Here are our 7 picks for the most innovative customer loyalty programs and what you can learn from each. This will give you some customer loyalty program ideas to start your own today. Designer Shoe Warehouse or DSW has long run a traditional VIP loyalty program that rewards customers with points for each purchase and includes tiers of rewards that customers can unlock as they spend more.

The danger when rewards become automatic is that customers forget about the program. DSW needed a way to keep customers engaged with their program and remind them where they stood and what they could earn by spending more at DSW stores. In early , DSW launched an email campaign aimed at reminding customers about their program. The campaign consisted of a personalized email detailing:. What made the campaign so successful was the level of personalization.

Customers earn rewards for each purchase based on a traditional point system. The innovative part is that members can choose how to use their reward points.

Beauty Insider members can redeem their rewards points for things like gift cards and discounts, helping to offset purchase prices without devaluing the products. Loyalty members can also redeem points for more exclusive things, like limited edition products or in-store beauty tutorials.

Giving loyalty members the flexibility to choose enables Sephora to offer customers the deals and products they really want without cheapening the perceived value of their products. Running the program through the app makes it radically easy for customers—no punch card to forget or lose, no sign-in required. Centralizing customer transactions this way creates a goldmine of data on customer preferences and behavior.

Go-to drink orders, customer lifetime value , frequently visited locations, seasonal favorites—by shepherding customers toward its app, Starbucks can gather information on all of these habits and more, empowering the brand to offer more relevant perks and communication to its customers.

If a loyalty app is doable for your store, it can be a great way to collect and centralize customer data. Otherwise, a capable point-of-sale system can help you collect most of the same information. Amazon deals with heavy competition from other retailers like Walmart.

You can find most of the products on Amazon elsewhere, too. Prime is how it differentiates itself and convinces customers to buy products through Amazon exclusively. And it works—Prime members spend an average of four times more than other Amazon customers.

For retailers in similar industries where products and price points are very similar across competitors, your loyalty program can become a differentiator and competitive advantage. Think of wholesale clubs like Costco. Give customers a reason to shop exclusively with you by offering value in addition to your products and service. By charging a membership fee, you can give yourself some wiggle room to offer truly valuable perks.

An upfront investment also encourages consumers to validate their purchase by spending more with you. Customers earn points with the XPLR Pass program in the traditional way on every purchase, and in some unique ways, like attending The North Face events, checking in at certain locations, and downloading The North Face app. When it comes time to redeem rewards, customers can use points toward unique travel experiences, like a mountain climbing adventure in Nepal.

Consumers, we can be pretty cynical about brands and marketing initiatives. They know the end goal is always to convince them to buy more products and spend more money. At the end of the day, the best loyalty programs keep its sights on the customer—driving real value that actually speaks to the power of loyal customers and their effect on a business. This one is a little different, but there are few brands with a more fanatical and loyal following than Apple.

Sometimes, the most innovative loyalty program is no loyalty program at all. Not every retailer can build a loyal and dedicated customer base—the way Apple has—without offering rewards and incentives.

But retailers selling truly unique products can. By hooking new customers with your product itself, creating an amazing customer experience, and offering those benefits with every single purchase, you can eliminate the need for a traditional loyalty program altogether. This checklist is a summary of their findings, created to help business owners understand what essential aspects of their online store experience creates trust among customers, along with the trust-busting mistakes to avoid.

We'll also send you updates on new educational guides and success stories from the Shopify newsletter. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe. Get started. Every business today is competing for customer trust. Many consumers love dining out, but not all restaurants are able to build the kind of deeper relationships with customers that take their spending to the next level.

About: More than half of U. PYMNTS, in collaboration with Mitek, surveyed more than 2, consumers to better define this perception versus use gap and identify ways businesses can boost usage. In a world where consumers expect everything on demand, the popularity of buy now, pay later BNPL has surged for its instant Over the course of this series of articles, we are going to look at the top blockchains in cryptocurrency, with a goal Just when you thought it was safe to travel — omicron.

Sounding more like an expensive watch than a contagious disease, the Data Shows Restaurants Can Boost Spending With Ordering Tech, Loyalty Programs When consumers engage with restaurants today, they expect to be met with digital features enabling simple and convenient transactions. Report Shows Independent QSRs Struggle to Keep Customers Coming Back Many consumers love dining out, but not all restaurants are able to build the kind of deeper relationships with customers that take their spending to the next level.

Touchpoint MX 5 1. Engage your customers with intuitive, personalized marketing communications. Drive conversions, reduce churn, and personalize the way you engage your customers across every interaction with powerful Read more marketing automation that is flexible enough to support all your campaigns.

Zoho CRM 4. View Profile. Zoho CRM empowers organisations with a complete customer relationship lifecycle management solution.

Read more and Inventory Management in a single business system. Learn more about Zoho CRM. FiveStars 4. Need a better way to reach your customers? Fivestars brings customers back 2x more often and acquires new ones, too! Over 15, businesses use Fivestars to bring customers back 2x more often with text, email, and mobile app marketing tools. We combine the power of With AutoPilot and Unlimited Promotions, stay top of mind by automatically reaching out to your customers with the right offer at the right time.

We also provide detailed reporting on your customers' visit and spend behaviors. Learn more about FiveStars. Guusto 4. Read more No minimums, markups or hidden fees, and full credit back on unclaimed rewards. Learn more about Guusto. Yotpo 4. Yotpo is a leading eCommerce marketing platform with data-driven, integrated solutions for reviews, loyalty, SMS marketing, and more.

Yotpo allows brands to build customized rewards and referral programs that engage existing customers and reach new ones. Yotpo helps you increase CLTV by rewarding your most loyal customer for the Read more actions that have the most impact on your business with a variety of customizable campaign programs. With Yotpo you can easily and quickly launch a fully customized loyalty program, with absolutely no dev required. Learn more about Yotpo. Womply 4.

We help small businesses to boost their online reputations, engage their customers, and monitor the health of their business. Womply helps small businesses thrive in a digital world.

Our software makes it easy for small businesses to boost their online reputations, engage their customers, and monitor the health of their Read more businesses with data and technology they can't get anywhere else. Learn more about Womply. Influitive 4. Influitive is the only platform offering a comprehensive approach to B2B loyalty.

Record activities across every channel of customer engagement and give members points for everything they do, from Read more watching content to booking a meeting with their account manager. Learn more about Influitive. Tango Card 4. Tango Card bundles simple technology, great rewards, and expert service to help companies get the most out of their reward programs. Tango Card provides leading incentive-delivery technology to organizations in the B2B space.

Globally, enterprise companies use this technology to deliver an extensive catalog of domestic and global Read more e-gift cards as part of consumer loyalty programs, sales incentive programs, health and wellness engagement, and employee recognition.

Tango Card believes instantly delivering the most desirable rewards maximizes impact and drives real business results. Learn more about Tango Card. ReferralCandy 4. ReferralCandy is an eCommerce store plugin that helps you get more word of mouth sales. Grow your sales through word-of-mouth marketing! Reward your customers for referrals and watch the sales and shares roll in.

ReferralCandy connects instantly with popular ecommerce platforms Learn more about ReferralCandy. Local product Loyverse POS 4. Reward your loyal customers to regularly visit your store, cafe, or restaurant.

Enjoy a easy process of serving your customers. Loyverse is a Point of Sale solution designed to help bars, restaurants, retail stores, cafes, and more track stock levels, print barcode labels, issue receipts, visualize sales analytics, and more Read more using a centralized dashboard.

The platform enables store managers to calculate employees' work hours, transfer stock across stores, and process payments. It also allows administrators to track customers' purchase history and configure loyalty programs to reward with offers or points. Learn more about Loyverse POS. RepeatRewards 4. RepeatRewards is a highly-rated software that automates your loyalty marketing and works seamlessly with custom marketing campaigns.

RepeatRewards is a customer loyalty software for small businesses such as restaurants, hardware stores, retail, pharmacies, and more!

Add our other services with RepeatRewards like our refer-a-friend or survey function. Integration available with many POS systems. Learn more about RepeatRewards. TapMango 4. Acquire new customers, improve loyalty and generate more revenue with a simple yet powerful solution. With TapMango you can create your own branded loyalty program. Read more revenue with flash sales and mobile ordering, seamlessly integrate with your POS and so much more.

Paired with a world-class customer support team, TapMango is powering thousands of happy merchants. Learn more about TapMango. InviteReferrals 5 Grow your sales through word-of-mouth marketing, Read more Affiliate Marketing.

Instant Gratification 2. Loyalty Points 3. Wallet Integration 4. Multiple Campaigns 5. Multiple Language. Custom Requirements Learn more about InviteReferrals. Referrizer 4. Automated system to empower local businesses by generating new customers using referral marketing. Read more up with local business owners and discover tons of premium apps and pre-built integrations to boost results even more.

Learn more about Referrizer. Local product Loyal Zoo 4. Loyalzoo allows small to medium-sized businesses run their own loyalty or memberships program quickly and easily.

The application enables businesses to set up a loyalty or memberships program and run Read more it digitally on their electronic POS system, with customers no longer requiring to keep paper or plastic loyalty cards. Businesses can tailor-make their rewards by choosing to set a points-based loyalty program or run a "Prime-style" paid membership program. Learn more about Loyal Zoo. VYPER 4.

VYPER is a marketing tool that makes it easy to run viral campaigns. It leverages gamification and Read more incentivization to stimulate engagement and share-ability to help grow your business faster and more efficiently! The flexible builder makes it easy to build campaigns the focus on your brand's core goals.

Attentive 4. Attentive is the most comprehensive text message marketing solution that drives an average of Read more program and exceed performance goals. Grow your SMS list 3x faster, easily integrate with the rest of your tech stack, and know that your SMS program is built with compliance at the forefront. Learn more about Attentive. Salesforce Experience Cloud 4. Put the customer experience at the center of your loyalty program. With Loyalty Management, your business can engage with customers in meaningful ways — bringing value to their experience and to Read more your business.

Build a loyalty program with benefits, vouchers, and rewards that will excite your customers. Generate a single source of truth for members that enables personalization at scale and weaves loyalty throughout the customer experience. Learn more about Salesforce Experience Cloud. Lucky Orange 4. With 10 tools for the Get started today with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about Lucky Orange. Xoxoday 4. Run any loyalty burn program with the Plum rewards catalog. Read more end-users.

Learn more about Xoxoday. Zoho CRM Plus 4. Zoho CRM Plus helps you deliver exceptional customer experiences and convert them to brand advocates. Zoho CRM Plus being a unified platform, is the ideal solution for businesses looking to provide enhanced customer experiences with streamlined administration, omnichannel customer engagement, social Read more media marketing, powerful analytics, built-in AI, intelligent chat bots and more.

Giftbit 4.