5 Successful Coffee Loyalty Programs in America to Learn from

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Anjali Pillai

Nothing screams “Good Morning” like the first sip of freshly brewed coffee.

In the United States alone, the coffee industry is a bustling arena, with approximately 59,000 coffee shops generating a staggering $45 billion in annual revenue. As the demand for that perfect cup of joe continues to surge despite the economic fluctuations, a lot of new players are looking to set foot in the market. To thrive in this competitive landscape, there’s only one tried and tested strategy- increasing the number of repeat customers using valuable loyalty programs.

In this article, we’ll explore how innovative loyalty programs have helped major American coffee brands maintain existing customer bases, increase sales, and boost profits.

1. Starbucks Rewards by Starbucks

You can’t begin a listicle on loyalty programs without naming Starbucks! With a revenue of 32.3 billion dollars in 2022, Starbucks is one of the biggest coffee brands in the world. Starbucks, a true heavyweight in the American coffee business, accounts for a staggering 75% of all coffee shop sales in the country. A significant portion of their success can be attributed to Starbucks Rewards, one of the most successful programs of its kind. This loyalty program has become the linchpin of their operations, contributing 40% of their total sales and boasting a membership base of 24.2 million in the US alone.

“Starbucks Rewards also generates massive amounts of cash for the enterprise. Although not a bank, it reported $1.6 billion in outstanding gift card balances and $196 million in breakage (unused gift card balances) in FY 2022. Those cash balances are a cash manager’s dream as they are equivalent to an interest-free loan from the customer base (source).”

2. Dunkin’ Rewards by Dunkin’ Donuts

In the year 2019, Dunkin’ QSR chains had earned a total of 1.37 billion dollars. According to a 2020 report, Dunkin’, a stalwart in the U.S. coffee shop market, maintains a 26% share of the American coffee market. In just three years after the launch of their loyalty program, an impressive 7.5 million people signed up for the Dunkin’ app. Some of the exciting features of the Dunkin’s App that have made it so convenient are:

Redeem rewards
Order on the go
Digital wallet

The rewards offered by Dunkin’ go beyond just crediting points for every purchase. Customers get rewarded for several; occasions like during a business milestone, or when some festivities are around the corner, and so on.

Capillary’s Rewards+ helps brands leverage the power of rewards using AI automation to drive business and add customer value. You can read more about it here: Rewards+

3. Peetnik Rewards by Peet’s Coffee

With a revenue of 983 million dollars, Peet’s Coffee is a significant player in the market. Peet’s Coffee, with its roots in sunny Berkeley, California, has crafted a loyalty program known as Peetnik Rewards. The program’s simplicity resonates with customers, offering 125 points after the first order and one point for every dollar spent in-store or when ordering ahead. The cherry on top? A free birthday beverage and 25 points on the Peetnik Rewards Anniversary.

Peet’s Coffee proves that sometimes with a good campaign management platform less is more in loyalty program design.

4. MyMcDonald’s Rewards

Even fast-food giants like McDonald’s have recognized the potential of loyalty marketing within their McCafe brand. The coffee chain of McDonald’s McCafe generates a staggering revenue of $4 billion dollars alone. MyMcDonald’s Rewards operates on a straightforward premise: For every dollar spent, customers earn 100 points that can later be redeemed for free meals. The more points accumulated, the higher the tier, allowing for more valuable prizes. It’s a winning formula that drives customer engagement and loyalty in the quick-service restaurant sector.

5. What’s your favourite?

With International Coffee Day just around the corner on October 1, coffee brands across the globe are trying out innovative tactics to garner a larger customer base, for instance, Peet’s ‘Disloyalty Program!‘ What’s your favourite loyalty program when it comes to coffee chains and quick-service restaurants? Drop in a comment or reach out to a Loyalty Expert to see what other brands are doing!

Conclusion

The success stories of Starbucks, Dunkin’, Peet’s Coffee, and McDonald’s demonstrate that loyalty programs are not just about points and rewards; they are about building lasting connections with customers.

As we look ahead to the continued growth of the coffee industry in America, it is evident that loyalty marketing will remain a key ingredient in the recipe for success. Whether you’re a coffee industry veteran or a budding entrepreneur in the United States, taking a page from these coffee giants’ playbook and crafting a well-thought-out loyalty program can be the secret ingredient that helps your coffee shop thrive in this ever-expanding market. After all, in the world of American coffee, a loyal customer is worth their weight in beans.

If you are looking to kickstart your journey towards building a loyal customer base, we at Capillary can help you. Connect with us now and book a demo and help build a long term RoI driven loyalty program for your brand. .

Zero-party Data and How It’s Personalizing the Customer Loyalty Experience

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Katherine Boulware

Zero-party data is the future of marketing. And believe it or not, data collection benefits both consumers and brands! Data collection has to be balanced by the importance of data security and customers’ value of their privacy.

Providing your phone number at checkout. Accepting cookies on websites. Paying with a credit or debit card. All of these actions enable companies to track your behavior — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

Customer Benefits of Data Collection

We know that companies can benefit from collecting data about their customers. What isn’t always clear is how customers can benefit from companies having their data. What value do customers gain?

Generally, customers benefit from data collection through increased personal relevance of communications.

We all receive many emails each day. How many are dismissed as irrelevant and not worth opening — deleted as soon as the subject line is read?

Companies want to cut through the clutter of their customers’ inboxes so that their customers receive their messages. The best way to do that is to send messages that customers perceive as personalized and relevant, but also letting the customer know you share the value they place on their privacy.

Personalized Content

When companies know more about a customer, they can personalize content within their communications to make the message more meaningful to the customer.

Examples of personalized content include:

Sending an email about a previously purchased product category going on sale
Texting a reminder about items waiting in an online cart
Things that a customer will find more meaningful than a generic message

Customers benefit from these more personalized messages, made possible by brands leveraging zero-party data.

Customers do not have many tools in their arsenal to help increase the relevance of the messages they receive. Usually, the most powerful is a customer’s ability to opt out of communications.

Why do customers opt out of communications?

Sometimes customers opt out of communications, which happens naturally and not because the company did anything wrong. After all, customers’ needs change over time.

But the most common reason that customers opt out of receiving communication is that the benefit of receiving the communication no longer outweighs the inbox space it occupies. That indicates those communications were irrelevant to the customer it was sent to.

Zero-Party Data Helps Brands & Consumers

Though companies recognize this as an undesired outcome, the consumer loses out, too. Presumably, the customer wanted to receive communications since they opted in originally. If the customer doesn’t perceive value in the communications they receive, they lose an opportunity to engage with a brand that interests them.

Data Privacy, Security, & Transparency

Data security will always be important to companies and customers alike. Transparency about the benefits of data collection is key for both companies and customers participating in the process.

To keep their customers’ trust and cultivate emotional loyalty, brands should also prioritize being more transparent with consumers about what data they collect and why.

Zero-Party Data & Data Collection Experts

Zero-party data (ZPD) is now a key element of digital marketing, and it benefits both brands and consumers. Transparency of how data is collected, used, and stored will also benefit brands and consumers.

To learn more about increasing your loyalty profitability with zero-party data and transparent data collection through your loyalty solution and how to use it effectively, contact our team today!

Capillary Ramps up Emotional Intelligence by Partnering With Yawye

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Joe Doran

There are a lot of buzzwords and trendy taglines that get thrown around in the loyalty industry. Many firms like to claim they have emotional loyalty capabilities baked into their offerings and really, it’s just NPS. And NPS is fine, but definitely not new and purely a one-dimensional view of a customer’s perception of the brand. We know that emotional loyalty can be more complicated than that, but no one truly has a seamless way of providing the full picture. Capillary is changing that with our partnership with Yawye in integrating a profoundly powerful new technology that can measure the nuances and context of customer emotion. And yes, this includes emojis.

Forrester defines emotional loyalty as ‘the meaningful connection between consumers and their chosen brands. It is integral to how individuals make decisions in choosing one brand or

product over another.’ This is extremely true and important, especially in our industry, when emotions are powerful drivers of human behavior and purchase decisions. At Capillary, our platform is a catalyst for meaningful human connections that drives impactful results for our clients. To that end, we are always seeking innovative partners that can push the needle even further.

Enter Yawye. We’re proud to share that we have partnered with Yawye, adding to our arsenal of emotional loyalty offerings to provide our clients with real-time, emotional, sentiment at any touchpoint of the customer’s journey. Yawye is a startup software company that measures and quantifies emotions using emojis, reporting results in 60 seconds on secure dashboards.

Yawye’s solution, patented and dubbed ELI (Emotional Loyalty Intelligence,) captures voluntary, authentic consumer emotions at scale, applying vast, contextually accurate datasets to build trust, profits, and brand loyalty. ELI deploys the digital language of Emoji at all consumer touchpoints in mobile and web loyalty applications capturing contextually accurate in-the-moment consumer emotions. They then score, track and classify those emotions on an individual basis for smarter next-best offers and hyper-personal communications. ELI is integrated into the Capillary platform, where this real-time data dashboard is consumed and informs our Engage+ to trigger real time, emotionally contextualized, messages.

Danny Scolof, Co-Founder of Yawye, says:

“Emotions are more actionable than sentiments. They provide the building blocks for optimizing trust and empathy among consumers. They give you a richer, more dimensional picture of how consumers are truly feeling about your brand and communications. Sentiments represent low-hanging fruit. Knowing whether your brand community is experiencing calm, happiness, or excitement when engaging with you versus a mere positive sentiment enables insights with far greater depth and clarity to inform action. Problem is, most CMOs and brand managers don’t know the Emotional North Star bonding their most loyal customers to their brand. Why? Because emotions are notoriously difficult to measure authentically. If you don’t know how people really feel about your brand, how can you strengthen the emotional bonds that generate loyalty, engagement, and buy-in?”

Coupled with our BLQ offering (the Brierley Loyalty Quotient), Capillary has you covered by truly offering the end-to-end gamut of emotional loyalty sentiment and measurement. BLQ analyzes the emotional loyalty of your customers in your current program through quick surveys, and we combine those results with your customer data and our proprietary scoring algorithm to suggest strategies to increase emotional scoring that ultimately enhances your program. We distill your BLQ results into a suite of interactive dashboards, providing unique insights and actionable prescriptions. We also generate detailed loyalty comparisons, locating your results in the context of your competitive set.

Stay tuned for an upcoming episode of my podcast, Loyalty Out Loud, where Danny joins me alongside Don Smith, Chief Consulting Officer and CMO (US & EU), as we discuss the necessity of emotional loyalty intelligence.

Connect with Capillary today to gauge your brand’s emotional loyalty intelligence at every touchpoint of the customer journey.

Travel & Hospitality: Trends & Opportunities in Loyalty for an Evolving Industry

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Ned Shugrue

No other industry has experienced the long-lasting effects of the global pandemic as much as the travel and hospitality industry. The almost complete halt of travel forced travel brands to take extreme measures to stay afloat long enough for traveling to resume again. Global travel has since bounced back and ticked upwards towards pre-pandemic levels, although the split between business and leisure travel is dramatically different from pre-pandemic behaviors. According to the Hospitality Global Market Report 2023, the global hospitality market grew from $4,390.59 billion in 2022 to $4,699.57 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0%.

With the return of travel came a shift in travelers’ needs and expectations of their experience and desired engagement with airlines and hotels. Technology and a digital-first approach had long ago taken hold in the travel and hospitality ecosystem; the pandemic solidified & quickened this transformation. In this new era, hotel and airline companies need to innovate and look at customer loyalty through a new lens; reimagining how to attract, retain, and delight their travelers.

Successful travel and hospitality brands are investing in technology and partners that can create differentiating, unique experiences for travelers throughout their entire travel journey. Some of these loyalty trends and opportunities that have emerged include:

Trends

Structured loyalty programs are moving away from just points.

We’ve always shared the notion that loyalty programs need to be more than just earning and redeeming points. Sure, points can be a component of your loyalty program, but there needs to be more engaging, sticker, non-transactional aspects that keep the traveler engaged and motivated to be loyal to your brand. Making your loyalty program more dynamic with third-party offers from partners, adding soft benefits for members and creating experiential aspects is critical for success. We share additional thoughts around experiential loyalty below.

Experiential rewards need to be incorporated into any loyalty program.

Experiential rewards invoke emotional loyalty and create memorable experiences with your brand. Successful brands will offer experiential rewards as both a redemption option and as soft benefits for high-tier members. Experiential rewards are unique, unforgettable experiences that create a lasting sentiment beyond a coupon or lower rate. These experiences could be anything from a handwritten note from flight crew to top-tier members, a complimentary bottle of champagne waiting in your hotel room, or even behind-the-scenes access to the hotel kitchen with a renowned chef. Loyalty members are also more prone to share these unforgettable experiences with their friends and family, giving the program and the brand more visibility and perceived value.

Immersive experiences are on the rise.

In the age of virtual and augmented reality, immersive experiences have continually increased in prevalence and popularity, including loyalty programs. Immersive experiences are multisensory interactions facilitated by digital technology that imitate a desired physical reality. A few examples include virtual concierge service for loyalty members before checking into the hotel to a complete airport metaverse that allows travelers to explore authorized-only places like the control tower or cockpit of a plane. Hilton’s Connected Rooms are also another example (as well as an example of the end-to-end travel journey ownership battle between airlines & hotels, but more on that later), allowing guests to use the Hilton Honors app to completely personalize their room with the use of technology – from their favorite streaming provider, to being able to upload their own artwork to display.

Sustainable tourism aspects are becoming increasingly important to travelers.

We all know sustainability is an important point of emphasis of the travel and hospitality industry. Businesses and individuals have become more conscious of their impact on the environment when it comes to the consumption of energy, water, and other resources. Inserting environmentally-friendly incentives within your loyalty program not only encourages more sustainable actions but also drives emotional loyalty with the traveler. An example could be that loyalty members get an extra 10 points for reusing their towels, airline travelers receive priority booking if they book a nonstop flight, or even the option to donate their rewards/points to a charity or organization of their choice with the brand matching that donation.

Opportunities

Create a journey for the downgraded, post-covid traveler

During the pandemic and subsequently post-pandemic, most hotels and airlines offered to extend or even upgrade their loyalty members to a higher, elite status. This was a welcome perk, as most frequent travelers were all but sidelined and unable to raise or even retain their status. Since then, travel restrictions went basically to zero and there was an influx of ‘elite’ or higher-tiered loyalty members who were downgraded. This has caused frustration and disappointment for downgraded members, who lost certain perks and benefits. Companies need to see this as an opportunity to uniquely connect and engage with those downgraded members in a way that doesn’t make them leave the program. Creating personalized journeys for these certain members that encourages them to stay and re-engage with the program, is critical.

Who owns the journey? Airlines vs. Hotels:

Another evolving dynamic that is taking place in the travel and hospitality industry is the struggle between airlines and hotels vying for the title of owner of the ‘end-to-end travel experience.’ The one who controls the entire journey is the one who owns the data, trends, and user experiences for future research and development. That is why both are working in tandem with partners across their businesses, trying to capture the customer from the second they book till the time they walk off the plane, and everything in between.

As noted earlier in the post about Hilton’s Connected Rooms, these third-party partnerships and integrations all aim to own the end-to-end traveler journey. Delta’s partnership with Starbucks is another example of owning the entire traveler journey, even when the traveler isn’t traveling. The loyalty partnership encouraged Delta SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards members to link their accounts to earn one mile per $1 spent at Starbucks and double Stars on days traveling on Delta. The company also has a partnership with Lyft, where linked accounts earn 1 mile per $1 spent on Lyft rides. These types of integrations and partnerships encourage and incentivize travelers to use one company to power their entire travel journey.

So, what next?

Capillary has extensive experience in leading and innovating in the travel and hospitality industry. Not only was the loyalty platform specifically designed to inspire and delight travelers throughout their entire lifecycle with ML & AI, but the recent partnership announcement with Sabre has ramped up the hospitality & airline experience and reach across the globe. Reach out to us today to learn more about Capillary’s travel & hospitality experience and how we stay ahead of trends and deliver memorable experiences across their entire travel lifecycle.

Capillary Technologies Adds Brierly Exec as Global Head of Human Resources

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Capillary Marcomm

Capillary Technologies Appoints Melody Mitchem as Global Head of HR

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Capillary Marcomm

Bengaluru, India and Texas, USA- September 6, 2023

Capillary Technologies, a global leader in loyalty technology solutions, is pleased to announce the promotion of Melody Mitchem to the position of Global Head of Human Resources. Melody’s appointment comes as a result of her exceptional contributions to the company since her arrival through Capillary’s acquisition of Brierley.

In her short time at Capillary, Melody has demonstrated remarkable leadership and strategic prowess. She seamlessly took over the responsibilities of the US HR division and played a pivotal role in the successful integration of the recent acquisitions into the Capillary fold.

As the newly appointed Global Head of HR, Melody will spearhead the development and direction of a comprehensive and unified HR function across Capillary’s global operations. Her extensive experience and proven track record in Human Resources, spanning over 25 years, have solidified her position as a respected leader in the industry.

Before joining Capillary, Melody led the HR team at Brierley since 2015, where she cultivated a culture centered around the belief that “Happy and engaged employees translate to successful and satisfied customers.” This philosophy aligns perfectly with Capillary’s vision and values, making her an ideal choice to further enhance the company’s commitment to employee satisfaction and customer success. She envisions Capillary as “The Best Place to Work” and is dedicated to creating an environment that fosters innovation, collaboration, and personal growth for all employees.

Anant Choubey, co-founder and COO of Capillary said, “We are delighted to announce Melody Mitchem’s promotion to the role of Global Head of HR. Melody’s remarkable contributions since joining us through the Brierley acquisition have already made a significant impact on our organization. Her expertise and dedication to fostering a positive work environment align seamlessly with our company’s values. We are confident that under Melody’s leadership, our HR function will continue to flourish and support our employees around the world.”

“It is an incredible honor to take on this new role at Capillary. The company’s commitment to its employees’ growth and well-being is truly inspiring. I am excited to lead the HR team in building a global function that not only supports our employees but also empowers them to excel. Together, we will continue to drive Capillary’s vision of becoming The Best Place to Work, where engaged employees drive exceptional customer success,” says Melody Mitchem.

Capillary’s leadership is thrilled about Melody’s well-deserved promotion and the transformative journey that lies ahead. The entire Capillary community congratulates Melody on her new role and wishes her continued success in driving the company’s people-centric initiatives.

About Capillary Technologies:

Founded in 2012, Capillary Technologies has a presence across the United States, India, the Middle East, and Asia, in particular, South East Asia. Capillary is an end-to-end customer loyalty platform that offers a comprehensive view of consumers, and unified, cross-channel strategies that deliver a real-time omnichannel, personalized, and consistent experience for customers. Powering 100+ loyalty programs, across 30+ countries, Capillary works with 250+ brands including the likes of Tata, PUMA, Shell, Al-Futtaim, Petron, Domino’s, Kanmo Group, and Marks & Spencer. With a massive reach of 1Bn+ consumers and processing 5Bn+ annual transactions, the company has the backing of Warburg Pincus, Sequoia Capital, Avataar Ventures, and Filter Capital. For more information, visit www.capillarytech.com.

Media Contact:
Jubin Mehta
Head of Corporate Communications
jubin.mehta@capillarytech.com

Winning Loyalty Strategies: Fluid Loyalty – To Stem the Tide of Fluid Loyalty, a Flawless Digital Experience Is Essential

Posted on September 5, 2023 by Laura Hewitt

While the transformation from the brick-and-mortar to the digital and omnichannel customer experience has been continuing for the past decade, the 2020 COVID pandemic greatly accelerated the shift. According to the Census Bureau’s most recent 2020 Annual Retail Trade Survey, e-commerce sales increased by $244.2 billion, or 43%, in 2020.[1] In every sector from retail to consumer banking to experiences, suddenly consumers were interacting with brands primarily through digital channels. Now, as we emerge from the pandemic, this shift in consumer behavior appears to be permanent.

Along with this shift has arisen a concept we call “fluid loyalty”—the propensity of consumers, particularly young ones, to switch brands at the first sign of a bad customer experience. According to eMarketer, over 71 percent of customers have switched brands at least once in the past year.[2] In a digital-first world, those bad experiences are often the result of poor CX or UX: complicated sign-ons, complex offer redemptions, or poorly designed self-service channels. According to a recent PwC survey, more than half of U.S. consumers say a bad digital experience will make them less loyal to a brand. For Gen-Z consumers, that number jumps to 69 percent. [3]

For marketers hoping to pursue the path of intelligence-based offers, these statistics highlight the challenge of meeting consumer needs. Not only do you need to collect earned data and leverage it to deliver hyper-personalized offers at scale; you also need to deliver those offers and rewards to your customers through a seamless, frictionless, and engaging digital platform. To stem the tide of fluid loyalty, a flawless digital experience is now essential.

The obstacles

The biggest obstacles to controlling fluid customer loyalty is institutional. A recent Gartner report noted that over 70% of CX leaders struggle to design projects that increase customer loyalty and achieve results. In addition, Gartner found that, while 95 percent of business leaders believe CX teams must deliver superior or world-class customer experiences, the majority of CX leaders doubt their present strategy may lead to reaching their goals.[1]

Improving CX is such a broad and overarching goal that many CX leaders struggle with prioritization. Where do you start?

The opportunity

Here’s the good news: When it comes to the subset of your CX initiatives responsible for delivering customer offers and rewards in a seamless and engaging digital hub, world-class solutions are available right now. To choose the right technology partner, look for these key “must-haves.” First, a partner with deep experience in customer engagement that understands the fundamental drivers of brand loyalty. Second, a partner with a modular, cloud-based platform that is easy to configure, launch, and operate. Third, a partner featuring proprietary machine-learning and AI capabilities that can deliver highly personalized experiences and a unique content mix. Finally, look for a partner with the commercial flexibility and wide content offerings to help you stem the tide of fluid loyalty.

To build a successful offer engine that delivers hyper-personalized rewards that improve loyalty and engagement, focus on these best practices:

KEEP IT CURRENT

Continually refresh your reward and offer matrix based on both analytical insight and the latest consumer trends.

KEEP IT ENGAGING

Enable a variety of engagement tactics—gamification, sweepstakes draws, compelling content— to keep your customers wanting more.

PRACTICE CONTINUAL LEARNING

Leverage analytical insight from both customer behavior and offer components to continually improve personalization.

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Winning Loyalty Strategies: Immediate Value – Consumers are Demanding More Instant Value from Loyalty Programs

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Laura Hewitt

In part 4 of our series on engagement marketing’s obstacles and opportunities, we talk about the concept of Immediate Value and that customers today are looking for options beyond under-funded points programs.

Brands in financial services, retail, travel, and other sectors have long employed traditional points and miles-based loyalty programs to recognize and reward valuable customers. These programs also have a successful track record of capturing that all-important zero- and first-party data necessary to deliver dynamic personalization at scale.

But currency-based programs can be expensive to operate, leaving brands with lean reward offerings and expensive liability on their balance sheets.

In the travel industry, some airlines have increased prices for departing partner awards and added close-in booking surcharges in their loyalty programs. Elite tier status has also become more difficult to obtain.

And, there are several hospitality and entertainment providers who have rebranded their rewards program and devalued their programs. Not to mention some fast-food retailers have devalued their rewards program, increasing the rate at which customers earn rewards points, while also taking away certain free benefits.

All these changes inevitably lead to consumer backlash and disengagement—outcomes in opposition to the purpose of customer loyalty programs.

These financial headwinds have led to consumers demanding more immediate value from loyalty programs.

Consumers are increasingly unwilling to wait for distant redemption opportunities, particularly when their spending accrues far fewer points and miles than in the past. The continued devaluation of loyalty may drive a push toward alternative reward program models that provide a mix of cash-back rewards, discounts, sweepstakes, and even free offers, all delivered in a dynamic and engaging package. Successful brands will need to meet this challenge head-on.

The obstacles

Alternative reward models can provide the personalized instant gratification that your customers crave. The challenge to implementing these solutions lies in their flexibility, speed, and scale. How can you provide an optimal set of benefits for each customer? How can you stand up the program in a matter of weeks, rather than months? How can you deliver a wide mix of in-kind, partner, and network rewards in a single engaging package? And finally, how can you optimize the commercial value of your program while offering relevant value to your customers?

The opportunity

Today’s customizable and modular reward platforms bring these elements together seamlessly to shoulder the heavy lifting in the design and implementation of an alternative loyalty program. With so many solutions in the marketplace, how can you choose the right partner to deliver on your program objectives? Look for a technology partner who can integrate your successful program components with new platform capabilities, integrate in-kind, partner, and third-party offers into a single reward engine, and provide reward choice through a scalable and agnostic content platform. Not only can you avoid the liability associated with traditional points programs, you can also generate revenue through performance-based rewards. The path to Intelligent Offers is wide open.

To successfully implement an alternative rewards program that delivers immediate value at scale, consider these best practices:

KEEP IT FLEXIBLE

Look for a modular rewards engine that allows you to adopt new capabilities while keeping program components that work.

DESIGN THE RIGHT MIX

Delivering personalization at scale requires an optimal mix of in-kind, partner, and network rewards that provide maximum choice.

MAKE IT FUN

Encourage engagement by adding sweepstakes, instant wins, and exclusive experiences to your reward mix.

In the next article, we’ll talk about the concept of Fluid Loyalty, and why switching brands has never been easier.