Learn how to build a successful Shopify loyalty program with Influence.io. Discover strategies to increase customer retention, boost engagement, and drive repeat purchases.
Customer retention is key to the success of any Shopify store. Loyal customers are more likely to make repeat purchases, recommend you to others, and contribute significantly to your revenue.
In fact 80% of your future profits will come from just 20% of your existing customers.
A well run loyalty program has a big part to play here. Yet many Shopify merchants struggle to create programs that engage customers and encourage repeat business. In fact, the average eCommerce store loses 70-80% of shoppers after their first purchase.
So what’s holding these merchants back? And how do you create a loyalty program that drives Shopify customer retention at scale?
A common mistake with Shopify loyalty programs is a one-size-fits-all approach. Merchants offer the same rewards to all their customers, regardless of purchase history and behavior.
This lack of personalization leads to low participation rates. Customers are more likely to ignore or abandon a loyalty program if the rewards on offer hold little value to them.
As well as generic rewards, many programs offer little by way of engagement. They focus solely on the transactional instead of promoting long-term customer loyalty.
They fail to create meaningful touchpoints that build a deep connection with the brand. Like rewarding customers for social interactions, loyalty milestones, or referrals. And they don’t make use of key techniques like gamification and targeted campaigns.
As a result, customers lose interest and are less likely to engage with the program.
Some loyalty platforms fall short on analytics and reporting tools. As a result, many merchants find it hard to track the effectiveness of their initiatives. They lack insight into customer behavior, program performance, and ROI.
Without this data, you cannot make informed decisions about your Shopify loyalty program. You’ll struggle to understand what customers respond to, and miss opportunities for optimization.
There's a lot of tasks involved in loyalty program management. Like tracking points and rewards, sending customer comms, and updating program rules. If you're having to do these manually it’s a huge burden on your time and resources.
Manual management is not just time-consuming. It’s also prone to errors. It can impact the success of your program through delays, inconsistencies, and a poor customer experience.
When we talk about control, we mean customization. The ability to change elements of your program to suit your brand. Like its name, the look of your widgets and emails, or the range of rewards you offer.
Without these customization options, you're unable to match your program to your brand identity. It won't reflect your values, and it won't be recognizable to your customer base. As such, it will feel disconnected from your overall brand experience.
Not all loyalty apps offer seamless integration. Some may have compatibility issues with the Shopify platform.
Poor integration with Shopify can result in a disjointed user experience. Customers face difficulties accessing or using the loyalty program, leading to frustration and decreased participation.
For you as a merchant, it means more time spent troubleshooting and less time focusing on strategic initiatives.
Running a successful Shopify loyalty program involves more than having a rewards system in place. It's about understanding what customers want, and delivering a program that meets those expectations.
It’s about meaningful interactions and engaging experiences that make customers feel valued.
To work, your Shopify loyalty program should be:
In short, an effective loyalty program is not just about rewards; it’s about fostering a lasting relationship with customers. One that keeps them coming back to your store, time and time again.
Influence.io is a loyalty app that offers seamless integration with the Shopify platform. With features built specifically for Shopify merchants, it has all the tools you need to drive customer retention, repeat sales, and long-term loyalty.
With Influence.io, you can choose from a range of loyalty program types. This means you can customize your program to suit your customer base and the needs of your brand.
For example, if small repeat purchases are central to your business, an Earn and Redeem program is a good fit. Customers can accumulate points quickly, and see the benefits of their loyalty. If you want to increase AOV and reward high value customers, Loyalty Tiers are a better option.
As well as program type, you can customize elements like the program name, and the design of your widgets and emails.
Additionally, you have many options when it comes to rewards. This includes customized Shopify gift cards. These give customers flexibility over how they spend their points, enhancing their satisfaction.
Engagement is key to the success of your Shopify loyalty program. What you offer needs to be enticing. It also needs to be visible and easy for customers to take part in.
Again, Influence.io offers multiple options here - like our StampCard feature. Just like a traditional stamp card, this allows customers to collect stamps per purchase, with rewards available at certain thresholds.
It brings an element of gamification to your loyalty program, making it more interactive and fun.
Influence.io also offers various widget options that make your loyalty program highly visible and easy to access on-site.
These are all designed to work with your store’s design and enhance the user experience.
Redemption is incredibly easy for customers too, thanks to our Shopify Checkout Extension. This allows customers to apply their loyalty points or discounts with just a few clicks during the checkout process.
Automation ensures your Shopify loyalty program runs smoothly and efficiently. It reduces the risk of errors and allows you to maintain a high-quality loyalty program with less effort.
With Influence.io, tasks like tracking points and sending notifications are handled automatically.
And as a Shopify Plus merchant, you can take advantage of our Shopify Flow integration. This allows you to create earn rules within Shopify and connect them to reward actions in Influence.io. It gives you maximum flexibility over program design, all while ensuring seamless execution.
For merchants with both physical and online stores, Influence.io offers seamless integration with Shopify POS. Book a demo with Influence.io today to allow customers to earn and redeem rewards wherever they choose to shop with you.
It’s incredibly convenient for both parties. Checkout operators can access loyalty accounts in Influence.io directly through the Shopify POS app.
For the customer, they can access their loyalty card on their smartphone, thanks to our Apple and Google Wallet integrations.
It all helps bridge the gap between online and offline experiences, fostering a stronger connection with your brand.
Finally, as an Influence.io user, you can track and measure program performance via a dedicated analytics tab. This gives you easy access to key metrics like your redemption rate. You'll also see an average redemption rate for Shopify loyalty programs, so you can benchmark your performance.
With this insight, you can find what resonates most with your customer base. You can tweak elements of your program based on performance data. And you can continuously optimize it for better engagement and results.
An effective loyalty program can do wonders for your customer retention rates. It can strengthen relationships, increase repeat sales, and boost your profitability.
And with Influence.io, you have all the tools you need to achieve it. Like customizable loyalty programs tailored to your brand, automated workflows that save time, and insightful analytics to track performance.
Ready to transform your loyalty program? Try Influence.io today and see how our app can make a difference for your Shopify store.
A Shopify loyalty program helps drive business growth. It encourages customer retention, repeat sales and brand advocacy.
Loyalty programs also enhance customer engagement and satisfaction. This leads to an increase in customer lifetime value (CLV) over time.
A Shopify loyalty program can fail for many reasons. Common pitfalls include rewards that don’t appeal to your customer base, and a lack of cohesion with your brand identity.
Look for a loyalty platform that offers plenty of customization. With this, you’ll be able to create a bespoke program that drives results.
To measure the success of your program, there are several loyalty program metrics you should track. These include customer retention rates, repeat purchase frequency, and average order value (AOV).
You should also track redemption rates to see how customers are using their rewards. You can access these with ease through your Influence.io dashboard.
No, Shopify does not have a built-in loyalty program. Instead, it integrates with various third-party loyalty apps.
Look for those that offer advanced features tailored to Shopify merchants. This will give you the best user experience, and help you create a program that drives results.
Influence.io offers a seamless switching experience from your existing loyalty app. Book a demo for Influence.io today to import point balances and loyalty tiers with ease for minimal disruption to your retention strategy.
Learn how to switch your loyalty program to Influence.io in 8 simple steps.