The use of the mobile device is perfectly suited to the delivery of the core requirement in any successful loyalty program - member engagement.
Using the mobile device as the point of delivery for services such as member identification, account information, location based rewards & promotions allows the entire member experience to become far more engaging & interactive than traditional card based programs. In addition, the mobile device itself affords the Program Manager an ability to capture additional data points, both behavioural & transactional, thereby gaining valuable customer insight.
Outside of the loyalty sector, this requirement for organisations of different sizes to start investing in collecting and analysing ‘Big Data’ is growing. Indeed the argument for Big Data is becoming so persuasive, it may even be causing some merchants to lose focus, getting away from measuring the business fundamentals such as customer service and customer satisfaction.
Even now, most small to mid-size merchants do not have even a single data point for their customers, and the ones who do typically struggle to take advantage of it. In these cases, the collection of more data points even via a mobile enabled loyalty program will not make any positive difference to a merchant, quite the opposite, because it complicates the business processes needed to take advantage of it.
For a mobile loyalty program to be a success in these types of businesses, it's healthier to first find the formula that takes advantage of a light data set and increased member engagement. Only then look at adding more data points. After all the fundamental purpose of customer loyalty is to drive more business and not to collect data.
Far broader than the data issue, the use of mobile opens up a whole range of additional services within a loyalty program to increase levels of member engagement & influence customer behaviour. Push notifications, location based promotions, instant rewards & account balances are all ways the core loyalty offering to members can be enhanced.
By making these enhancements, the actual loyalty scheme becomes far more than simply a function of the marketing department, now very much a way to support the brand proposition, touching all areas of the organisation.
Where focus is centred on the mobile - instant customer communications & response to customer feedback, alignment with social media, increased staff interaction at the point of purchase are all possible. Such new ways of working, however, always come with their own set of operational challenges to an organisation
Changing business processes as a result of new technology is, however, not unique and, as with any new technology, customer interaction with staff is vital for any success transition.
A positive customer experience at the point of service delivery remains the most crucial piece for merchants to get right. If done correctly, real competitive advantage and brand value can be created through the shift in emphasis from the traditional loyalty card to the mobile device.