To create the best loyalty programs for your subscription business, you need to understand how successful and best loyalty programs work and how to implement them. In this article, we’ll go through some of the best loyalty programs and review their pros and cons.
Who Makes More Money: New vs. Existing Customers
Here’s a traditional way of looking at things: The more customers you have, the more successful you are. Or not? The new marketing age considers another factor: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Each new customer you get will cost you a certain amount of money. On the other hand, maintaining your already existing customers (with loyalty program or any other tactics) will cost WAY LESS.
It is clear that the trend is changing, and more and more brands are jumping on the bandwagon of Shopify loyalty program.
A Shopify loyalty program is what differentiates you from the competition. Create a close relationship with your customers so that they remember your brand and come back frequently. While it may seem simple, it is actually that little switch to the best loyalty programs that makes a successful business boom! We want happy customers; customers who are happy to buy from us and customers who are happy to stay.
Some Stats about the Best Loyalty Programs
You will succeed selling to an existing customer 60%-70% of the time while you’ll be able to sell to only 5%-20% of your new customers.
Keeping only 5% your existing customers (with the best loyalty programs or other ways) can increase your profit from 5%-95%.
Getting a new customer can cost 5 times more than retaining your old customers.
What Are Customer Loyalty Programs?
Think of customer loyalty program as incentives you give your customers to buy more from you. These benefits can range from discounts or free products to any other benefit that is valuable to customers. The best loyalty programs to reward customers accomplish these basic marketing goals:
- Improve customer loyalty and lifetime value
- Increase profits and recurring revenue (by selling, up-selling, and cross-selling more products or services to existing customers)
- Define an ideal customer profile by capturing customer data and purchasing behaviors
- More referral customers through the already loyal customers
Why Is It Necessary to Plan the Best Loyalty Programs Shopify Store?
Customers can disappear if they have a bad experience, even if it is only once.
On a 2022 Customer Loyalty Survey run by PWC, about half of the attendants (55%) claimed that they would leave a brand after having multiple unpleasant experiences.
It sort of goes without saying, doesn’t it? The results that may surprise you is that 8% of the attendants said it would only take them one bad experience to leave the brand once and for all. Is losing that many customers due to a single bad experience worth it to you? And it isn’t necessarily about BAD experiences. 32% of attendants even stated that they’ll say goodbye to a business if they provided inconsistent experiences!
For businesses, loyalty strategies can be a great way to increase customer retention and boost sales. It can be risky to ignore the necessity of planning for the best loyalty programs, and may lead to customers shopping elsewhere or not being as loyal to your business.
And as your good, true, and loyal friends, that’s why we believe you should consider taking the time to evaluate your loyalty program options and consider implementing one that is tailored to your customers’ needs. You’ll do great!
5 Benefits of Customer Loyalty Programs For Shopify
Well, that’s enough warning about the risks of not presenting your best loyalty programs for Shopify. Here’s the bright side!
1. Loyalty program ensures long-term Success
In the e-commerce market, knowing how to create the best loyalty program is key to ensuring a steady stream of revenue and long-term success. Customers are more likely to buy from a business after receiving discounts, free shipping, early access, etc. This can increase sales and profit margins with repeated purchases.
2. Loyalty programs complete customer profile
One of the primary benefits of loyalty program is that it allows businesses to understand their customer’s behaviors and preferences. Through the best loyalty programs, businesses can collect data from their customers to gain insights into their purchasing patterns, demographics, and preferences. This allows businesses to tailor their subscription marketing strategies and product offerings to better meet their customers’ needs.
3. Best loyalty programs Improve relationships
Another benefit of loyalty programs is the positive effect it has on customers’ emotional connection to a brand (you might see this under such names as brand loyalty or brand advocacy). Customers who feel like a brand values them and their needs are more likely to remain in touch with the brand and make repeat purchases. The best loyalty programs are going to find you customers that are going to stick with you through the ups and downs of your business journey; something you simply can’t miss!
4. Loyalty programs raise brand awareness
One of the main advantages of loyalty programs is that they can help increase brand awareness. By offering rewards for purchases, customers become more aware of your brand’s perks and capabilities. They will also be more likely to talk about their experiences with the loyalty program, which will create a positive buzz about your brand. (never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth!)
5. Loyalty programs save costs
As a business owner, it’s important to find ways to save money and maximize your bottom line. And as odd as it may sound, the best loyalty programs can act as cost-saving operations. You need to look at your reward system (discounts, free shipping,…) as a long-term investment. By rewarding customers for their loyalty, you can increase customer retention, which helps to reduce customer acquisition costs.
Additionally, the best loyalty programs can help increase customer lifetime value, as customers are more likely to spend more on each purchase they make.
5 Types of Loyalty Programs
So far, you know what loyalty programs are and how they work. Also you are familiar with the benefits of loyalty programs. Now let’s see what are the most common types of loyalty programs that have stood the test of time.
NOTE: The types of loyalty programs we introduce here are common but you don’t have to necessarily stick to them. After you get started and test the waters, you can get creative and create your own loyalty program customized for your customers and product/service. Sometimes, these models are also called hybrid loyalty programs.
1. Point-based loyalty programs
This is probably the most common type of loyalty program. Here’s how it works: customers gather points and then spend or redeem those points.
So how do customers get points in points-based loyalty program? Here are some common ways:
- Making purchases
- Mentioning you on social media
- Sharing something about you on social media (like a referral)
- Leaving reviews
- Playing a gamification campaign
Now the question is how do customers spend or redeem those points? Here are some common ways:
- Free products
- Cashback
- Discount code
- Free shipping
- Exclusive perks (like early access etc.)
2. Paid (subscription) loyalty programs
Put simply, in this loyalty program model, you charge customers a certain fee and in exchange, give them certain perks and benefits immediately.
How do I charge the customers? Well, it depends on your choice. For example, you can offer recurring fees (monthly, quarterly, annually etc.) or you can opt for a one-time fee in which a customer upgrades to a more premium level and that’s it.
Important Point: If customers are considering paying a fee to access benefits, they will require a proof or value before paying. So you might want to create a landing, a video, some testimonials or any other tactic to make sure they understand the value you offer. Otherwise, the customers will not convert to your loyalty programs.
3. Tiered loyalty programs
Tiered loyalty program is simple yet very effective. You create ranks and each rank comes with its own benefits and perks.
How do I create ranks? You can choose the metrics that matter to you most at a certain time; for instance, you can choose total purchase volume, an aggregate of purchase volume and engagement metrics like reviews, social shares etc.
It goes without saying that tiered loyalty programs are designed in such a way that the higher a customer’s rank, the more exclusive or premium their benefits. In other words, you have to create persuasive incentives so that customers are motivated to buy or engage more.
4. Value-based loyalty programs
All successful brands stand for a set of values and they make sure they communicate these values to their customers. After a certain point, the values a brand stands for weighs heavily when a customer is considering a brand. Imagine two cellphone brands: A and B. They both offer similar phones but the brand A sells at slightly higher price and also solidly stands for a value or a style. Research (and experience) shows that most people will choose the A brand, although it is a bit more expensive.
So now that we understand how values are important for customers, we can use it to create one of the best loyalty programs.
In value-based loyalty program, you first realize what values stand out for your customers’ persona and then try to adhere to them. For example, most companies who practice value-based loyalty program donate a certain percentage of their income to charities or welfare programs, or even hospitals.
5. Hybrid loyalty programs
As the name suggests, in this model you can get creative with your customer loyalty programs and create mixture of the mentioned models or even come up with a model yourself.
How to Choose the Top Shopify Loyalty Apps
Shopify loyalty programs are widely available and with a simple search you can find as many options with different features and benefits. As a result, it’s critical to establish a set of standards that make it easier to identify the most reliable choices.
In other words, it is better to know how to choose the best loyalty programs app for Shopify and avoid confusing the many options on the market. So how can we choose the best customer loyalty solution for Shopify?
The following are the standards you can use to select the best Shopify loyalty apps:
Customizable Reward Actions
If you want to expand your loyalty programs, you really need an app that can reward users for referrals, social media interactions, and purchases, in addition to other things. As a result, we examined the requirements for incentive programs in each app.
Customizable Themes for the Best Loyalty Programs
It should be easy for your loyalty programs to integrate with your website. That gives the impression that your company and loyalty programs are regarded as trustworthy and custom-made. We chose loyalty applications with broad theme customization options for this reason. If your user notices any inconsistency when browsing your website, you are going to lose their trust in your brand. Sometimes, users find it dangerous to shop on pages that are not branded with different colors and themes. So stick to the best customer loyalty solution for Shopify that provides you with customizable themes.
Pricing
High quality doesn’t always translate to being expensive. As a result, we assessed each Shopify loyalty app offer’s price-to-quality ratio and ensured that customers could test the service out beforehand.
Integration with Shopify Apps
It is essential that your loyalty program functions in harmony with all other website features. As a result, we selected loyalty and reward programs that were compatible with a wide range of top Shopify apps.
Unique Features for Loyalty
It is crucial to check if your loyalty program app has excellent features. By excellent, we mean subscription loyalty schemes, intelligent on-site reminders, and all in between. We searched for applications with the most feature-rich listings in order to find the greatest experiences for both merchants and customers. Of course, each app has its own list of features, but in case you want to have the best loyalty program for Shopify, you should check the features that are exclusively for this purpose.
User-friendly UI and UX
A simple Shopify application is essential for all users, regardless of experience level, since it makes business management simple and straightforward. As a result, we evaluated each app’s functionality and chose the most approachable ones. You might ignore the importance of user-friendliness of your page UI and UX. It is because you know everything about your own pages and can’t think how your users are using the apps. In fact, studies show that 88% of users that have a negative user experience are less inclined to come back.
Loyalty Programs On Subscription Programs
The fact that you have read this far in the article means that you understand the importance of customer loyalty and that you want to learn how to gain customers who will stay with your business via the best loyalty programs.
Let us give you a perfect shortcut: subscriptions! By launching a subscription plan on your store, you’re going to give your customer a chance to level up. All the things you need to have the best loyalty program are covered by subscription services. They’re the best possible choice among the options, especially if you’re running an online store on Shopify.
Here are some reasons why:
- Ongoing connection: Subscription-selling plans are a great way to create an ongoing relationship with customers. Customers can easily manage their subscriptions and access exclusive offers, while businesses can keep track of customers and ensure they are getting the best deals. This helps create a strong bond between customers and businesses and encourages customers to keep coming back.
- Automated process: In order to run a subscription service on Shopify, you can always rely on the Shopify apps. Subify, as your subscription-management tool, helps simplify your business processes and make them more efficient. You can easily manage customer orders, track sales, and automate billing. This reduces the amount of time and budget needed to manage customer accounts and allows you to focus on other aspects of your business.
- Planning ahead: Subscription-selling plans allow you to create a recurring revenue stream for your business and that’s why they’re one of the best loyalty programs you can think of. Why? By using Subify, you will be able to view all of your sales histories and gain analytical insight into your monthly revenue. This can help you plan your budget, predict future sales, and make more informed decisions about expanding your product offerings.
- Ease of use & flexibility: Consider a beauty box subscription that sends cosmetic gift boxes to their most loyal customers, or a coffee subscription business that makes the shipping free for those who order more than one coffee bag each month. How likely are they to lose a customer? People are diverse, and running a subscription business with Subify allows you to cater to everyone’s needs more easily. Subscription services provide customers with a more flexible way of accessing products and services. Through Subify’s loyalty program app shopify panel, you can add subscriptions to as many products as you’d like and give them discounts. Customers can choose the plan that best suits their needs with an easy-to-use UX and automation (basically through a few clicks).
- A very affordable team: Subscription isn’t all about recurring revenue. It’s actually a playground that allows you to go for fun, creative, and outstanding tactics.
That’s why Subify has chosen to go far beyond automation. With Subify:
- You can always reach a technical support team, for any questions or requests that you may have.
- You can get in touch with a team of experts to receive a demo, step-by-step instructions, personal coaching (tailored to your business), and marketing guidance.
- Subify designers will be more than happy to create a subscription landing page for you! Go for the best loyalty program by dedicating a landing page to your subscription products and providing all the details your customers need for comparison, and purchase!
- The product team at Subify is more than open to listening to your needs in full detail. You can always reach the Subify team with a unique feature you need for your business; they’ll evaluate the feature, tell you about the requirements, and develop the feature for you, if possible!
In order to implement the best loyalty program, will relieve you of your need for account managers, marketers, designers, and even developers!
Best Loyalty Programs for Shopify
Here are some Best Loyalty Programs for Shopify:
Referral Candy & Affiliate
With a dedicated focus on referrals and sales tracking, Referral Candy & Affiliate offers a 14-day free trial, proactive customer support, and built-in fraud protection. While lacking stage-based referral incentives, its customizable branding options, comprehensive dashboard, and integration capabilities with platforms like AdRoll, Klaviyo, and Google Analytics make it a compelling choice for businesses looking to boost customer engagement.
Features:
- Automation: Streamlined management of referral programs with automation features.
- Integration: Seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento.
- Customization: Fully customizable branding options for emails and rewards.
- Tracking: Comprehensive dashboard for tracking key metrics such as referral results, revenue, and social media shares.
- Fraud Prevention: Built-in automatic fraud protection to ensure the integrity of referral programs.
Pros:
- Dedicated referral management app with a focus on tracking and rewarding referrals.
- 14-day free trial available.
- Proactive customer support, with live chat available on premium packages.
- Built-in automatic fraud protection.
- Fully customizable branding options for emails, offering cash, coupons, or special gifts as rewards.
Cons:
- No stage-based referral incentives.
- Relatively higher pricing compared to some alternatives.
- Limited multi-language support.
Subify: Shopify Subscription App
Subify emerges as a powerful Shopify Subscription App, offering automatic subscription management and recurring payment solutions. With a commitment to simplicity and completeness, Subify transforms one-time buyers into loyal subscribers, providing a seamless experience for both merchants and customers and is considered as one of the best customer loyalty solutions for shopify.
Features:
- Automatic Subscription Management: Manages subscriptions and recurring payments seamlessly.
- One-Time to Recurring: Easily transforms one-time buyers into loyal subscribers with straightforward subscription plan additions.
- Versatile Revenue Building: Utilizes free trials, various discounts, and custom shipping rates to motivate subscription adoption.
- Effortless Customization: Provides customizable templates for a widget that perfectly fits the store’s aesthetic.
- Subscriber Empowerment: Reduces churn by allowing subscribers to manage their subscriptions with password-less access.
Pros:
- Automatic Subscription Management: Seamlessly manages subscriptions and recurring payments, simplifying the process for both merchants and customers.
- One-Time to Recurring: Effortlessly transforms one-time buyers into loyal subscribers by adding subscription plans to products.
- Versatile Revenue Building: Utilizes free trials, various discounts, and custom shipping rates to motivate customers to subscribe, contributing to recurring revenue.
- Effortless Customization: Provides customizable templates for a widget that seamlessly fits the store’s aesthetic.
- Subscriber Empowerment: Reduces churn by empowering subscribers to manage their subscriptions through a password-less subscription portal.
- Case Studies: Demonstrates a track record of success with over 2,000 active Shopify stores, processing over $300,000 every month, and boasting a 4.9/5 rating from 110 reviews.
- 24/7 Customer Success: Access to Shopify experts for guidance and support available 24/7, ensuring assistance at any scale.
- Complete Control Over Details: Merchants and customers have access to edit almost anything within the Subify app.
- Full Integration: Fully integrated with the theme, Shopify panel, and other apps, eliminating the need for coding.
Galanta
Priced at $99 per month with a 30-day free trial, Galanta offers direct push notification and email communication capabilities. Its US-based premium support adds a layer of customer service excellence. While currently limited to English, its effectiveness in driving organic customer traffic and enhancing customer engagement positions Galanta as a valuable asset for store owners.
Feature:
- AI-driven Engagement: Utilizes advanced AI to increase average order value and drive new customer traffic.
- Direct Communication: Allows direct push notification and email communication with the audience.
- Engagement Rates: Boasts one of the highest customer uptake and engagement rates for loyalty programs.
- Trial Period: Offers a 30-day free trial for users to explore and experience its benefits.
- Premium Support: Provides US-based premium support for enhanced customer assistance.
Pros:
- Utilizes AI to increase average order value and engage customers.
- 30-day free trial available.
- Direct push notification and email communication with the audience.
- Effectively sells slow-moving products and reduces off-peak periods.
- US-based premium support.
Cons:
- Currently limited to English only.
Loyalty, Memberships, Cashback (Toki)
Priced at $29 per month, Toki’s strengths lie in its user-friendly interface, tiered rewards program, and integration with community and brand initiatives. Despite being a relatively new platform, Toki provides a 14-day free trial, exciting activations like quizzes and surveys, and outstanding analytics and integrations, making it a promising choice for forward-thinking businesses.
Features:
- Gamified Rewards: Introduces a gamified rewards program for consumers to build brand loyalty.
- Tiered Rewards Program: Offers a tiered rewards program with activities tied to community and brand initiatives.
- Universal Log-in: User-friendly interface with universal log-in via existing email profiles.
- Exciting Activations: Rewards for onsite quizzes, polls, surveys, and user-generated content.
- Analytics and Integrations: Outstanding analytics and integrations, including Apple Wallet Integration.
Pros:
- Free package with a tiered rewards program.
- User-friendly interface with activities and rewards tied to community engagement.
- Universal login via existing email profiles.
- Exciting activations, such as rewards for quizzes, polls, and surveys.
- Outstanding analytics and integrations, including Apple Wallet Integration.
Cons:
- Relatively new platform with fewer users.
Rivo: Loyalty & Referrals
Available at $49 per month with a free trial option, Rivo loyalty & referrals stands out for its simple setup process (under 3 minutes), 24/7 customer support, and integration with Shopify. While lacking a gift card feature, Rivo proves effective in unloading stock through loyalty incentives, prompting customers via integrated email marketing, and delivering a significant increase in ROI.
Features:
- Boosting Sales: Aims to boost sales, conversions, and client retention through loyalty incentives.
- Referral Incentives: Provides rewards points, cashback, coupons, and other incentives for customer referrals.
- Integrated Email Marketing: Ability to prompt customers to use/spend rewards via an integrated email marketing system.
- 24/7 Support: Offers 24/7 customer support service specifically designed for Shopify users.
- Quick Setup: Fast and simple setup process under 3 minutes for user convenience.
Pros:
- Free to install with limited functionality.
- Quick and simple setup process.
- 24/7 customer support designed specifically for Shopify.
- Significantly increases ROI.
- High-quality features with affordable rates.
Cons:
- Lacks a gift card feature.
- Manual removal of reward points required for refund transactions.
BON Loyalty Rewards Referrals
With a pricing starting at $15 per month and a free trial available, BON loyalty shopify motivates repeat purchases with fully customized rewards, showcases loyalty widgets in 250+ languages, and ensures 24/7 fast and responsive customer support. While the free package lacks integration, BON positions itself as a versatile choice for businesses seeking advanced features at affordable prices as can be considered as a shopify loyalty program free.
Features:
- Innovative Loyalty: Crafted for merchants experiencing rapid growth with innovative loyalty programs.
- Customer Empowerment: Empowers merchants to effortlessly cultivate customer loyalty and stimulate recurring transactions.
- Fully Customized Rewards: Offers fully customized rewards with expiry dates, available to combine discounts.
- Multilingual Support: Showcases 250+ languages simultaneously for loyalty widgets and automated emails.
- 24/7 Customer Support: Provides fast and responsive 24/7 customer support to ensure merchant guidance.
Pros:
- Free trial available.
- Motivates repeat purchases with fully customized rewards.
- Showcase in 250+ languages simultaneously.
- Advanced features at affordable prices.
- Fast and responsive 24/7 customer support.
Cons:
- Free package offers no integration.
- Only a 3-day free trial.
Joy: Loyalty & Rewards Program
Joy: Loyalty & Rewards Program is a dynamic and efficient solution designed to foster customer loyalty through a points-based rewards system. Tailored for Shopify store owners, Joy offers a diverse range of capabilities that empower administrators to configure the accumulation and utilization of loyalty points with ease.
Features:
- Points-Based System: Efficiently cultivates customer loyalty through a points-based rewards system.
- Customization Options: Allows store administrators to establish specific rules governing point accumulation and utilization.
- Automated Notifications: Streamlines customer management and automates the delivery of reward notifications through email automation.
- Referral Program: Seamlessly integrates a referral program to acquire referrals and minimize expenses.
- Personalization: Enables stores to personalize the aesthetics of loyalty initiatives and provide multilingual options.
Pros:
- Free version available.
- Allows store administrators to establish specific rules for loyalty points.
- Streamlined system for managing customers.
- Personalized branding of loyalty initiatives.
- Automated email notifications for earned rewards.
Cons:
- Basic functionality in the free version.
- No free trial available.
Rise.ai: Gift Cards & Loyalty
While the free version is available, priced at $19.99 per month, Joy offers functionality for specific rules governing point accumulation and utilization. However, the absence of a free trial and the basic functionality in the free version may impact its appeal. Yet, its seamless integration of a referral program and automation of loyalty emails make Joy a contender for effective customer engagement.
Features:
- One-Stop Solution: Offers a one-stop solution for managing various brand-related activities, including gift cards, loyalty, rewards, and referrals.
- Automation of Rules: Automation of rules for rewards and loyalty programs, simplifying the process of using store credit.
- Branded Gift Cards: Allows customers to send branded gift cards directly to recipients for enhanced gifting experiences.
- Intuitive Store Credit System: Simplifies handling returns and refunds through an intuitive store credit system.
- Integration: Fully integrates with other tools and apps, providing seamless compatibility.
Pros:
- 7-day free trial available.
- One-stop solution for managing various brand-related activities.
- Branded gift cards for enhanced gifting experience.
- Automation of rules for rewards and loyalty programs.
- Intuitive store credit system for handling returns and refunds.
Cons:
- No free version.
- Implementation may require time and effort.
Here is the table comparing the features of the mentioned loyalty program apps for Shopify:
| Feature | Referral Candy & Affiliate | Subify | Galanta | Toki | Rivo | BON | Joy | Rise.ai |
| Pricing | $59
/ month |
$9 / month | $19/month | $49/month | $49/month | $25/month | $29/month | 19.99 /month |
| Free Trial | 14-day free trial | Start for free | 30-day free trial | 14-day free trial | Free trial available | Free trial available | No free trial available | 7-day free trial |
| Customer Support | Proactive customer support | 24/7 customer success | US-based premium support | Outstanding analytics and integrations | 24/7 customer support | 24/7 customer support | Basic functionality in free version | 7-day free trial |
| Integration | Integrates with various platforms | Fully integrated with Shopify | Limited to English only | Integrates with community and brand initiatives | Integrates with Shopify | Free package offers no integration | Integrates with Shopify | Fully integrates with other tools |
| Customization | Fully customizable branding | Effortless customization | Not specific customization | Tiered rewards program | Quick and simple setup | Advanced features at affordable prices | Personalized branding of loyalty initiatives | Branded gift cards for enhanced gifting experience |
| Language Support | 15 languages supported | Fully integrated with your business language | Limited to English only | Multilingual support | 5 languages supported | Showcase in 250+ languages simultaneously | Provides multilingual options | 4 languages supported |
| Automated Notifications | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Trial Period | 14-day free trial | Start for free | 30-day free trial | 14-day free trial | No free trial available | 3-day free trial | No free trial available | 7-day free trial |
Conclusion
Subscription-based loyalty programs offer businesses a variety of benefits. They allow businesses to track customer behavior, identify trends, and target their marketing efforts to those who are most likely to purchase. And most important of all, they help businesses build relationships with customers and reward them for their loyalty.
Go with the best loyalty programs app shopify to offer a good quality to your customers.
It’s your lucky day: Subify’s at your service!
About Us
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