The c-store industry has reached a saturation point for loyalty programs with a sleek mobile app or points-based loyalty program no longer enough to stand out in the competitive landscape, especially with big chain competitors setting up shop down the road. Most competitors are using the same tools—beautiful mobile apps and mobile coupons, but retailers are disappointed with their loyalty penetration rate and general promotions are failing to engage customers in meaningful ways. In a focus group with customers of a retailer who switched loyalty providers recently, one long-time customer expressed a common frustration: “I’ve been a customer for a few years. But when I open the app, the offers aren’t relevant to me. All this data I’ve given you and it doesn’t feel like you know me.”
Customers, especially younger generations, expect more than generic discounts. They expect personalized experiences that reflect their preferences and shopping habits. Let's delve into loyalty strategies that enable retailers to meet these new expectations and cultivate meaningful relationships with their loyalty customers.
Building the Loyalty Platform of Tomorrow
The key to higher loyalty penetration requires expanding engagement strategies and using customer data and automation to create personalized, relevant experiences. Most competitors are only engaging with their customers through mobile apps, but to stand out, retailers need to meet their customers through multiple channels and deliver tailored rewards that feel genuinely valuable.
Mobile App and Progressive Web App (PWA): Mobile apps are still a vital tool for loyalty programs, and a Progressive Web App (PWA) combines the best of mobile and web technology by having the look and feel of a mobile app without needing to be downloaded, making it easier for customers to engage with rewards for a truly frictionless experience.
SMS & Pump Texts: Customers are more likely to engage when offers are delivered 100 ft away from the promoted products. Automated texts sent at the pump increase pump-to-store traffic by 12%, turning routine fuel stops into profitable in-store visits with deeper customer engagement.
Targeted Email and Social Media Campaigns: Use customer data to send targeted campaigns with offers tailored to individual preferences. For example, send a coffee promotion to millennial females who haven’t visited in 60 days with just a few clicks.
QR Codes on Signage: Engage in-store shoppers by placing QR codes that lead them to exclusive offers or the loyalty program sign-up page, giving them an immediate reason to participate.
Retailers who expand their engagement beyond a mobile app only strategy—using SMS, emails, QR codes, PWAs, and more—are seeing much higher loyalty penetration than the current industry standard.
Personalization: The Differentiator for Modern Loyalty Programs
Personalization sets successful loyalty programs apart from their one-size-fits-all competitors. Instead of offering every customer the same discount, a modern loyalty platform automatically tailors promotions based on customer purchase history and preferences. When a customer engages with loyalty, they see promotions that feel directly relevant to them.
Vendor-funded promotions, such as Scan Data programs, allow retailers to offer more targeted, data-driven discounts without having to fund the promotions themselves. Thanks to the rich loyalty data retailers provide, vendors are more likely to offer deeper discounts than retailers could on their own. This increases the number of customers who redeem these offers and their associated purchases. For example, pump text campaigns on average double the average ticket size of customers who come in to redeem an offer.
The Power of Data and Automation
A strong loyalty platform should simplify operations and reduce costs, ideally by consolidating processes in-house to eliminate the need for multiple vendors. This reduces operational complexity, saving both time and money, and helps avoid the development delays and slow customer service that often come from managing multiple providers. However, not every retailer starts from scratch—many are transitioning from existing loyalty solutions they found limiting. A flexible platform will work with your current APIs, ensuring a smooth transition without forcing an all-or-nothing approach.
The right platform can integrate services like mobile payments, online ordering, subscriptions, and car washes seamlessly into your loyalty program. This flexibility allows retailers to maintain their vision while benefiting from centralized operations. Real-time analytics provide insight into campaign performance to vendor reimbursements while automation streamlines manual processes, ensuring retailers capture every opportunity for profit.
Recap: Benchmark Standards vs. Electrum’s Performance
The loyalty industry sets general benchmarks for engagement, with daily participation in loyalty programs averaging 1-2% for many retailers and weekly engagement typically around 10-15%. While these figures are considered standard, they often reflect programs offering basic points systems or generic discounts.
In contrast, retailers using Electrum’s multi-channel engagement and personalized rewards see much stronger results:
6.59% daily engagement, which is over three times the industry standard, highlighting the effectiveness of tailored interactions.
30% of loyalty customers engage at least once a week, doubling the typical weekly participation rate for loyalty programs.
These numbers reflect how a loyalty platform that offers vendor-funded promotions, personalization, and multiple engagement methods outperforms traditional programs to create deeper customer connections.
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