Retail-Tech Landscape: Customer Loyalty Programs

Retail organizations are focusing on adopting customer-centric initiatives to drive their top line. Attractive loyalty programs foster consumer value and improve retention rates, driving incremental business growth. This Retail-Tech Landscape covers selected startups globally that offer innovative customer loyalty platforms. We have identified 29 startups across five categories:

• Blockchain loyalty programs
• Cashback loyalty programs
• Gaming loyalty programs
• Personalized loyalty programs
• Tiered loyalty programs

Trends in Retail Below, we highlight two industry trends in customer loyalty. 1. Use of NFTs as Rewards The popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has increased significantly over the past two years. In 2022 and beyond, we expect loyalty programs to take advantage of this avenue to interact and engage with tech-savvy global audiences. We believe that NFTs will become an increasingly common feature in loyalty programs going forward.

• In October 2021, Estée Lauder-owned beauty brand Clinique started offering NFTs to drive loyalty and add marketing weight to its top products. With this new strategy of modernising loyalty programs, Clinique is offering reward points in the form of its first NFT, called MetaOptimist, to its Smart Reward members. Along with the NFT, Smart Reward members will also receive an assortment of Clinique products each year for the next decade. Carolyn Dawkins, Senior Vice President of Clinique Global Online, Consumer Engagement and Product Marketing, stated that “In the world of NFTs, brand authenticity and consumer excitement are critical, and we think our approach really delivers. These NFTs are a uniquely contemporary way to celebrate loyalty and put our consumers in the driver's seat, with storytelling and engagement at its core.”
• Canada-based customer loyalty rewards platform Drop launched Superpower, its first NFT rewards program, in January 2022. The startup ran a contest through which it gave away $25,000 in Drop and Amazon NFTs to participants. Some members also earned limited-edition NFTs and received a 10% cashback offer on all Amazon purchases.

2. Gamification of Loyalty Programs Customers today seek to engage in new and innovative ways with their favorite brands. Through the gamification of loyalty programs, retailers can add elements of game design such as point scoring, leader boards and competition with others to non-gaming contexts. Gamification leads to a feeling of immediate gratification and can help retailers to enable retailers and brands to offer instant rewards to customers. When combined with tiered loyalty programs, where customers have to earn a certain number of points to move up a level, gamification can optimize results. Southeastern Grocers, a US-based supermarket chain and parent company of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, announced the gamification of its loyalty programs across multiple brands in May 2021. The company’s new reward “Boosters” program allows customers to activate new offers within the app and receive rewards when they complete fun game-like challenges. In an interview conducted by Winsight Grocery Business in May 2021, Anthony Hucker, CEO of Southeastern Grocers, said that “with the new reward Boosters addition to our highly rated rewards loyalty program, our customers now have the opportunity to earn more rewards toward savings on the products they buy most while experiencing a truly personalized shopping experience in our stores.”

Retail-Tech Landscape: Customer Loyalty Programs—Infographic

 

Retail-Tech Landscape: Customer Loyalty Programs, by Type

Blockchain Loyalty Programs: Companies helping retail players to enhance their loyalty offerings using blockchain-enabled technology [wpdatatable id=1971] Cashback Loyalty Programs: Companies helping retailers to launch instant cashback programs for customers [wpdatatable id=1972] Gamified Loyalty Programs: Companies helping retailers to introduce gamification into loyalty programs to boost consumer engagement [wpdatatable id=1973] Personalized Loyalty Programs: Companies enabling retailers to curate personalized loyalty programs for customers based on their profiles and habit and offer personalized offers and discounts. [wpdatatable id=1974] Tiered Loyalty Programs: Companies offering tiered loyalty program platform for retailers wherein customers can unlock new levels by spending, and engaging more with the business. [wpdatatable id=1975]