Spotlight loyalty: Digislider

Join us as we talk to our customers about why they chose LoyaltyLion and how this has benefited their business.

Meet Phil Panchenko, the young entrepreneur and owner of Digislider, an ecommerce company that sells motion control camera equipment.

Last week Shopify posted an article on how to achieve the 4 hour work week by following Phil’s model. During the interview, Phil spoke about online platforms that enabled him to grow his business to an extent where he has now achieved early semi-retirement. One of these platforms was the loyalty program run by LoyaltyLion. We caught up with Phil to ask him what he liked about our program, and how he was getting on with it.

What drove you to seek out a loyalty program?

Well, I knew I’d need one straight away. I think the product I rolled out was good, but it was my first go at what I thought people needed. Looking back, it was rusty when I first started out, so I definitely needed the feedback from customers so I could improve it, so I could find out what would make a product work for them. I needed to reward people straight from the beginning, so my initial customer base who did feedback to me felt supported, and that they had a relationship with me.

Also, I needed to make the Digislider an optimal product, and I wanted my loyal customers to get the first look in as the product improved. I also knew that investing in a good loyalty program would make my customers feel rewarded for their loyalty and that ultimately it would give me greater returns.

So why did you choose LoyaltyLion as your loyalty program?

Well, I actually tried all the loyalty apps on the Shopify platform, and LoyaltyLion is easiest to use.  It works brilliantly with Shopify, which is obviously a huge advantage. It also has some great customisation options that the other apps do not offer. I love how it blended in perfectly with my site, and my brand.

As for the actual loyalty features, I can reward customers for referring friends and email them to encourage repeat purchases. I can offer points that can be exchanged for discount vouchers, which is a great way to encourage my customers to make more purchases. The Loyalty Lion team are constantly making their software better which is great to see. New options consistently become available to me, my business, and my customers.

How was LoyaltyLion vital to your business plan?

If your customers don’t buy your product, you’re screwed. It’s so important to retain your initial customer base and grow it.

The thing is, I knew I was going to make other products that would be cross compatible with my first model. I wanted to use the same motors and controllers, so someone could easily switch between my products. So retaining customers and offering them discounts would keep them coming back to my latest offerings.

What features do you like the best out of LoyaltyLion?

The main ones I use are the discount vouchers, as getting points per pound is really useful to my customer base since they put them towards a new purchase on my site.

Do you find your customers use LoyaltyLion?

Yeah, loads of my customers do–all the ones that come back–even if they are just buying accessories, they all use the Loyalty Lion program, which in turn encourages them to buy more of my products.

Do you feel the relationship with your customers is better?

I would assume so; it’s a win/win situation. The customers are getting better deals because they get discounts, and I’m happy because they keep coming back.

And what did you feel LoyaltyLion offered you over the other programs?

It integrated perfectly with Shopify, and that is a platform I use because it is so easy-to-use. It also integrated with my business seamlessly, both operationally and aesthetically. I love how you can customize the style of the program; it looks like it was specifically made for my website.

Have you found LoyaltyLion’s customer service good?

Yeah, it’s really good. There’s always one-on-one help. They also don’t go for hard sells, I’m not batting them off every second of every day, they are just there when I need answers to questions and to troubleshoot anything I’m having problems with.

Okay, lastly, we have to ask: would you recommend LoyaltyLion to other businesses?

Yeah, definitely. It is the perfect app for efficiently automating rewards, which incentivise your customers to market your products for you.  This for me was brilliant, as the more automation there is, the easier it is to run and maintain. Also, I know I keep repeating myself, but the people that use your products are hugely influential; they’re seen as the ones with unbiased views and are the most trusted promoters and reviewers of your products, so rewarding them, and allowing them to easily promote your business is a huge benefit in my book. It’s a great service, the results are substantive, so it’s worth signing up for.

Images by Jon Candy, Joe The Goat Farmer, BagoGames and Pixabay, used under the Creative Commons license.