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The Ultimate Guide to Retention for Shopify Stores

Rewards

See the most popular rewards that members can’t wait to redeem

Loyalty rewards should be exactly what they say they are - rewarding. Particularly as a redeeming loyalty program member is six times more likely to make a second purchase and buys almost three times more per year. However, rewards don’t always have to be financial or transactional. Experiences can be rewarding too. Keep reading to find out how a simple rewards strategy can align with your brand, help you better understand your customers, and make them feel like VIPs. 

Your rewards checklist

  • Programs that have been live for more than 12 months should see a redeeming customer rate of 16%. If you’re not hitting that number, revisit your reward strategy.
  • Use points expiry to create a sense of urgency and motivate greater reward redemption.
  • Assess your existing content marketing activity for opportunities for experiential rewards - we’re thinking of exclusive webinars and access to tutorial content.

Best Practice

Follow the best practices below to create rewards members can’t wait to redeem

Start simple 

Your rewards don’t have to be extravagant to appeal to members - they just need to add value. 

We recommend starting simple with money-off or percentage discount rewards that make it easy for members to see what they’re getting from their hard-earned points. 

You could also add free shipping vouchers, though if you have many international customers, we recommend setting a maximum shipping rate. 

Shopify Guide Images Rewards Page V2 Money Off Rewards

Scale with free product rewards

Once customers are used to basic rewards such as money off and free shipping, it’s time to build on your rewards strategy. 

We recommend expanding to free product rewards first - 63% of consumers join a loyalty program because of this reward. 

Free product rewards are a win for both you and your customers - they get to try out new items at no additional cost, and you get to introduce them to more of your product line. Or, you can use free product rewards to clear excess inventory more efficiently. 

Again, you can start small by offering sample-size products and then expand to larger items in exchange for more points. 

Shopify Guide Images Rewards Page V2 Free Product Rewards

Get creative with custom rewards

When you’re ready to take your rewards strategy further, it’s time to start getting creative. 

Custom rewards allow you to create a set of rewards that are entirely unique to your brand. These rewards can be fulfilled manually or via a webhook, so there is a

little more effort involved. However, they give you much more scope to connect with your customers and position your brand more effectively. 

Custom rewards are typically more experience-based. For example, a fashion brand might offer a free styling session, a cosmetics brand might offer a free skin consultation, or a sports brand might offer points for uploading an activity to Strava. The options are endless.

One of the most successful ways to use custom rewards to connect with customers is to enable members to redeem rewards in the form of charitable donations. We’ve seen these rewards range from planting trees to donating doggy dinners to animal shelters. 

Shopify Guide Images Rewards Page V2 Custom Rewards

Top tip

Make rewards a win for both you and your members

Where possible, we really recommend using custom rewards to make your customers feel part of your brand’s journey. Offer customers with the most points the chance to join a focus group or be first to receive and feedback on a new product. They feel special, and you unlock insights you can funnel back into your product development and marketing.

Inspiration

Explore the most effective rewards

We’re seeing activation rates that are double digits higher than before we used LoyaltyLion. This is in part due to how quickly we can swap rewards. We change something every week!

Pit & Pit

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