After listening effectively to its customers and with a competitive nod to Amazon Prime, Adorama, one of the world’s largest photography, video, audio, imaging, and electronics retailers this week launched a new loyalty program called VIP360, an exclusive member benefits program for the most elite of its shoppers.
The program costs $49.99 per year.
Adorama VIP360 offers various deals, discounts, and special promotions available only to members throughout the year, including free, nationwide two-day delivery, drops and spills warranty, and extended returns at no additional cost to the customer. Members will also enjoy early access to pop-up sales as well as raffles for tickets to private events.
Is Adorama’s new VIP360 loyalty program a way to compete against Amazon Prime?
“Yes, we had to even the bar on shipping since customers have come to expect it,” Adorama CMO Lev Peker told Loyalty360. “Over the past year, we’ve listened to our associates, customer service, and monitored the market closely to what was changing, while staying focused on increasing the reasons why customers should shop directly with Adorama. From this work, VIP360 emerged. We hope to offer our customers something that none of our competitors do while, at the same time, bridging the gap in our policies with Amazon.”
With VIP360, Adorama customers will receive an entire year of drops and spills coverage provided by New Leaf, ensuring their photos, videos, and electronics equipment are protected from all of the elements. What’s more, shopping is faster and easier than ever with complimentary, nationwide two-day delivery for all VIP360-eligible items, while 60-day extended returns with no-cost return shipping mean purchasing new equipment comes at no risk. VIP360 members also receive early access to exclusive savings and entries into monthly contests for major prizes.
Peker doesn’t think customers are changing, but their expectations are.
“Customers have come to expect two-day delivery, great customer service, and clear and concise return guidelines,” he said. “And as e-commerce evolves, these expectations keep rising. I think it’s affecting every vertical. Look at fashion, which is getting disrupted now, such as shoes with Zappos, electronics with Amazon, baby products with diapers.com, and on and on. It’s hard to find a product where there isn’t a ton of competition online influencing customers’ expectations and decisions to buy.”
Peker said Adorama officials measure customer loyalty through repeat purchase rates.
“We also do exit surveys asking customers about satisfaction,” he said. “Lastly, we give customers a chance to rate us in post-purchase surveys. We look at metrics such as satisfaction with speed of delivery, packaging, and communication throughout the process. We play in a very competitive market and customer loyalty means everything to us. We have to raise the bar in our content and social activities so we are a part of our customers’ everyday lives. We then have to achieve customers’ expectations for a good customer experience. In all our roadmaps for next year, projects that have to do with customer loyalty are being bucketed separately and given much more weight.”