Upscale Customer Experience with Loyalty marketplaces

It is no secret that we are moving past the time where a single platform selling a single range would be a customer’s first choice; marketplaces are becoming the next big thing, as the umbrella platforms that are offering customers a “shopping mall”-like experience that is hard to stay indifferent against, where each customer can shop within the same platform an abundance of products and services that cover a vast majority of a consumer’s needs.

And it’s certainly also no secret that Loyalty programs remain one of the best ways to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers and one of the key driving forces behind a business’ continuity and success in this new marketplace era. 

All you need to know about Loyalty marketplaces

Loyalty marketplaces can take Loyalty schemes to the next level, as they create a community for customers and unify the commerce experience for them.

Whilst remaining at the forefront of customer retention, as well as a priceless source of customer insights and a solid business-to-customer communication of financial incentives for returning purchases that establishes an emotional connection that drives sales and repeats business, Loyalty marketplace programs as Pobuca’s, integrates sellers or partners in the reward system, in addition to customers and synergize their own Loyalty programs.

Adding Loyalty into the equation turns marketplaces into the actual facilitators of a community that cares for its loyal customers, as well as its sellers, that can use this Loyalty scheme as their own or even as an add-on to their existing in-house Loyalty programs, encouraging their return business while providing access to richer customer data. 

In an era when many institutions, from retailers to banks, are pressured to find new means to re-establish customer trust and relationships, Loyalty marketplace programs can be the real game-changer; maximizing the lifetime value of every customer and increasing customer engagement by giving customers and sellers  rewarding options that better match their personalized preferences, help your business to keep ahead of the competition by:

• improving brand visibility 

everywhere your customer’s shop – collaborate with partners in new strategic locations and markets and stay present in your customer’s mind,

• decrease customer acquisition and retention costs

synergize with other brands to allow their members to join your Loyalty program,

• accelerate earn velocity

 stimulate higher frequency and larger basket sizes- give customers the choice of earning the points they want, and the ability to exchange for something of emotional interest,

• enhance the customer 360° view 

understand customers’ behavior with your brand and with other brands, capture more customer data and discover new insights, obtain data from partners about customer frequency or products purchased to reveal lifestyle preferences,

• become a “Loyalty hub” in your customers’ minds

making them feel that when they buy more from your business, they will be rewarded in a broader area of brands that are related to your core offering.

How Loyalty marketplaces work.

Loyalty marketplaces, as Pobuca’s can offer a unique Customer Experience, by increasing customer engagement by allowing your loyal customers to redeem their points for the reward of their choice, involving at the same time other partners in the reward system, alongside customers, offering them participation in special events, exclusive services, discounts, exchange of Loyalty currencies with other brands, and other actions throughout the customer journey.

More specifically, the Pobuca Loyalty marketplace creates a separate reward system for both customers and sellers, offering an online reward marketplace and in-store experiences where customers could:

• exchange Loyalty points, redeeming their points to 3rd party brands,
• gain personalized gift cards, by receiving tailor-made to their preferences gifts,
• redeem options of local or international experiences, through a variety of options like sports events, travels, etc., and
• offer your customer virtual currency in a digital wallet to de used for purchases to a partner’s network.

Alternatively, a Loyalty marketplace can allow sellers to offer their own “mini rewards”, as Amazon and Etsy do, engaging sellers while giving them greater control in how they engage with customers on the platform.

And what’s in it for the customer?

There is a higher opportunity to earn rewards for consumers who participate in the Loyalty marketplaces systematically, as the benefits of using multiple partner brands across the network multiply.

With customer experience being more important than ever in 2021, as 34% of customers will stop interacting with companies or brands after a bad experience, Coalition Loyalty programs can provide the platform to build that exceptional customer experience. 

When Loyalty programs are integrated into a marketplace solution offering, the benefits are all-embracing. The marketplace owner ultimately benefits by becoming the facilitator of a community that cares for its loyal customer and its sellers, encouraging their return business and providing access to richer customer data.

Assessing your own Loyalty program 

It’s maybe a safe assumption that you will be reading these lines as a stakeholder into a Loyalty program, so, before taking a glance into the future of the Loyalty marketplace, it might be nice to run a system check with a few questions, to assess where your Loyalty scheme stands now:

• Are customers enthusiastic about it?  
• Is it easy to use? 
• Can you estimate its sales growth, customer retention, or ROI? 
• Has the program been updated in the last three to five years? 
• Does the program have a plan for meeting the needs of the next generation of Loyalty? 

If most of the answers to these questions are either “no” or “we don’t know”, you might want to consider talking with Pobuca about the right plan for you to renew part or all of your Loyalty programs.