Are you considering a customer loyalty program?
As a consignment shop owner, you certainly understand the value of repeat business. Loyalty Programs are a great way to not only drive repeat business, but are also a great way to create loyal customers by giving them value at the beginning of the relationship. It more or less relates to first impressions. If you can show a new customer how much your appreciate them on their first interaction with your Consignment Shop, it will leave a lasting impression.
In this article, we’ll cover a few things your should know when considering a Rewards Program for your Consignment Store.
Customers love to feel appreciated
Customers love to feel valued and appreciate the extra mile a business will go to make their shopping experience as enjoyable as possible. A loyalty program can be a great way to ensure that customers feel valued and get that extra bit of customer service that separates you from the competition. If your rewards program is well thought out and focused on a customer first perspective, it will have a much better chance of success.
Loyalty is built by customer experiences
Although it would be great to convert a customer into a loyal fan of your consignment shop on day one, that might not be realistic. Some people base everything off their first experience whereas others take time to warm up and give their trust. A loyalty program is not a fix all for boosting your bottom line, but when combined with a great customer experience it can be a huge differentiator that helps you stand out among your competitors.
Give Customers Options
Customers love the feeling of being able to control when and how much they save. This allows them to personalize their shopping experience. So, you don’t always have to give something away for free. Maybe you offer a discount as a reward to be used on this or their next purchase. Perhaps you offer a free give or an invitation to an event such as a Loyalty Only Sale. Use your imagination and always get the pulse of your clients. We suggest getting input from your customers on what they value most. You can then put on your thinking cap and see how you can best leverage that feedback to benefit the customer as well as your Consignment Business.
Make it Hassle Free
In any type of business, the more hurdles your create for a customer to have a great experience, there’s more room for things to go wrong. The actual signup process and the way a loyalty program is used day to day needs to be easy. There are obviously hundreds if not thousands of loyalty program choices out there to choose from, some with world class complexity, others as simple as punching a card. The bottom line is you need to decide what type of time and effort both you and your staff are willing to endure. Perkly is a very simple Loyalty Platform with a focus on ease of use and as little moving parts as possible. To be blunt, Perkly Loyalty Rewards is not for every business, but it is for You if you like to keep it simple. We certainly could implement all the bells and whistles you’ll find in other loyalty software, but we understand how the average business owner is already strapped for time and doesn’t have the time to earn their PhD just to get a program going. If you’re looking for a simple Rewards Program, Perkly is a great choice.
Building Your Reward Program
When starting out, we always tell new Perkly customers to start small. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and neither will your loyalty program be. Take small steps, try new things and be flexible. As business owners we tend to always look at things from our perspective, but we need to learn to look at it from our customers point of view. We suggest coming up with 3 rewards that are easily attainable and creating realistic ways for your customers to earn them. Also, as we mentioned, they don’t always have to be a reward that breaks the bank. Take small steps, test new things and always get the pulse of your customers on what you’ve provided to ensure you are growing your business in the right direction.
Ultimately Service is the best way to build loyalty
No amount of software can replace good customer service. If you implement a loyalty program but provide customers a less than awesome experience, well, it won’t work. Everything you do needs to be customer centered to ensure you are creating loyal brand ambassadors. A loyalty program is tool that can only benefit a business if it is already doing it’s best in all other facets of customer service.
Don’t rush into it
If you’re ready to make the leap and want to try a loyalty program, don’t go full steam ahead. We advise taking your time, planning it out and when you do launch, take it easy. If you’ve never implemented a loyalty program before, leave room for error and be ready to change it up a bit. The more time you spend planning the less time you’ll spend fixing things. Perkly provides it’s customers a 30-Day Free Trial, but we’re flexible, if you need more time or need help, we’re here to help (contact us) and will extend your trial if that’s what it takes to ensure you get the best chance of success.
