An omnichannel approach delivers many ways for customers to engage across retailer websites and online platforms, through social media, via mobile apps, and, of course, in-store. Today’s consumers not only expect an omnichannel experience when shopping and engaging with brands, but they also look for increased personalization to reinforce the belief that the brands they choose to shop truly know them. The digital and in-store experience must match those expectations, and when they don’t, customers will look to other brands to give them what they want.
In Loyalty360’s Brand Marketer Research: 2024 State of Customer Loyalty report, 52% of respondents feel their customers have even higher expectations than they did 12 months ago. Indeed, many brands report that expectations continue to rise, and some marketing teams and loyalty professionals are scrambling to adapt and innovate—or risk falling behind.
In the survey results gathered by Loyalty360, a whopping 79% of brand marketers indicated interest within their brand to redo, enhance, or update customer loyalty offerings. The report also showed that 61% of brand marketers desired to enhance the digital experience within their loyalty programs.
Loyalty360 spoke with supplier members and customer loyalty experts about why digital and in-store customer experiences must be aligned, providing omnichannel rewards and personalized offers to boost engagement, and leveraging technologies, such as geolocation and radio frequency identification (RFID).
Article contributors:
• Len Covello, CTO, Engage People Inc.
• Mladen Vladic, Head of Products and Services, FIS Loyalty
• Madison Fisher, Manager, Strategic Services, The Lacek Group
• Maeghen Krueger, Director, Strategic Services, The Lacek Group
In-Store and Digital Experiences
Loyalty360 asked the experts if they could share some effective strategies for ensuring that the in-store experience complements and enhances the digital experience in a loyalty program.
Krueger reports that Lacek’s research shows that a unified experience between in-store and digital is essential. Customers expect a seamless experience across all touchpoints, and they feel frustrated if a rewards program works one way digitally and another way in-store.
“For example, if a discount is offered only in-store, but the product isn’t available in the customer’s location, that creates a point of friction,” says Krueger. “Even if customer service can fix the issue, it’s an extra step for the customer.”
FIS Loyalty’s Vladic agrees that ensuring a seamless shopping experience across both in-store and digital platforms is critical for consumers. He notes that the concept of click-and-mortar emerged as a new omnichannel model just a few years ago, and FIS is already witnessing a significant shift in consumer behavior, with this approach becoming the preferred choice for many.
“Consumers often explore digital options before visiting a store to make their purchases,” explains Vladic. “Our loyalty products cater to financial institutions, and it is crucial for us to implement strategies that secure top-of-wallet status for both physical and digital wallets.”
For FIS’ financial institution clients, this means prioritizing a robust engagement strategy that always keeps their card products at the forefront of consumers’ minds. Utilizing real-time engagement tools, such as in-app notifications via mobile banking apps, can enhance the experience, ensuring that the card remains the preferred payment method—whether individuals are shopping from home or making purchases at the point of sale.
Engage People’s Covello adds that modern POS systems with loyalty integration enable customers to seamlessly earn and redeem points across online and in-store purchases. These systems track behavior across channels and provide real-time updates to loyalty accounts. Cloud-based POS systems ensure synchronization of points and rewards across all transactions.
“Customers are looking for platforms and programs that are simple and easy to use both in-store and online,” says Lacek’s Fisher. As an example, if a program’s member identifier is a QR code within the app, the app must be easy to use in-store. If it’s not, that is a big barrier to enrolling in participating in the program to redeem and earn points in-store.”
Guided by Data
To create and ensure a more personalized and cohesive customer journey, many top brands are leveraging data from both in-store and digital interactions, and Krueger affirms comparing data from both in-store and online purchasing is a powerful way to identify behaviors.
“Does a customer spend more in-store or less? Are they browsing in-store and regularly purchasing online or in the app?” asks Krueger. “Integrating these data points allows a brand to offer messages, rewards, and experiences tailored to the customer's habits and preferences.”
Krueger’s colleague suggests that one of the ways data can more fully enhance the customer experience is for brands offering personal shopping services for elite rewards members.
“Leveraging both in-store and online purchase and return data, in addition to customer profile information like color preferences and sizing, allows retailers to quickly make relevant product recommendations when the customer enters the store,” says Fisher.
Amanda Bailey, VP of Customer Marketing and Loyalty at Lowe’s, explains that My Lowe’s Rewards is a fully integrated experience within the brand’s app, across its website, and in-store.
“One of the challenges we have been focused on is how to get more in-store shoppers to engage with us in our other channels, such as in-app and online. By having our members be able to track their points progress, get access to member-only offers in their digital wallet, and tell us more about themselves—for example, I like to garden, or I’m a new homeowner—we are getting that information and making it fun to capture that in the app experience so that they’re more inclined to use that and get to know us better,” says Bailey.
Leveraging the Right Technologies
Brands endeavor to determine the best technologies to bridge the gap between their physical and digital loyalty offerings. Covello notes that there is a variety of technologies brands can leverage to create a seamless and integrated experience for their customers.
“Key technologies include mobile loyalty apps, which allow customers to access and redeem rewards easily, and POS systems that integrate loyalty programs for earning and redeeming points across channels,” says Covello. “Additionally, paying with points at the POS enhances customer interaction, enabling them to use their loyalty points as currency during checkout. CRM systems that track customer behavior across all channels further personalize and optimize the customer experience.”
FIS occupies a distinctive position in the loyalty products landscape, serving financial institutions with a strong emphasis on payments and card rewards solutions. As brands strive to integrate their physical and digital loyalty offerings, Vladic points out it’s essential for those solutions to cut across different sectors. Financial institutions must stay attuned to the changes merchants are implementing to create a more seamless shopping experience.
“Merchants recognize that cardholders are earning rewards through their transactions and are eager to capture that spending,” says Vladic. “Meanwhile, financial institutions aim to minimize friction in the redemption process and facilitate technology that activates the moment of redemption. The best solutions effectively bridge the gap not only between in-store and online experiences but also align merchants with their customers’ preferred payment methods.”
Krueger sees apps as the primary digital platform for most rewards programs, but consumers are starting to experience app fatigue.
“Brands should make it easy for customers to access their rewards in-store without an app by giving the associate a phone number or email address,” advises Krueger.
The Lacek team has observed that some brands are using geolocation and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to notify program members of available offers when they are near a store. This can be effective in reaching customers the moment they are most likely to engage with an offer, but brands should use these technologies judiciously because some customers bristle at the idea of their location being tracked.
Encouraging Customer Engagement
By encouraging customers to engage with both in-store and digital components of their loyalty programs, brands can better create multiple touchpoints with consumers, which can strengthen the relationship and offer more ways to collect customer data.
Engage People recommends offering omnichannel rewards and personalized offers to boost engagement with both in-store and digital loyalty programs. Customers should be allowed to earn and redeem points easily across channels, using targeted promotions and location-based notifications to drive participation.
“Exclusive in-store and online benefits, combined with a connected app for easy reward redemption, enhance the overall experience,” says Covello. “Additionally, interactive campaigns on social media and email can keep customers informed and engaged across both platforms.”
Fisher also acknowledges that simplicity and unification between digital and in-store experiences are key and believes brands can build engagement incentives into their programs as a benefit. Similar to Covello, she nods to rewarding program members for participating in special events held in-store or for engaging with their social media channels.
“Gamification is another way to incentivize specific behaviors,” adds Krueger.
Rather than offering a reward that is only available either in-store or online, which can be frustrating to members, brands can gamify the experience and reward members for making a certain number of purchases online or coming in-store a certain number of times.
Achieving Success
There are brands that have successfully blended in-store and digital experiences to drive customer engagement. Krueger highlights McDonald’s as doing an excellent job of targeting offers to reward members’ preferences and purchase history. Two rewards members logging into the app at the same time are going to see specific offers tailored to their preferences and past purchases.
“Nordstrom also provides a seamless, omnichannel experience,” adds Krueger. “They do an exceptional job with customer service across channels, and they marry the in-store and online experience.”
Sephora is another example of a brand that successfully integrates the customer experience across channels, and Fisher recently went in-store for a color-match consultation.
“When they didn’t have the shade I needed in-store, the associate was able to add the product information to my member profile,” shares Fisher. “Once I got home, I had a message from the sales associate in my app allowing me to order the product in one click, which was a really seamless blend of in-store and digital shopping.”
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