The retail landscape is constantly shifting. Emerging technologies are changing how we shop, the expectations of customers are rising and there are more opportunities than ever to build revenue streams.
However, one thing remains constant: brands strive to nurture loyal, repeat customers who they can rely on to champion their business. In such a competitive market, such customers are increasingly valuable. Returning customers spend, on average, 67% more than new customers.
Knowing such value, retailers are naturally eager to reward these shoppers with various incentives, from early access to sales events to free items or discounts. But emerging technology and changes to payments means loyalty programs can now evolve, providing shoppers with personalised, tailored rewards as well as frictionless shopping experiences.
Equally, such developments benefit the retailer. When built effectively, brands can leverage increased, data-driven insights about their customers.
Success lies in integrating these loyalty programs within modern payments systems. As customers increasingly use digital wallets, mobile payments and contactless methods, loyalty programs must also keep pace.
Here, we’ll explore how retailers can manage modern payment systems and loyalty programs to craft seamless customer experiences, while unlocking the power of customer data.
The growth of digital payments
Before diving into loyalty programs, it’s important to have a clear view of the payments systems customers of today expect. From research across the retail and payments industries, it’s clear to see a growing trend toward payment methods that provide quick, seamless checkout experiences:
- Currently, UK debit card transactions account for 50% of all payments.
- Cash use in the UK fell by 40% between 2016 and 2022.
- Digital wallets are also growing in popularity, notably in the UK, where they are expected to account for 21% of all transactions by 2026.
- In the US, at least half of customers are using tap-to-pay with credit cards or mobile wallets like Apple Pay, according to a recent poll from Mastercard.
- Globally, account-to-account (A2A) payments, which involve direct bank transfers without intermediaries, are projected to rise by 209% by 2029. Providing instant settlements and lower transaction fees, they’re becoming a popular choice for retailers and shoppers.
With the trend firmly curving towards digital payments, retailers must ensure their payments systems are up to date – and that their loyalty programs don’t fall behind.
The new loyalty opportunity
The early days of loyalty programmes saw shoppers fill wallets with stamp cards, providing them with the opportunity to exchange full cards for various incentives. While these swiftly moved into digital and app versions, it wasn’t until the emergence of a points-based system that the digital opportunity rapidly evolved.
This shift allowed retailers to begin collecting and leveraging customer data, while also paving the way to provide omnichannel programs, which customers could use across multiple channels – web, app, and in-store. These new points-based loyalty cards can be added to digital wallets and stored across devices.
Now, with the development of open banking, real-time processing and A2A payments, retailers can take it a step further. By integrating loyalty programs with payment systems, customers no longer need to use loyalty cards – digital or otherwise. Instead, with retailers who have integrated loyalty schemes with their payments systems, a customer could shop with a debit or credit card linked to their loyalty account, and automatically collect points.
But why make this shift? There are several benefits to both the retailer and customer.
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Seamless point accrual and redemption
When linked to a payment method, loyalty points are automatically added without needing to show a separate card or app. This reduces the friction of extra steps during checkout. By providing customers with a seamless experience, brands can stand out in a competitive market and increase customer satisfaction.
- Reduced transaction costs
With modern payments systems, retailers can encourage and incentivise their customers to choose A2A payments. While this payment type lowers transaction costs for retailers, it also allows for near instant settlements, ensuring that points are applied immediately. Customers can see the benefit of shopping with a brand immediately, without having to wait for a balance update.
- Enhanced personalisation
By integrating payment and loyalty systems, retailers can gather valuable customer data such as purchase information. Coupled with technology such as AI, this data allows them to tailor rewards and offers. While again improving the customer experience, it also increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.
- Unified customer journey
With cloud-based, integrated systems, customers can earn and redeem points whether shopping online or in store. Brands who follow a strong omnichannel customer engagement strategy see a higher retention rate of around 89% compared with those who do not at around 33%.
Modernising and integrating effectively
The benefits are clear, but how easy is it to achieve?
While the technology for fully integrated loyalty and payment systems is available, adoption remains a challenge. Major schemes still rely on customers scanning an additional card – either physical or digital. To move towards a fully integrated approach, customers and retailers will need to trust that the loyalty benefits are captured across various payment methods, which could be a challenge.
However ambitious a retailer’s goal for integration, the first step must be to identify and assess the suitability of existing payment and loyalty platforms. By doing so, they can determine whether these systems can handle the seamless integration required for linking payment methods with loyalty point accrual. Retailers may want to consider implementing A2A payments, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options, and real-time processing, helping to lower transaction costs and speed up payments. Amid these decisions, it will be crucial to consider compliance and regulatory factors to ensure all data collection is in line with regulations such as GDPR.
By modernising payment systems and integrating them with loyalty programs, retailers can enhance the customer experience while unlocking powerful data insights. Along with reduced transaction costs, brands will enhance foster loyal customers and nurture brand champions.
To get started modernising payments systems, download our whitepaper: Unlocking New Revenue in Retail with Modern Payments Systems.