You’re getting ready to launch your brand new Shopify store and no doubt are feeling both excited and apprehensive. There are so many things to think about and you want to make sure you get off to the best possible start. The number one priority in retail businesses is to “keep the customer happy.” By deciding to implement a loyalty program, you’re already well on the way to delighting your customers. There’s no better way to show your appreciation for your customers’ support than by rewarding them. The result will be more loyal customers who keep coming back for more, shoring up your bottom line.

You’re off to a great start by deciding to offer a Shopify loyalty program but running a successful loyalty program means thinking about how you will measure success, how to encourage engagement and how to keep things fun, and more. To help you design a winning loyalty program that will drive sales and customer engagement, we’ve put together this guide covering the 10 most important considerations when setting up a Shopify loyalty program.

Use this as a checklist and make sure you’ve got all your bases covered.

1.0 Measure Success On Shopify

You’ll want to be sure that your Shopify loyalty program is performing as it should and getting you the results you want. Before you start, think about how you define success and what metrics you will track.

Some of the common metrics to monitor include:

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – is the loyalty program leading to an increase in how much your customers spend overall?
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – how much does it cost for you to acquire new customers via the loyalty program?
Redemption Rate – are your members using their rewards and how often?

2.0 Build Relationships

Communication is a fundamental building block of any relationship, including those between business owners and customers. As part of your Shopify loyalty program, come up with a plan to communicate with your members regularly. This can include:

Personalized Emails – reach out on birthdays with good wishes and special discounts or make product recommendations based on past purchases.
Targeted Promotions – create specific promotions and deals for certain tiers of membership or when they hit various milestones.

3.0 Encourage Engagement

Surprise and delight your loyalty program members at every turn, encouraging them to engage with your brand and elevate the shopping experience from purely transactional to an ongoing relationship.

Great ways to keep your customers engaged include providing early access to new products or offering exclusive discounts or free gifts. Set up a calendar of “special treats” that you plan to offer your members so that they are continually surprised and keep your business top of mind.

4.0 Go After Social Proof

No one wants to miss out on the next best thing. Get your Shopify loyalty program members to post about the amazing rewards and value they are getting in order to encourage their friends and family to join in.

You can post social media shout-outs to your top members and tag them, and you can give them badges to display on their profiles showing off their high-tier status in your program.

5.0 Make it Fun

Turn your loyalty program into a game – a little bit of friendly competition is fun and can also boost engagement and participation. This can be as simple as offering badges earned for completing certain program actions and then providing an extra reward for a number of badges.

Add to the competition by creating a leaderboard so people can see where they stand as compared to their friends or other members. You can give bonus points to the top 3 people on the leaderboard to up the ante even more!

6.0 Choose a Rewards System

Most loyalty programs use either a points system or a series of stamps. Depending on the nature of your business, you need to choose which makes most sense for you.

If you use a points system, you need to determine how many points are awarded for each action (i.e. signing up for newsletter, making a purchase, referring a friend, etc.), how many points are needed to earn a reward, and what the reward will be (i.e. a discount, a free product, etc.).

With a stamp system, customers receive a stamp for each purchase (or amount spent) and you’ll need to decide how many stamps equal a reward and what that reward will be. The prime example of a stamp-based system is a coffee shop that offers the 10th cup of coffee free, but this can work for online stores as well.

7.0 Train your Staff

Assuming you don’t work alone, you will need to educate your employees about the Shopify loyalty program that you’re offering. Staff will need to know how to:

Invite new customers to join the program
Process incoming sign-ups
Process reward redemptions
Follow-up on unredeemed awards
Troubleshoot or answer customer questions

8.0 Pick Communication Channels

One of the benefits of a loyalty program is the ability to communicate regularly with your customers. You don’t want to bombard them with too many messages which will annoy them, but you also don’t want to communicate so infrequently that they forget about you.

Think about your customer base and what might work for them and then set up a schedule of how you will communicate and when. For example:

Email – to share regular program updates and promotions
SMS – for time-sensitive offers and birthday greetings
Social Media – for contents and interactive polls

9.0 Define your Value Proposition

While a loyalty program has become a given and customers expect most retailers to offer one, they still want to know what value they will get from signing up for your Shopify loyalty program.

Make the benefits to the customer very clear. Some examples include:

Save Money – discounts and rewards offer cash savings
Save Time – get early access to new products and special deals
Be an Insider – be the first to know about exclusive information

10.0 Choose a Provider

Once you know exactly how you want your Shopify loyalty program to look and be structured, you need to make sure you go with a provider that can meet your requirements.

Look for a provider that:

Integrates easily with Shopify
Is easy and intuitive for you and your customers to use
Can scale up as you need
Provides support
Can be customized to suit your preferences

You’re All Set!

So now you know how to run the most successful Shopify loyalty program, there’s nothing left to do but get started. Use this article as your guide and you’re sure to start pulling in and delighting those customers.

Loyalty Dog fits the bill – contact us to learn more about setting up your Shopify loyalty program.