Revolutionizing Retail: Loyalty App Development this year

Remember the Pareto principle that 20% of your customers will make 80% of your sales.

We all know that time has changed and that the digital transformation market is now a phase. The new way to reach buyers is through a mobile app development company.

Loyalty apps are the next step in this process. Businesses can run loyalty programs digitally through rewards apps that allow customers to earn reward points in one way or another.

Customers tend to be more loyal to brands and can bring more profit to the business development.

A mobile loyalty app is ideal for both the supplier and the customer. Idea Usher is skilled in creating apps that maximize business profitability.

Lets first look at the unique features that top loyalty programs have.

What are the Benefits of Loyalty Apps?

Lets look at some stats that will help us understand the importance of loyalty apps. These are the facts:

1. 79% of customers will refer their business to a competitor if they have a bad experience.
   
   

   (Source)

2. 62% of millennials believe brand engagement is key to making them loyal customers (Source).
3. 4.1% of US Mothers (Internet Users) said they love brands because they provide good content. (Source)
4. A majority of shoppers would switch brands if they were offered a compelling offer. (Source)

These statistics may not have knocked on your door. Here are three reasons why loyalty apps are so important in building customer loyalty.

1. To avoid disruptions caused by new customers.
2. Customer expectations are changing
3. Technology today wins the hearts of the world.

Loyalty Programs and the Retail Market

The retail market is the largest market that holds n transactions per day. Customers in the retail market shop frequently and are more likely to visit the digital experiences store again.

The only thing that matters is how they experience it. Retail mobile app development has become necessary for end users and developers.

Remember that you only have a finite number of customers to target but that they have endless options. According to a report, a 5% increase in customer loyalty can result in a 25%-100% increase in average profit per customer.

Different types of Customer Loyalty Programs

1. Points

This is the most popular program. This program gives customers points for shopping and performing certain actions.

The customer can store the points in their app wallet and redeem them when he/she wants.

1. Tiers

This program records customer purchases. They are assigned to a tier based on the number of their purchases.

Each level comes with its rewards and incentives. The customer must purchase more to pass each level and receive better rewards.

1. Social media

It is not necessary to reward customers for purchasing. Companies are already using this strategy to increase customer engagement and build their market.

This can be done best by using giveaways and contests.

1. Paid programs

You are correct. Some companies also offer loyalty programs that are paid for. Users must pay either a recurring or one-time fee to receive the benefits.

This category includes top companies such as Sams Club and Amazon Prime.

Important Factors

Before we sign off, we want to share some important considerations you should consider when starting the loyalty app development process.

These are the key considerations:

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   Personalized reward programs

You should reward your customers with personal rewards. To do this, you will need to review the data collected from different tools.

Prioritize geolocation, customer behavior, age group, and customer activity. These will assist you in keeping customers loyal to your brand.

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   Accessibility

Customers should be able to view their loyalty and reward status at any time. They must also be able to redeem points at any time.

It is important to make it easy for customers to access your services. Customers may be attracted (and, in some cases, retained) by the ease of access.

However, they will not stay if they have a long process of redeeming and checking their rewards.

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   Get real-time offers

This one is very tricky but extremely useful. This will require you to make use of your tools effectively.

To better understand your customers and their needs, you can use data such as buying patterns, consumer channels, and other insights relevant posts.

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   Healthy interactions

Building strong relationships with your customers is only possible through communication. It is possible today thanks to technology.

Two-way communication is possible.

You should also provide users an easy way to update their contact information and send them queries or suggestions.

You must be prompt in your responses.

The Top Customer Loyalty Management Software has ten Key Features.

1. Flexible API

This Smashing Magazine article provides a detailed explanation of APIs. I recommend choosing a loyalty platform that allows any software application to incorporate loyalty functionality via API.

The API-first rewards software handles the logic, validation, redemption, and tracking. This is primarily backend functionality.

Your data sources are pulled via API, and the loyalty software feeds it to your front end.

Read More:- Looking for Lawyer Mobile App Development Service to Build the App for your Law Firm?

The API-first approach is my recommendation because it offers the following benefits compared to other loyalty software loyalty solutions.

1. Quick time to market - Integrating API takes less time than creating your loyalty software or integrating an existing monolithic platform. It is much easier to change the backend logic of an API-first loyalty system than rewrite an existing solution or add custom code to an already-built platform. The changes will be visible immediately on all touchpoints and front-end displays.
2. Omnichannel compatibility - An API-first platform that is purely back-end-focused gives you more freedom for front-end platform selection, allowing for truly omnichannel distribution.
3. API-based, headless loyalty software is compatible with all existing and future distribution platforms, including mobile apps. (You can read more about the importance of mobile loyalty programs here). You could, for example, send reminders about soon-to-expire rewards via push notifications to customer base located within 200m of your store using a GET API or geofencing features.
4. Accessibility - API-first platforms can be accessed via a subscription or as a SaaS service. The cost is calculated based on the usage. This allows for cost predictability and a lower upfront cost than building a loyalty program from scratch or buying yearly licenses of all-in-one monolithic software.
5. You can also downgrade, cancel, or upgrade your subscription at any moment, depending on what you need. This makes cost management easier.
6. Scalability: API-first software can handle traffic spikes and high traffic. On the other hand, in-house solutions are designed to meet current needs and must be scaled as the company grows.

1. Developer-friendliness

The best loyalty platforms are designed with developer-friendliness in mind. Developers have limited time and should focus on core business rather than building loyalty features.

Loyalty marketing platforms should be easy to integrate and maintain. These are some features that make a developer-friendly white label loyalty software.

1. Clear, detailed documentation is essential for integration speed and ease of onboarding.
2. SDKs available - SDKs are a great way to integrate the API faster.
3. Sandbox environment - Your developers need access to the tool to run a POC or integrate it before you pay for the platform. Sometimes, just looking at the documentation does not suffice to help you determine if it is the right tool for your needs and how it fits into your existing technology stack.
4. Monitoring options - From simple monitoring tools such as the platform status to more detailed monitoring logs that support your developers in troubleshooting campaigns or detecting fraud. Having built-in monitoring instruments will reduce your developers time calling the platform providers support staff. This will reduce costs, speed up the resolution of issues and increase efficiency.
5. You can integrate your loyalty software with other software solutions out of the box. This will greatly reduce the development time.
6. Webhooks availability - If your loyalty software offers webhooks, it will make it easier for your developers set up communication between your platforms. This is especially important if they dont have an out-of-the-box integration. Sometimes a simple webhook is enough to replace hours of development.
7. Marketer dashboard - If the loyalty software offers a dashboard where customer service agents, marketers, and sales agents can launch, track, and manage loyalty campaigns, then you can delegate the management of your loyalty program to them. This will allow you to free up your developers team.
8. Your developers will be more productive if they can access maintenance features such as bulk updates, export and import capabilities, and scheduling capabilities.

1. Scalability

Even if you have a small need, you should consider software that will be useful in the future.

Several features can help you scale without worrying about security or performance.

1. High platform uptime
2. Infrastructure scalability,
3. Geographical Scalability - The ability to run campaigns across different languages, markets, and currencies, will help you expand your business.

1. Respecting privacy and security requirements

The software you use must comply with legal requirements in the country you are operating in. This usually means compliance with the GDPR, CCPA, and PCI DSS, but it could also include other requirements depending on your location.

You need to consider your security needs when choosing loyalty software.

Possibility to get dedicated clusters of data or choose the location of servers where you want your data stored.

Two-factor authentication and other privacy and security features like SAML and user-level access control are available.

1. Security audits, PCI scans, and penetration tests.
2. SSL-protected access,
3. Data encryption,
4. Marketing consent management
5. Other security-focused features

1. Flexible incentives

A top loyalty management system will allow you to set personalized and non-functional rewards program.

1. Shipping is free
2. Samples or products free of charge
3. Get special product bundles
4. Discounts automatically applied
5. Coupons for Discount
6. Loyalty points and other loyalty currencies
7. Gift certificates
8. Cashback
9. Upgrade your service for free
10. No cost extension of your subscription
11. Enter to win sweepstakes

1. Notifications and reminders

Software that is API-first will allow you to communicate information across multiple channels. It is important to check the information that loyalty software can send.

It would be helpful to have the option to display loyalty program information in the customer portal and send notifications to customers when certain milestones are reached (for instance, entering a higher loyalty level, receiving a reward, etc.) Also, reminders could be sent to customers (for example, if rewards are about to expire or your special double-points flash sale is ending soon).

These options may be available on your loyalty platform or integrated with a distribution tool.

1. Interfaces for customers outside-the-box

Sometimes, you might not have the time or budget to create the front-end code. You can use pre-built, customizable front-end solutions that are quick and easy but may not be as beautiful.

These features are great for those who have limited time or budget.

1. Email editor,
2. Digital loyalty card wallet (customer cockpit): This is where customers can view their next-gen loyalty program status, available reward options, and expiry dates.
3. Landing pages editor,
4. Widgets.

1. Flexible program limits (including reward stacking, expiry dates, and budget limits).

Setting up loyalty programs requires that you have rules and limits. Software that offers a variety of options is essential to ensure your loyalty program is targeted correctly and your budget protected.

1. Your loyalty programs start and expiration dates are listed.
2. What engagements will you reward with earning rules? You should be able to create different earning rules based on customer journey orders, events, or simple rewards for certain milestones or dates.
3. Loyalty program Tiers - You should be able to create different tiers according to certain criteria and distinguish, for example, the earning rules and rewards for each program tier.
4. Rewards are available for every loyalty program tier, customer segment, or specific customer.
5. For example, what products can the loyalty reward discount coupon be used on? Is there an order minimum the customer must place before the gift card can be used?
6. Expiry dates for rewards
7. Reward stacking rules: Which rewards can be combined and in what hierarchical order?
8. Limitations on rewards usage (e.g., one per customer)
9. For example, the campaign budget would allow ten-dollar gift certificates to be given to 100 customers who achieve the VIP tier.

1. You have the option to customize

Software companies that sell customer loyalty software do not have a complete understanding of all your use cases.

The best loyalty software allows you to add custom rules, events, and attributes.

You can customize your loyalty program to suit your needs and set rewards, limits, and earning rules based on your data.

Your developers will need to write less or no custom code the more flexible you are.

1. Analytics and tracking

Tracking and analytics are essential to optimize customer retention campaigns and protect your financial budget.

Having these data directly in your loyalty management software would be great. You should have the following data available:

1. The number of participants in loyalty programs
2. Distributed rewards at the customer and campaign levels
3. Accrued liabilities (e.g., gift cards that were not used or distributed)
4. The expiry dates for the rewards are
5. Average loyalty program participant basket value
6. Participant loyalty program members shop frequently
7. Cost of the loyalty program (the number of rewards that have been redeemed to date)
8. 360-degree view of customer profiles. This includes all purchases, rewards awarded, rewards used, and more. It is extremely useful for customer service agents when troubleshooting problems.

Future of Loyalty Program Apps

In the 1700s, shops began offering copper tokens to customers that could be used for future purchases. Similar to this, other industries and categories started following the lead of the original "frequent buyer" program.

Fast forward to 2022, and 80% of businesses have a loyal program. Members account for 43% of annual sales.

Technology is changing so incredibly that traditional loyalty apps could make a business stagnant. Evolution is required as the concept of loyalty changes.

This shift in brand loyalty motivates customers to spend more of their hard-earned cash.

More brands are competing for the loyalty of your clients. Brands are losing their "best in class" status due to past experiences.

Brands are being evaluated across all industries, devices, and continents.

Bonds study revealed that 95% of loyalty program members want to interact with brands using emerging technologies.

The future of loyalty program reward apps will depend on how well businesses can instill personalization, the right technology, utility creation, and brand transparency within the app. Businesses cant afford to leave any stone unturned regarding customer experience. There is no better place to develop a future-oriented loyalty app.

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Loyalty & Rewards App Development Costs

Having realistic expectations about the type of loyalty app your company will benefit the most is sensible.

You can spend anywhere from $35-$150 per hour. If you are looking for a custom solution that allows customers to tap their smartphones to exchange or apply bonuses, guides guests to tables, send a notification when they pass your place or offers virtual reality.

Backend infrastructure, API Integrations, admin portals, and reports are just a few things you need to justify the app development cost.

A $150 budget can get you a custom loyalty app with less intimidating functionality. However, there are some options available.

Are you Interested in Creating your Loyalty Program?

Brands use loyalty applications to manage their loyalty programs online. This allows for increased sales, ease of use, and greater reach.

Businesses can send customers push notifications or text messages about special offers and other information. This encourages customer interaction.

These top ten loyalty apps have been ranked. They are innovative and bring new life to loyalty programs. But, it can be difficult and costly to develop such apps.

Get help from Idea Developers, a development partner. Dev can help you take the burden off your shoulders.

We have the experience and skill set to deliver the results you expect. Because we have the most talented backend developers and solution makers, we deliver the best. We are passionate about creating viral, cost-effective apps.

This is what our passion and experience say.

Conclusion

Loyalty app development is a great way to increase sales for your retail store. But its only possible if you do it right.

These points will help you achieve your goals. As the market continues to change and evolve, businesses are changing how they connect with their customers. Although some of the pandemic tendencies that emerged in the past two years will likely persist, new technologies will present new challenges.

However, brands can still prevail by being agile and cultivating one-to-one relationships with their customers.

We look forward and see that brands and agencies will continue to respond creatively and sensitively, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Loyalty apps are a viable way to achieve great business results in the future, in our view. Idea Usher can help you develop the best loyalty app.

References

1. 🔗 Google scholar
2. 🔗 Wikipedia
3. 🔗 NyTimes