referral campaigns. It can reward shoppers who leave reviews, making it ideal for brands looking to create social proof. Yotpo’s SMS marketing integrations could help you amplify the reach of your loyalty campaigns.
- LoyaltyLion: You can use LoyaltyLion to create unique loyalty experiences for your customers with features like point-based rewards, VIP tiers, and personalized engagement. It also offers seamless integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, and email marketing tools like Klaviyo.
- Recharge: One of the leading apps for recurring payments and subscription management is known as Recharge. It complements loyalty apps like Smile.io and Yotpo by tying rewards to recurring purchases, helping to promote long-term subscription retention. It offers features like subscription analytics, one-click upsells, and flexibility in managing subscription cycles.
How to Measure Success in Loyalty and Recurring Programs
Tracking KPIs like customer lifetime value (CLTV), repeat purchase rates, subscription churn rates, and loyalty program engagement metrics can help you measure how well your program is performing. Thankfully, loyalty program apps often include analytical tools that make it easier to track these statistics.
Challenges of Implementing Loyalty Programs and Recurring Payments
The number one reason why eCommerce companies don't implement loyalty programs is that they don't have enough time. Even with the right tools, creating and managing a successful loyalty program can be a time-consuming endeavor. That's why many brands choose to implement loyalty programs by working with an experienced digital marketing agency like Groove Commerce.
Conclusion
If Smile.io sounds like a great fit for your company's needs, then we encourage you to explore this option. It has yielded beneficial results for a variety of our clients.
Nevertheless, it’s OK if Smile.io doesn't seem like the right solution for your business. There’s no single loyalty program app that works best for every company. However, we highly recommend incorporating a loyalty program to increase customer lifetime value and drive more conversions.
If you have any questions or want to explore how a loyalty program could fit in with your eCommerce marketing strategy, you can begin by contacting us today.
Our team will be happy to walk you through additional examples, set up a demo, and get you started on the path to greater customer loyalty. We also offer a free website audit that can identify any performance or accessibility issues.
