Fashion brands are increasingly investing in loyalty and rewards programmes to keep customers engaged for the long-term.
As competition continues to increase across the apparel and footwear market, brands are focusing more efforts on building lasting relationships with shoppers and providing them exclusive benefits and rewards for their devotion.
Staying power of loyalty
Loyalty programmes have been used in industries like air travel, hospitality, retail banking and telecoms for decades to keep customers coming back. However, the fashion sector is playing catch-up as more brands realise the potential of loyalty.
“Loyalty programmes work because they tap into human psychology and the desire for rewards, status and VIP treatment,” says Karen McGrane, managing director at Loyalty Marketing. “Fashion brands are now embracing this and giving customers more reasons to keep coming back.”
Rewarding authentic passion
Some fashion brands are rewarding customer passion and evangelism for their brand, not just repeat purchasing. For example, Ted Baker offers a ‘Customer Hero’ programme where people can earn store credit for posting about the brand on social media or writing a blog post.
Levi’s also runs ‘Levi’s Ambassador’ which grants members exclusive benefits for promoting the brand including early access to new products, invitations to events and the chance to get their designs featured on the brand’s social media channels.
Rewarding this kind of authentic enthusiasm and advocacy helps to build a true loyal following and word-of-mouth promotion. When customers feel genuinely valued for their passion, they become vocal champions for the brand.
Personalisation at scale
Using data and technology, fashion brands can now tailor rewards and a highly personalized experience for each member. This helps to keep things feeling fresh and compelling.
For example, Gymshark analyzes workout data from users to provide customized nutrition and fitness plans as rewards. Nike also uses data from its Nike+ Run Club app to provide personalized running routes and challenges for members based on their ability and location.
At scale, personalization like this across all customer touchpoints helps to strengthen loyalty by demonstrating how much the brand knows andvalues each individual. When done well, it transforms a generic rewards scheme into a thoughtful, customized relationship.
