Bring ‘Em Back for More

Let me step back for a moment. Merchants look at a formal loyalty program in terms of hard benefits, like discounts, and soft benefits, like special customer [phone] numbers, special communications, etc. The best loyalty programs combine both elements.

The straight membership program, frankly, is the most common, probably because it is one of the simplest to implement, as well as the easiest to explain to people. I’ve also seen a slight variation where somebody offers free shipping instead of discounts. I don’t see too many points programs, where each purchase earns customers points, but there are some out there.