SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Formation, the Dynamic Offer Platform (DYNO) company, continues to give brands the tools they need to transform their loyalty programs from a mass, earn-and-burn model to a gamified, personalized experience that creates stickiness and drives revenue from loyal customers.
Loyalty programs should incentivize customers to more deeply engage with a brand by making purchases or taking specific actions, but, according to a recent survey of 500+ US adults, current loyalty programs are falling short. Almost half of consumers (45.3%) would rather enroll in a loyalty game to win a prize, rather than continue on a regular program with simple points earnings, and 49.2% said the games and sweepstakes are more fun than consistently accumulating the same rewards or points for purchases.
Games and fun also drive loyalty with modern buyers -- three-quarters of consumers (72.5%) said they feel more inclined to shop at brands that make their loyalty experience fun and rewarding.
In addition to being less fun than personalized games or challenges, existing loyalty programs are at risk of decreasing overall revenue because they are confusing for consumers. According to research, 80% of consumers are sometimes or often confused about what their loyalty program benefits and rewards actually are. Making loyalty program progress less confusing has massive revenue benefits, because when brands create engaging, clearly-understood loyalty programs, consumers are more likely to purchase:
- 65% are more likely to engage with a loyalty offer when they see the path to getting a reward laid out clearly
- 62% frequently make purchases in order to advance their status in loyalty programs
As brands look to gain share of wallet in an increasingly competitive marketplace, loyalty programs can be a key driver for long-term customer retention and revenue. However, it is clear that earn-and-burn programs, with complex rules, are not deepening the relationship between brands and customers. A new style of loyalty program, with personalized games and challenges, alongside a clear understanding of what to do next for a reward, is needed for brands to drive revenue from their customer base.
Loyalty Status in Real Time
Expanding on its recent launch of hosted offers that simplified the creation of gamified loyalty experiences, Formation is delivering clarity, efficiency and fun for brands and their customers through Real-Time Offer Status, which enables the creation of personalized loyalty challenges.
Many brands today are in the process of their own digital transformations as they move to answer the demands of a customer base that is increasingly digital and looking for a deeper and more meaningful relationship when it comes to loyalty. With 49% of loyalty program members checking their loyalty program status multiple times per week, brands need an easy way to provide real-time offer and achievement status without complex MarTech stack integrations, net new development, or competing for already scarce technical resources. Formation’s Real-Time Offer Status lets brands quickly and easily give customers the clarity they require no matter where they are on their digital transformation journey.
Real-Time Offer Status represents the continuous improvement of the Formation Platform, giving brands a quick and easy way to get gamified offers into the market. With Formation, brands can:
1) Give consumers a single view to see all their offers and current status on any channel
2) Leverage Formation’s Hosted Offer Feed to immediately get gamified offers into market through any channel, with no development
3) Display offers directly within owned channels and experiences by integrating with Formation’s Status API
Real-Time Offer Status deepens customer relationships through real-time access to all offers in a single interface, on any device, and knowing exactly where they are in their journey to completing those offers, or getting to the next status tier, whatever the end goal might be. Consumers are looking for fun from their loyalty programs, with 47% of respondents saying the experience of challenges or gamified programs is better than loyalty programs where they just earn points per purchase.
Real-Time Offer Status further extends the Formation Platform’s unique and patented solution. “Now product teams can implement highly engaging gamified loyalty experiences that drive consumers to take action and make purchases, with an easy-to-use API,” said Christian Selchau-Hansen, CEO at Formation. “Consumers are demanding fun, personalized experiences, and this new capability from Formation enables these experiences to be easily implemented across multiple touchpoints so consumers can see their progress and engage more deeply.”
About Formation
Formation helps brands build deeper relationships with every customer, beyond the transaction. Our patented Dynamic Offer Platform leverages brands’ first-party data to automatically generate each customer’s offer with the best action and reward, then manages the deployment, measurement and fulfillment of each offer across the marketing stack. Brands see 3X revenue lift, 2X more engagement and 10X faster time to market with their offers. Formation powers offer optimization for some of the world’s largest brands, such as United Airlines, Giant Eagle and Smiles. For more information, visit formation.ai. Formation also supports a community of digital and marketing leaders called Loyalty Innovators. For more information, visit loyaltyinnovators.com.