Unlocking Growth: How Loyalty Strategies from Top Companies Can Drive Your Black Friday Sales

The shopping bonanza called Black Friday is literally around the corner. You may wonder: Is there a way to leverage your rewards program to both boost sales and make your customers feel special? There most definitely is!

We have collected some of the best and simplest strategies for how you can leverage Black Friday in the rewards program in 2023, including TRIFFT's favorite examples. Happy deal hunting!

1. Early access to deals

Hunger for experiential rewards has been growing in the past few years, particularly in fashion, cosmetics, travel, sporting goods, and entertainment-oriented businesses. Younger generations crave them, and with their increasing spending power, these types of benefits are expected to move up the popularity ranks.

This type of reward is typically used to create a unique bond with your best customers by letting them enjoy something extra: the "VIP treatment at scale". Allowing them to access Black Friday deals earlier than regular customers and before the anticipated 'out of stock' labels hit is definitely a good enough incentive to boost new registrations, as well as establish a lasting emotional connection with existing members. Best of all, it does not cost you an extra dime

Brands like Sephora, Best Buy, Walmart or UGG use this strategy.

2. Point multipliers

All beloved brands understand that keeping customers engaged at all times is key to successful loyalty program implementation. Awarding bonus points at certain times or for specific actions is a great tactic that works best over short periods of time, thus making Black Friday an ideal occasion to test this mechanic.

Your customers will not only be motivated to spend more during the promotion, but the redemption of points will also appear more attainable and most likely support future spending. Simply put - getting double points for Black Friday purchases just makes the already sweet deals irresistible and helps your brand secure the future business from that happy and rewarded customer.

Air Canada or Bed Bath & Beyond use this strategy.

3. Additional member-only discounts & coupons

Loyalty program members expect preferential treatment, in the sense that they receive better deals than regular customers. Every year, those same shoppers eagerly await Black Friday, hoping to save on their favorite items. Why not use that time of the year to let your loyal customers know truly value them more than anybody else?

Member-only extra discounts give a clear picture of who your top customers are and give extra motivation to enroll in your loyalty program. On top, as member-only (and even better, top-segment-only) rewards are not offered to everyone, the deals can be sweater without negatively impacting the overall bottom line or brand equity.

REI or Amazon are advocates of this strategy.

4. Discounted membership

Why save over Black Friday alone when you can keep saving for the whole year to come?

The No. 1 shopping event of the year is the ideal time to offer new customers a notable membership discount, often up to 50% off. A limited-time offer is a proven strategy that makes scarcity impulse kick into gear.

This simple but super-smart move can help you dip into a segment of the price-sensitive customers who were on the fence about joining your paid program. And since your program is undoubtedly awesome, once they enroll, they will stay for the year to come!

5. Free shipping and/or services

On Black Friday, eCommerce sites are literally booming. Even the most pleasant shopping experience can, however, end in an abandoned cart if a customer feels the delivery costs are a deal-breaker for them.

That's why many companies consider free delivery as part of their Black Friday offering. Alternatively, services such as free assembly can be a nice way of rewarding your loyal customers.

Key Takeaway

Customer loyalty, rewards programs, and Black Friday mix well. While the purpose of Black Friday may be moving a lot of inventory with a lower margin, there are many ideas on how you can leverage this annual occasion to boost customer loyalty, increase program membership and also make your rewards program even more appealing.

With modern, digital loyalty cloud solutions, implementing these ideas is not difficult. And since many of the tactics include either preferential offers for club members or better-segmented deals, there is a clear marketing ROI business case!

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