by Charlie Casey, the CEO and Co-Founder of LoyaltyLion
The cost of living crisis may continue, but nobody can put the brakes on love. More than two-thirds of UK adults are still planning on treating their loved ones this Valentine’s Day; they’re just going to be a little more cautious about how much they spend.
The economic climate might dictate limits on spending, however, Cupid’s annual appearance still provides retailers with a plethora of opportunities to not only create genuine connections and build better engagement with customers, but also increase their lifetime value.
There’s no time to lose when it comes to getting ready to romance customers – with Valentine’s Day almost upon us, here, Charlie Casey, the CEO and Co-Founder of LoyaltyLion provides his five top tips to capitalise on this major seasonal spending event:
- Share the love with friends – retailers should encourage customers to share the love this Valentine’s by encouraging them to refer a friend. One approach that works well is to award bonus points for referrals over the Valentine’s period and, with our recent research showing that almost half of consumers want brands to communicate their sales via social media, retailers should schedule in promotional content to shout about this time-sensitive offer.
- Rewards for ‘true Valentines’ – with reports showing that hassle-free returns are more important than ever, retailers should consider offering free shipping for their top-tier customers (their ‘true Valentines’!). Brands should surprise and delight their most loyal customers so that shoppers really feel the love. If they already offer free shipping to their top-tier customers, then stores should consider another treat like free returns pick-ups or a free product with a purchase.
- Extra points, extra love – a recommended approach is for retailers to offer bonus points to customers who shop their Valentine’s Day collection. Retailers should take the opportunity to create a collection of high-margin products and encourage sales by awarding their customers extra points for purchasing those specific items.
- Spread the love via advocates – retailers should turn their loyal customers into an army of advocates this Valentine’s by rewarding them for sharing the love via user-generated content. Stores could even run a Valentine’s-inspired competition on Instagram or TikTok to set the wheels of love in motion.
- Random acts of love – now’s a great time for retailers to show all of their programme members that they’re one in a million by randomly crediting loyalty points to their accounts. We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘All you need is love’, but unexpected loyalty points are pretty great as well!
Final words from Charlie Casey
Consumer spending might be down, but it’s not drying up completely, and in economically challenging times, creating genuine connections with both existing and brand-new customers is the vital ingredient for driving revenue. Key calendar moments like Valentine’s Day are the perfect opportunity for sharing the love by welcoming new customers to loyalty programmes and keeping existing customers happy and engaged. Creating and maintaining authentic relationships that last on the ‘day of love’ and beyond will be the way forward for retailers this year.
