Have you been considering a Customer Loyalty program but aren’t sure if it is right for your store or how to get started? Here are five key benefits to consider, along with a solution to help you promote strong customer relationships and build your business:

Customer Retention

Loyalty programs not only attract customers but also encourage them to keep coming back. With immediate discounts and other benefits designed to “surprise & delight” or the fun of building up points for even better rewards and opportunities to redeem,customers are influenced to return to your store on a regular basis. As a result, customer retention rates improve, creating a stronger customer base to help you grow your business.

Staying Competitive

Customers have come to expect greater value in the form of rewards and other incentives for their patronage. And while independent retailers have often relied on more traditional means by which to compete, like price and customer service, inflationary pressures and changes in consumer behaviour have made loyalty programs increasingly important. Loyalty programs not only allow you to compete more effectively but are an ideal way to differentiate your business; especially when they are done well.

Larger Basket Size

Loyalty programs aim to increase basket size through various incentives, including bonus points on promotional items, and “spend and get” rewards in the form of points, discounts, and free merchandise. These types of loyalty events encourage customers to buy more items to earn greater rewards and optimize value. They also create opportunities for cross-selling and upselling to boost revenue.

Increased Visit Frequency

Loyalty programs drive sales growth by inspiring customers to shop more often. Customers will not only come back to redeem but will shop more often to earn bonus rewards. To receive benefits faster, customers are also more likely to shop at the same store rather than “cherry picking” across competing retailers.

Stronger Customer Relationships

Loyalty programs make customers feel appreciated. This attention to your customers contributes to higher satisfaction, trust, and long-term relationships. When customers discover the great benefits of your Loyalty program, they become your most valuable advocates, spreading the word to others of your incentives!

Propel POS Customer Loyalty Module Loyalty

The Customer Loyalty and Gift with Purchase modules available with Propel POS will help you to achieve all the benefits described above. These modules are highly configurable and will allow you to define how and when your customers are rewarded. Here are a few highlights:

Rewards

• Base points can be awarded by item or by dollar. Most retailers choose the latter for simplicity. For example, ten points for every $1 spent.
• Bonus points can be offered on specific items or at a global level based on a spend threshold. For example, spend “$50 Get 25,000 Points” or “Spend $25 Get Double Points”. In addition, sign-up bonuses can be used to attract new members.
• Non-points rewards including discounts, free items, and “bounce back” coupons can be awarded to promote larger purchases, increase visit frequency, and offer greater value to customers.
• Exceptions can be used to exclude Items like lottery tickets from loyalty rewards. These exceptions can be set-up at the department, category, fineline and/or item level.
• Loyalty Levels set-up to supply greater benefits to your most valued and frequent customers.

Redemption

• Redemption Rate is set-up bydefining the number of points needed to equal one dollar. For example, 2,500 to 1.
• Redemption minimum is used to define the minimum number of points that can be redeemed. For example, 25,000 points, equaling $10.
• Redemption increments can be enabled, requiring customers to redeem in multiples of the minimum. For example, 25,000. 50,000, and so on.
• Maximum point redemption will allow you to limit the number of points customers can redeem in any given transaction.
• Redemption prompting, when enabled, will remind the customer to redeem when eligible; thereby reinforcing ongoing benefits.

In addition to all the notable features described above, Propel POS will allow you to capture email addresses and communications consent, email letters to loyalty members to promote engagement, and generate a variety of loyalty and customer reports.

To learn more about the Propel POS Customer Loyalty and Gift with Purchase modules, see the Associates and Loyalty sections of Propel POS Online Help.

Our PTS Customer Care team is available at 1-800-387-6093 option #3 for questions and to supply more information.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dawn is our Quality Assurance Team Lead and has been an important part of the POS team for 15+ years. Throughout her Career she has developed a passion for customer care, experience and satisfaction starting in telecommunication and transitioning into Retail Pharmacy.  Dawn enjoys working closely with her teammates and adding value to your POS solution. 

Propel POS Self-Checkout was designed from the ground up following two years of research and development in collaboration with industry leaders. The mandate was to build a self-service solution that was affordable, reliable, easy to use, and appealing to customers. Quick and user-friendly, Propel POS Self-Checkout makes the last touchpoint in a pharmacy a pleasant one. Despite the benefits and growing consumer demands, there are some misconceptions that we would like to clear up. Let's debunk the myths and educate ourselves on the truth behind self-checkout.

If you have a small store with one staff checkout and one or two cashiers, the addition of a self-checkout allows you to offer your customer the convenience of a second lane without adding to labour costs. It also has a much smaller footprint than a traditional checkout and will fit nicely into a small space.

Customer who may not attempt to scan a large cart of groceries at the self-checkout, wouldn't hesitate to self-checkout with a small basket of health and beauty care items - especially with a shelf to rest the basket.

Customer resistance to self-checkouts has often occured when retailers forced customers to serve themselve. This isn't optimal service. On the other hand, not giving customers the choice detracts from the customers experince. 

Placement of the self-checkout is an important factor in preventing theft and providing good service. We recommend placing self-checkouts near the staffed checkouts, where they are in full view and easily accessed when assistance is required.

Simple, intuitive, and with clear concise audio-visual instructions, Propel POS Self-Checkout makes it easy by enabling the customer to easily scan and pay. We excluded the bag scale that's often cited as a annoyance by customer who dislike the command to "place the item in the bag" or worse, being told to remove the unrecognized item and wait for assistance. By limiting friction and interaction with the screen, check-out time is minimized.

PTS strongly believes in the value of self-checkouts. Not to replace cashiers, but to offer customers the choice to check-out how they prefer. Shorter lines, always available, faster throughout, and more productive use of labour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Glen joined Pharmacy Technology Solutions in June 2018 with 35+ years of experience in front shop operations and retail systems.  Glen is passionate about technology and how it can be used to optimize the customer experience and improve organizational efficiency.  In his spare time, Glen likes to engage in activities that promote health and wellness.