What is loyalty

The loyalty is the set of choices made by a company or business, which lead it to receive a customer's trust and therefore to retain them.

Generally, these choices are very important because they allow a company to keep those who have already been customers from drifting away, by offering them advantages that make them satisfied and happy to have chosen that company.

A satisfied customer will gladly return to purchase from the same seller, who will have achieved the important goal of securing a long-term customer. Moreover, retaining a customer requires less effort than finding new ones.

To achieve this, there are operations that the seller can implement to encourage the customer to return even more. These constitute the Loyalty Program.

What is the loyalty program?

When we talk about a Loyalty Program (or fidelity program), we are referring to a widely used tool that offers benefits to customers who join it. Let's look at some of the many possible solutions:

• Loyalty Card: This is one of the most common and widespread cases; it usually allows the customer to collect points. Upon reaching a certain number of points, the customer is entitled to redeem a reward, which can range from a certain percentage discount on a future purchase to receiving a free gift. With this system, not only is the customer already largely loyal, but they will also be encouraged to make further purchases with the goal of reaching the reward;
• Another method could be creating a VIP Program. Customers who join this system will have advantages over those who do not. For example, they might have early access to certain products or purchase them at a lower cost. In many cases, being part of the VIP program requires a membership fee from the customer;
• Contests and Giveaways: this is clearly an interesting choice and very popular especially with the use of social media. With these types of initiatives, the aim is to engage everyone who is close to the brand, to ensure they keep it in sight and actively monitor its activities.

The ones just listed are only some of the possible choices that can be implemented to achieve customer loyalty. There are many more complex, structured, and advantageous options available.

In conclusion, we can say that one of the main goals of a company remains to always be the first choice for the customer.

And loyalty represents everything that in this sense and with this goal, the company can (and must) do.