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Whether emotional, social, structural, or financial, the world of luxury branding has opened up many new aspirations over the decades. But there is perhaps no country in the world more profoundly driven to luxuriously delight its shoppers than Dubai. The shopping capital of the world is a modern oasis that rewards its customers handsomely. It was, then, a veritable step in the right direction for leading luxury brands across industries to envision new-age customer engagement strategies. This meant reinventing the wheel in terms of digital transformation that was accompanied by the introduction of innovative loyalty programs unseen before.
Luxury loyalty is heralded by the upward swing towards ultra-luxury services across key industries like hospitality and retail in the MENA region at large. Dubai is at the very epicenter of the marketing activities that thrive in the wake of sales over USD 15 Bn in 2022 so far. At the intersection of new age customer retention through multi-tier reward programs that catapult sales and the digital communications that govern them, lies the creative rethinking of personalization through advanced customer analytics. Let’s look at some of the highlights of how luxury marketing scores in Dubai:
With the impact of driving higher profitability through greater customer retention, these are some of best known luxury loyalty programs in Dubai that are redefining the meaning of both personalized incentivization as well as customer satisfaction in the here and now.
With customer-centricity taking precedence over all else, the Middle Eastern luxury retailer, Chalhoub Group, recently launched Muse. A wide-ranging multi-brand loyalty program that invites the participation of leading lifestyle, fashion and beauty luxury brands within the group. From Michael Kors, Swarovski and Level Shoes to luxury homeware destination Tanagra, and cult beauty brands like L’Occitane and NARS – Muse is growing in popularity across Dubai and Saudi Arabia due to its personalized experiential rewards over all else. The brands came together to go beyond mere point-for-price reduction strategies to give customers what they truly desire from luxury brands – the elevated feeling of exclusivity. With an approach that’s app-first, MUSE is a three-tiered loyalty program, with the base tier called Emerald followed by Sapphire and then Ruby. Points are calculated based on eligible spending at participating stores and the earning rate increases as members move up the tiers. These points can be redeemed either for shopping at any of the 35+ brands across MUSE operating countries with no minimum balance, or, towards experiences. Each tier unlocks exclusive benefits and offers loyalty rewards for luxurious shoppers.
A celebrated coalition loyalty program for Millennium, Copthorne and Kingsgate hotels, Millennium’s recently redesigned loyalty program reduced complexity for better engagement through a single-tiered loyalty program. Catering to a revenue-driven approach alone, for every $1 spent on a hotel room, customers earn 10 points. These points double automatically after 10 nights spent across Millennium locations, providing a significant reward to frequent travelers who stay at a Millenium hotel. Earned points can then be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including free rooms, upgrades and partner offers, all of which are based on a sliding revenue scale. Millennium freezes point values at a half-cent per point, so a $500 hotel night would cost 100,000 points to book.
Merged effectively with flydubai’s Open Rewards program to invite over a million customers to benefit from shared benefits, Emirates Skywards luxury rewards are truly a class apart. Both Emirates and flydubai flights facilitate earning Skywards and Tier Miles. This plan also lets you earn miles by shopping, gifting or multiplying the miles with their partners around the world. The best part about Skywards Miles is choosing how to spend them because it’s super easy to earn them. After just one long-distance flight, you could potentially accumulate enough miles to qualify for an upgrade.
What’s more is that Emirates Skywards also allows for mile redemption across flydubai and other worldwide partners. Customers have the freedom and flexibility to choose flights with one of Emirates’ partner airlines, luxurious hotel stays, and even tickets to various athletic and cultural events across the world. There are four levels of exclusive benefits to ensure that trips are more rewarding. By traveling with Emirates and flydubai, one can progressively increase Tier Miles balance and access more benefits, according to Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum tier status. Lastly, the long-term of validity and lack of miles expiration for 3 years ensures that they can be availed for something truly special.
With customized rewards across the world’s leading luxury brands, the Amber rewards program, which began in 2008, is available across all Al Tayer Group’s department stores, luxury retailers, beauty and hospitality services, as well as their luxury automotive brands. It has long been considered one of the best conglomerate rewards programs in Dubai. When members shop at any store that has the facility of the Amber Card, they will earn Amber Points, which can be redeemed in-store or online for their choice of products. Being one of the best loyalty cards in Dubai, Amber has collaborated with over 80 high-end companies, including Gucci and Armani. Thanks to its strong customization options, it has an unrivaled capacity to modify customer experience and empowers customers with the ability to shape their own benefits. This loyalty program includes three levels of membership: Amber Classic, Amber Select and Amber Plus, with benefits varying depending on membership level.
It is, thus, evident that Dubai businesses are truly going the extra mile to provide their customers with membership-based rewards that build loyalty over the long term. With the market currently booming after the pandemic’s decline, there is an influx of innovative solutions designed to target all different age groups of customers within the larger luxury segment (Also read Luxury Loyalty: A Comprehensive Guide). New marketing communication methods involve collaborative efforts between multiple luxury brands to offer the right set of rewards. The trends in focus are being carried across Dubai’s leading retailers who stand out for higher customer value over time. With new engagement strategies defining the way forward, get in touch with our experts at Capillary Technologies to learn more about engaging your customers too.
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