Differentiating the customer experience is always foremost among priorities for Walgreens and, with the launch of Beauty Enthusiast, a new beauty club within its Balance Rewards loyalty program, company officials believe they have accomplished that goal.
“Beauty is a key initiative for Walgreens as we are investing significantly into our beauty differentiation program,” Walgreens spokesperson Emily Hartwig told Loyalty360. “Walgreens has never really talked about beauty in this way and Beauty Enthusiast is just one example of how we are differentiating our beauty offering and experience. While many brands focus on making you look beautiful, Walgreens believes in helping you feel beautiful, which includes providing additional rewards and benefits on beauty and personal care items.”
Beauty Enthusiast provides cardholders who register for the program with additional rewards on beauty and personal care items, as well as other benefits. The program build upon the Balance Rewards program, which features personalization technology that works to engage customers on an individual basis.
“We wanted to create a simple, digitally integrated rewards solution for our beauty customers that didn’t require an additional loyalty card,” Hartwig explained. “Balance Rewards members simply sign up at the register or at walgreens.com/beautyenthusiast. All you need is a valid email address. Becoming a Beauty Enthusiast is the start of a more rewarding and more personalized beauty relationship with Walgreens.”
Besides the free signup, Beauty Enthusiast members receive 5,000 Balance Rewards points for every $50 spent on cosmetics, skin care, hair care, oral care, grooming, sun care, fragrance, and bath product purchases. Beauty Enthusiast members will have opportunities to receive free samples and exclusive promotions and coupons, as well as special beauty offers, new product information, and expert tips throughout the year. What’s more, members will receive a one-time digital coupon for 20 times everyday points on any beauty purchase to welcome them to the club.
“We know Balance Rewards members are looking for ways to earn more points and enjoy redeeming points on beauty and personal care products so we developed the core Beauty Enthusiast benefit to address this need for our top beauty customers,” Hartwig said. “We will continue to make updates based on customer insight and feedback to Beauty Enthusiast, as needed.”
Beauty Enthusiast provides additional rewards to top beauty customers.
“We’re confident that a more rewarding, personalized beauty relationship with Walgreens will help win her loyalty,” Hartwig said. “The customer is at the center of our strategies and decisions at Walgreens. Our retail and pharmacy strategies are informed by customer needs and everything from our product assortment to our media plan is informed by customer insights and research.”
Hartwig said customer needs are changing, which Walgreens monitors closely.
“Beauty Enthusiast is a great example of responding to changing customers as the program is simple, digital, and personalized, making getting rewarded easier,” she said. “We track through a mix of measures and techniques, including quantitative and qualitative research as well as behavioral analytics.”