Think about how many loyalty programmes you use in an ordinary week. You might scan a rewards card when buying groceries or earn benefits when filling up your car. Then you swipe your gym membership for a quick sweat session after work and on the way home, your online grocery order rewards you for shopping online.
For consumers, these interactions are simply part of everyday life. But the more loyalty programmes we use, the more there is to remember. Do I have to open the app? Where is that missing card that I could’ve sworn I put back in my wallet? And where are my rewards? It’s time loyalty catches up to the way we live the rest of our lives – connected, convenient and digital.
Your rewards should meet you where you are
We can already see this happening, with some of South Africa’s biggest brands seamlessly integrating their loyalty programmes into their customers’ lives. Checkers Xtra Savings follows customers from its stores into the Sixty60 environment, while eBucks allows shoppers to earn and spend rewards through online partners such as Takealot and Superbalist. Discovery Vitality takes the idea further by linking rewards to everyday behaviours and purchases through partners including Woolworths and Checkers, as well as Clicks and Dis-Chem. The models may differ, but the principle is much the same: your rewards should meet you where you are.
