Enhancing Existing Loyalty Program Rewarded with 78.5% Sales Lift

Opportunity

A leading distributor in the automotive aftermarket was offering a loyalty program to their biggest clients with reloadable credit cards as the reward. While the program had some success, the client was discouraged by the lack of participation and asked for help from Lift & Shift to widen its appeal. The program also had a high purchase limit for members to qualify to be eligible for the rewards.

Strategy & Implementation

L&S conducted a 360-degree audit of the existing program, looking for weak links, and offered both design and technological improvements to improve the reward experience for the customer. We encouraged our client to rethink the program, open eligibility to a wider segment of their customer base, and provide a more expansive reward offering.

• A three-level tiered growth program was introduced where participants could accelerate the number of points they earned based on their incremental spend compared to the previous year; 
• Bonus offers were introduced featuring the client’s in-house brands;
• Participants were sent their status and proximity to higher rewards via a monthly reward statement;
• The client’s reward offering was expanded from reloadable credit cards to a full expanse of rewards, including debit and gift cards, electronics, sports equipment, and household items, as well as airline and hotel travel rewards;
• Lift & Shift trained the client’s sales team to ensure they understood the rewards program and could effectively promote it.
  

Lift & Shift Services Used

Sales of participating accounts increased 78.5% year-over-year compared to a 11.7% decline by non-reward participants.

Participant email open rates were 4X higher than the industry average.