Ideas for creating a holiday rewards program for your channel partners

The COVID-19 pandemic has decidedly had a long-term impact on shopping habits, leaving brands and retailers scrambling. Despite the ongoing crisis, loyalty programs have remained a viable retention tool. Here are a few holiday reward program ideas:

1. Launch the program before the holidays

Around the holiday season, while traditional stores and retailers will be around, online shopping will be seeing the highest activity. While traditional retail will definitely see an increase in sales, the best opportunities can be harnessed only by companies possessing a robust omnichannel strategy.

Introducing or revamping your loyalty program in time for a major holiday season goes a long way in promoting loyalty. Encouraging people to sign up for a holiday rewards program enhances holiday sales and the collection of pertinent user data. This can be incentivized through the promotion of rewards, services, and exclusive savings opportunities.

2. Offer sought-after benefits

With the current global pandemic having changed the 2020 holiday season, studies show that 77% of customers want online purchases delivered to their homes. With social isolation being advocated, this is a very safe and convenient option. As a result, one of the most appreciated and requested incentives that can be offered by a holiday rewards program is free shipping.

As with most free services, there are two main ways to include it into the program. The first way is to make it an exclusive, high-tier benefit increasing lifetime value. The second method is to offer free shipping to any loyalty program member upon reaching a pre-determined purchase limit; generating goodwill further capable of strengthening loyalty.

Some e-retailers with a strong network and plenty of locations offer premium members an additional option of receiving their order via curbside pickup as the more safe and cost-effective alternative.

3. Improve engagement through a loyalty app

Research and analytics predict that during the 2020 holiday season, nearly 1 billion hours will be spent browsing and buying products on android devices in the US. This goes on to demonstrate that app-based shopping will be a force to be reckoned with especially during the holiday season.

This trend can be leveraged to your advantage and made the most of by incorporating it into your marketing strategy with a loyalty program app. A good way to encourage downloads of the app is to offer small rewards and discounts upon download of the app. 

Once downloaded and installed,  users can be kept engaged through push notifications, app-exclusive offers, and built-in gamification elements such as spin-the-wheel.

4. Include lifestyle-related incentives

With the lockdown in place for several months now, people have decided to embrace a different lifestyle. These changes have revolved around healthier eating habits, more physical activity, spending time around family, and more. Incorporating these changes into a holiday rewards and incentives program will go a long way in staying relevant and appealing to target demographic. 

Another important factor to consider is is that people now have lower income to spend on gifts. This renders coupons less effective. A better way to cater to your channel partners is to understand the kind of content they are looking for such as DIY tutorials or recipes under-30-minutes. Channel partners can be also be given a chance to use the loyalty points accumulated to donate to charity.

During these trying tmes when the idea of a holiday is different, the best thing to do is serve and not sell. Supporting channel partners through this crisis will have them return with renewed loyalty once this blows over. 

5. Personalize the online experience

Personalization plays a tremendous role in brand differentiation. Physical stores and retail shops revamp their look each season to keep up with the times and stay relevant. This needs to done across the eCommerce loyalty program and loyalty applications. 

Adding some holiday cheer, updating content to be relevant makes the experience more wholesome. 

It is becoming necessary to understand end-user preferences to deliver relevant products and recommendations. One way to achieve a high degree of personalization is incentivizing users to fill out surveys and asking them to share product preferences using the loyalty program.

Integrating gamification makes the holiday rewards program exciting to interact with as they drive anticipation. Some gamification examples for the holiday rewards programs include reward carousels, reward calendars, prize wheels and more. 

A frequently updated list of loyalty program rewards on the membership page is a great way to encourage users to browse the app regularly to check the rewards on offer. 

Another method is to introduce loyalty program benefits for the entire month, each valid for a day.  These rewards can rotate between monetary value, freebies, and visual content.

The final word

Most of these ideas can be deployed through the year for multiple events. It is never too late to create or revamp your loyalty program. Zaggle Propel aids in the creation and maintenance of a robust rewards program that helps the company grow while enhancing employee morale. 

Zaggle Propel is an easy, intuitive platform that helps build and strengthen engagement for channel partners. With point-based rewards, easy points redemption, and a real-time dashboard Zaggle Propel simplifies the employee and channel partner incentive playbook. 

In addition to the above, Zaggle Propel offers an extensive catalogue for redemption. This contains over 100 different gift card brands across multiple categories and brands. 

Please reach out to us in case of any queries.