Pet industry loyalty program

You might be losing out on sales and one way to get those back is to implement a pet loyalty program.

Do you have a problem with finding new clients for your pet-related business? Or are you spending most of your time looking for new clients and less time nurturing the clients you already have?

Following on with our “how-to & why” series, we’re taking a look at a different industry. Today we’re looking at the pet industry. We will look at the following:

• Why you need a loyalty program in the pet industry
• How to succeed with a pet loyalty program
• Case study: Pets at Home

Why you need a loyalty program in the pet industry

• It’s easier to sell another bag of dog food to a customer who bought one last month; than to find a new customer to sell the same bag of dog food to
• Pet owners who have pets don’t just buy food, toys, accessories once; they are all high-frequency purchases
• Pet owners care about their pets and are willing to seek out the best companies to buy their products from. They’re not afraid of spending money on their pets, and if they can get something in return v a loyalty program, why wouldn’t they sign up?
• You might give a customer 50% off one item of their choice. As they’re browsing, they’re likely to see another item their dog/cat/hamster might like and buy that too, thus increasing the amount they spend per purchase
• If your loyalty program uses points as a scoring system, they’re much less likely to change providers once they’ve racked up enough points

How to succeed with a pet loyalty program

You might sell pet clothes, toys, treats, or perhaps you’re a groomer, looking to take bookings online.

Through your loyalty program, offer: discounts, free products, tickets to exclusive events, or anything else you can think of that will reward those who are good to you.

TIP: Make sure the rewards are not available to those not on the loyalty scheme. It’s meant to be exclusive and you’re meant to encourage people to take part.

It’s about seeking out and grouping together your best customers to give them a VIP experience that is better than anything they’d receive not in the loyalty scheme.

Make sure you understand your own customer, just like when you plan what products you sell, you should plan how you’re going to run the loyalty program. Don’t include offers for products people do not want. Instead, include highly sought after products that will entice people to join.

If you don’t yet know your customer well enough, then think about creating some personas.

Failing that, why not ask your customers themselves. If you have a good relationship with your customers, drop them an email, tell them you’re thinking about creating a loyalty program and ask them what sort of rewards they’d like for their pets.

Case study: Pets at Home

Pets at home know how much owners love their pets and their reward program reflects that. When you sign up for the pets at home VIP club, you get a 10% off code that you can spend online.

This is useful because you’re likely to make the most of your discount code and spend as much as you can afford. This increases the value of all these customers and they’ve only just joined the loyalty program.

They even reward birthdays, but not your birthday… your pet’s birthday. This personable touch means customers feel like you care about them, but most importantly their pets.

Takeaways

Pet loyalty programs are there to help increase customer retention and reduce customer churn, but just how does this work in the pet industry and how do you succeed?

1. If you have a pet-related business then your loyalty program should show how much you care and understand the customers’ pets
2. Pet-related items are normally high-frequency and a loyalty program is a great way to encourage all your customers to continue buying from you