The virtues of loyalty programs in retail have been espoused for years but with the rise of omnichannel retailing, the complexity of managing them has increased.

The concept of a loyalty program has changed over the years. Initially focusing on points or reward based schemes, loyalty programs now encompass a lot more. With customers intertwining online and instore purchases, the need for retailers to keep up with their customers’ purchasing habits is imperative.

Technology is providing the solution to this complex problem.

An effective loyalty program is one that allows you to have a complete view of your customer’s shopping experience. To do this you need to have interconnected systems that travel across all your sales channels. Your systems must be able to easily identify a customer no matter whether they are shopping online or in-store, as well as track all their interactions.

Loyalty in today’s retailing environment centres around providing a more personalised and streamlined customer experience. This is what the customers are asking for, as confirmed by a recent study that showed that 74% of customers agree that this is the key to store loyalty.

Unfortunately, the same study showed a disconnect between retailers and customers, with less than 40% of retailers saying that their loyalty programs are designed to align their business with future customer behaviour – to build a relationship of trust and create a community of engaged members, rather than selling on price alone.

The right technology solution can better connect customers’ needs to retailers and in doing so give both the customer and retailer what they desire. When it comes to loyalty program management you really can have it all if you utilise the right solution.

To find out more about rewarding customers the right way in the Digital World take a look at our latest eBook which can be found here.