The cost of acquiring new customers is 5-7X higher than retaining one, particularly in a tight economy.
That is why Superlogic is announcing an exclusive opportunity for all American Express merchants to gain access to enterprise-grade loyalty and connected commerce software that will turbocharge customer loyalty and grant invaluable data insights into its customers.
Superlogic officially went live with their launch on November 7th, 2023. Crowdfund Insider recently connected with Lin Dai, CEO of Superlogic in order to discuss the partnership. We talked about how technology can turbocharge brand loyalty, and touched on the importance of brand loyalty in the current economy and more.
Our conversation with Lin Dai is shared below.
Crowdfund Insider: How can technology revamp loyalty programs?
Lin Dai: Traditional loyalty programs based on “points and miles” create massive accounting liabilities on corporate books, while offering a limited “one size fits all” experience to the end users. New technology can revamp loyalty programs by more efficiently managing program liabilities while adding features to enhance personalization and overall user experience.
Next-gen loyalty programs include A.I. powered management of points liabilities, enhanced personalization through peer-to-peer technology, comprehensive physical and digital purchase data, and gamification and incentivization around social media based actions. These technological innovations significantly increase loyalty program sign-ups and engagement, and ultimately drive measurable incremental revenue for brands.
Crowdfund Insider: How does user data improve reward capabilities?
Lin Dai: User data improves reward capabilities by providing insights into customer behavior and preferences. Today’s loyalty technology often captures a small slice of the data, namely direct-to-consumer purchase data, while missing up to 80% of the data on purchases happening at brick-and-mortar and 3rd party distribution channels.
With better capabilities to capture the missing data from physical sales, next-gen loyalty program providers can capture more users and offer better tailored benefits, offers, and incentives to match individual preferences. The comprehensive data set of both direct-to-consumer and third-party channel data allows brands to optimize their programs and make them more relevant and appealing to end users.
Crowdfund Insider: How does this data also help to attract new users as well as merchants?
Lin Dai: When a user walks into a department store and purchases a pair of their favorite shoes, the show brand doesn’t reward the buyer because they are blind to the data since it was purchased through a 3rd party retailer. Next-gen loyalty technology can capture data on purchases through any channel, and this new data can help capture sign-ups from up to 80% more users who are purchasing through 3rd party channels.
In addition, a next-gen gamified loyalty experience can leverage data insights to identify and incentivize peer-to-peer referrals that can capture potential new customers at a fraction of the cost. A data-centric next-gen loyalty program can be much more than just free product redemptions, it can become the core CRM and the central heartbeat of the brand.
Crowdfund Insider: Why do you think many companies are cutting rewards out of their offerings?
Lin Dao: Some of the biggest loyalty programs in the space have received intense scrutiny from members for cutting benefits and raising requirements to achieve loyalty status. Loyalty related accounting liabilities are piling up on corporate books, and traditional programs have difficulty balancing liabilities with revenue and member engagement. Next-gen loyalty programs utilizing a hybrid of points and non-points based rewards technology can help brands better mitigate points based accounting liabilities without sacrificing engagement or cutting member benefits.
Crowdfund Insider: Why is brand loyalty so important in an uncertain market?
Lin Dai: Brand loyalty is vital in an uncertain market because it builds long-term trust and repeat purchases. As acquisition costs for new customers significantly increase in a high-interest environment, a well-executed loyalty program can retain existing customers who can account for up to 80% of a brand’s revenue.
For businesses, brand loyalty acts as a buffer against market fluctuations, helping maintain a steady customer base and revenue stream even when economic conditions are uncertain.
Crowdfund Insider: How do brand partnerships improve the value of rewards programs?
Lin Dai: Brand partnerships enhance the value of rewards programs by diversifying the rewards and benefits available to end users. Consumers today are increasingly looking for new ways to engage and aspirational experiences beyond what traditional loyalty programs offer. Collaborations like Superlogic and American Express enable merchants and brands to get access to next-gen loyalty technology that can enhance user engagement and program benefits, while better managing and reducing program accounting liability. These partnerships leverage the expertise of the respective partners, and ultimately enhance a program’s value.
Crowdfund Insider: What are your predictions for how rewards programs will evolve in the new year?
Lin Dai: 90% of all brands have some type of loyalty offering, and 79% of the consumers join 16.6 programs on average, but only actively participate in less than half of them. In the new year and years to come, we predict brands will be increasingly seeking new technology and methods to enhance their rewards programs engagement, revamping or rebuilding their programs to go beyond the traditional “points and miles” model.
Some key themes will include:
a. Advanced Personalization: Rewards programs will become even more personalized, tailoring offers to individual preferences with the help of A.I. and the latest peer-to-peer technologies.
b. Technology Integration: Expect greater integration of emerging technologies like blockchain to enhance security and provide more efficient loyalty transactions and operations.
c. Gamification and Engagement: Gamification and interactive elements will become central to every program, for keeping users engaged and excited about earning and redeeming rewards.
d. Omnichannel Experiences: Loyalty programs will seamlessly capture and incentivize both purchase and non-purchase actions across both digital and physical sales channels, as well as social media, ensuring a consistent customer experience.
e. Sustainability Focus: Sustainability and social responsibility will become increasingly more important to rewards programs and brand image.
These predictions reflect the ongoing need for adaptation and innovation in loyalty programs to meet changing customer expectations and market dynamics, and the importance of thinking outside the box and partnering with next-gen loyalty technology providers.