Building customer loyalty isn’t easy and keeping it is even harder! In our latest webinar, we explored how leading retailers reshape their loyalty strategies for Holiday 2024 and beyond. We covered the must-have tools for boosting retention and shared tips for creating promotions that increase customer lifetime value and keep them coming back. Attendees got practical ideas to level up their loyalty programs.
What we learned:
- The new face of customer loyalty
- How agility can enhance digital commerce
- How omnichannel shopping empowers customers
Speakers:
- Jon Kosoff, CDO, Tillys
- Travis Garcia, VP, eCommerce, PrettyLitter
- Renee Halvorsen, CMO, Marine Layer
- Tarek Müller, Co-Founder & Managing Director, ABOUT YOU
- Moderated by: Allan Dick, CoFounder, CommerceNext
Watch the replay or read the recap below.
The New Face of Customer Loyalty
Loyalty has changed a lot; it’s no longer just about points and promotions. Now, it’s about creating real connections with customers. Research from SCALE shows that loyal customers have over 300% higher lifetime value than occasional shoppers, spend about 67% more than new customers and are 86% more likely to tell their friends and family about the brand. In short, loyal customers are the key to growing a business.
How Agility Can Enhance Your Digital Commerce
Flexibility and agility are crucial when building a digital commerce technology stack. It’s important to create an architecture that brings together both business benefits and technical strengths. Agility helps companies quickly test new features, like AI chatbots, while slow integration processes can hold them back. A modular and composable approach makes it easy to add or change features without starting from scratch. Brands can improve their systems while focusing on providing a great customer experience. This friendly approach encourages retailers to rethink how they build their digital commerce and adapt to what customers want.
How Industry Leaders Define Loyalty
All of the speakers recognize the significant change in the realm of loyalty programs in retail. Rather than focusing on basic promotions or points programs, it is crucial for brands to offer special experiences or touchpoints that create a personal relationship between the customer and the brand.
Tilly’s, PrettyLitter and Marine Layer all touched on the importance of creating unique, engaging and fun experiences to connect with the customers on a personal level, making their brand feel unique. While they all provide some kind of basic discount or deal, that is not the main focus of any of their loyalty programs.
By understanding what your customers really enjoy, you can connect with your customer in a more meaningful way, increasing the likelihood that they stay loyal.
The Power of Omnichannel Shopping
Omnichannel shopping helps customers make a positive impact, as shown by Marine Layer’s Respun Take Back Bag program. Customers can buy large bags for $20 and receive $40 in Marine Layer credit when they fill them with old clothes, which the company then turns into new items.
Marine Layer understands that sharing this program well means more than just a good webpage. It also needs a great in-store experience across all 47 locations. Clear communication and strong connections with staff are essential for explaining the program’s benefits. Marine Layer ensures customers feel good about their contributions while enjoying a friendly shopping experience.
PrettyLitter empowers customers through an omnichannel approach, allowing them to shop where they want, whether online or in-store, while enjoying rewards. The company gathers useful data to inform customers about new products and special offers. They’re exploring fun ideas like receipt scanning and contests to enhance their loyalty program. By focusing on the right tools and making everything user-friendly, PrettyLitter ensures that shopping is convenient and enjoyable, giving customers more control over their experience.
For more tips like these, sign up for the 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show, taking place in NYC on June 24-26, 2025. Sign up here.
