The future of the post-pandemic loyalty program is digital and tailored, giving consumers relevant offers in real time, Mladen Vladic, senior vice president of loyalty solutions at FIS, told PYMNTS in an interview.
Vladic said 2020 “in many respects was a transformational year because under that relentless pressure from the new customer realities, the payment space, the banking space, the retail space did new things overnight.”
The personalized experience is one that pays dividends. As PYMNTS research has found, as many as 84 percent of consumers have been spending more time with merchants that tailor their engagements with end consumers.
As Vladic told PYMNTS, we’re in a different environment now. Even as vaccines are being deployed, we’re seeing a new normal in commerce that might not be tied to a wholesale return to brick-and-mortar shopping.
In fact, much is changing when it comes to digital interactions between enterprises and the consumers they serve — as well as reaching them with new offers to help ensure repeat business. Brands, retailers and financial institutions are constantly searching for more relevancy when it comes to segmenting and personalizing the ways in which they approach customers.
Quality Over Quantity Is Key For Loyalty Programs
Simply adding more options like new loyalty offers for consumers isn’t enough, Vladic said.
“Without personalization and segmentation of those offers, there’s a risk of becoming irrelevant to the consumer,” he said.
Vladic said value is what’s key in eliciting excitement in the consumer — helping to steer them to firms’ desired behavior, like buying an item or service at the moment the offer is presented.
But Vladic added that no demographic is exactly like another.
“The value that is given to ‘Consumer A’ versus ‘Consumer B’ is becoming more and more segmented and personalized so that brands can run fiscally responsible programs,” he said.
Delving a bit more into the “fiscally responsible” concept, he said brands are able to make sure the returns on investment into various loyalty and rewards programs are positive ones.
New Points Of Engagement
Even the points of contact between merchants and consumers where those offers are extended are changing — with seismic shifts that will be in place well after the pandemic recedes.
For instance, Vladic said contactless payments are here to stay. And although omnichannel commerce has been in place for a while, he said it’s “always been part of the strategy” — truly offering a blend of physical and eCommerce options has become a matter of survival.
The pace of offering everything from curbside pickup to delivery to in-store contextual offers has quickened. Merchants might have been mulling how to approach digital offerings prior to 2020, but they had to fast-forward those efforts when the pandemic hit — even if execution was less than perfect.
Vladic pointed to the emergence of card-linked offers (where cards can be stored in mobile wallets) as evidence of how startups, retailers and providers are rethinking how to engage customers amid the new digital reality.
Geofencing, advanced analytics and software can also help deliver relevant offers such as paying with points — all in real time and in context via mobile app. Consumers are more willing than ever to give information about themselves, at least in terms of what matters to them as they transact, with whom and where.
Cash Back And Rewards Points Can Be Key
Timeliness and relevance are especially helpful to the consumer who continues to struggle with the pandemic’s economic headwinds, Vladic said.
He noted that there are still millions of jobs that remain lost, “so this concept of bringing points or cash back as the loyalty currency that I can add to the model app and increase my buying power is becoming a very valuable consumer offering.”
Add it all up and Vladic said omnichannel loyalty and rewards programs that have safety and convenience at the top of mind across digital conduits “give brands a truly competitive edge, equipping them to stay relevant for consumers in a post-pandemic environment.”
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January 06, 2021 at 04:00PM
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