A Guide on Customer Loyalty

In today's competitive market, customer loyalty is the golden ticket to success.  This means turning those one-time buyers into raving fans who keep coming back for more.

Think about it: a happy Kenyan customer is a loyal Kenyan customer.  If their shopping experience is awesome and leaves a lasting impression, they're way more likely to return.  In fact, a Wharton School professor says businesses are 14 times more likely to sell to existing customers than new ones.

Developing an effective customer loyalty programme

So, how do you create a loyalty program that keeps these amazing customers hooked?  Here are some tips to get you started:

Understand Your Audience

In order to create a successful customer loyalty programme in Kenya, you must first identify your customer's needs and preferences. When you understand your target audience, you can tailor the programme to meet and address their pain points, and stimulate their interest and patronage. In Kenya, customers value the service you offer if it addresses their direct pain points, wants and interests. You can get data about your customers by carrying out surveys, polls, and asking for their feedback on your products. 

Choose Your Loyalty Programme Type

There are different forms of customer loyalty programmes. It’s important to build a loyalty programme that uniquely complements your brand’s image and offerings. Here are examples of some popular loyalty schemes and strategies.

Points Programmes

This is a loyalty programme where customers are rewarded with points for every purchase they make. These points can be used to redeem rewards like discounts on future purchases or exclusive products, so the more points customers collect, the better reward they get. 

Cash Back Programmes

This is similar yet different from the point programs. For this program, customers are rewarded with cash back for every purchase they make. In most cases, the cashback is a percentage of the purchase price. For instance, if a cashback scheme offers 5% cashback on all purchases, that means when customers spend $100, they will receive $5 back. These programmes usually require customers to spend a minimum amount.

Tiered Loyalty Programmes

These place customers into different tiers based on how much they spend. For instance, the more they spend, the higher their tier and the better their rewards. 

Value-Based Loyalty Programs

These schemes offer customers rewards that are not monetary, for example, access to exclusive events, special offers, networking opportunities, or early access to sales. They are perfect for customers who are looking for more than just money rewards. In a 2019 study, it was discovered that point programmes and non-monetary programmes are both important antecedents of performance in Nakumatt Supermarket in Western Kenya.

Premium Loyalty Programmes

This is a premium loyalty programme that customers pay to join, and they get premium benefits in return. For instance, priority customer service, exclusive product offers, free shipping, etc. A research done by McKinsey suggests that members of premium loyalty programs are up to 60% more likely to spend more on a brand, as opposed to a 30% likelihood of more spending on free membership programmes. 

Choose a Behaviour to Reward

To create a good loyalty programme for people in Kenya, you need to decide what kind of actions or behaviour by customers you want to reward. This could be different things like liking or following a social media page, referring new customers, purchasing specific items, leaving positive reviews, or spending a certain amount. The choices you want to make will depend on the business needs. 

Track Your Loyalty Programme’s Success

There is always a need to track the results of the loyalty programme to measure the results. This could mean sending out surveys to gauge Kenyan customer satisfaction, and looking at technical data like your customer retention rate, social media mentions, and how much referral traffic the business is getting. By tracking the success of the programme, you can make adjustments to achieve your goals or set new goals.

Engage With a Reliable Logistics Partner 

It is not enough to have a loyalty program; there is a need to ensure customers receive their items on time and in good condition. This means, working with a reliable logistics partner. DHL Express, who delivers orders safely and quickly is the best bet. With a DHL Express account, you can ensure your customers can safely receive their orders within the quickest turnaround time possible. 

Start earning your way up to the most successful rewards programme today by first creating a business account with DHL Express.