Vice President of Abtek, Tami Cohorst, recently discussed mobile wallets and the future of mobile loyalty programs on Entrepreneur, a prominent online resource for business development news.
She writes:
“What many merchants don’t realize is that mobile wallets can also be used as strategic marketing tools to help increase their bottom lines. The solution is in mobile loyalty programs.”
Find out how this mobile wallet trend will effect business loyalty programs on Entrepreneur →
With Apple Pay and similar technology becoming the norm and customers warming up to mobile wallets in droves– approximately 28 percent of smartphone users made a mobile payment last year–many merchants may need to think deeper about how mobile wallets can double as marketing strategy.
The most obvious reason why merchants offer mobile loyalty programs is to give customers incentives to return their businesses. But there are a number of other perks, including:
Customer retention is always good for boosting the bottom line, but studies have shown that a mobile loyalty program can also boost extra sales among loyalty customers. Kohl’s loyalty customers, for example, average two additional trips to the store and spend $80 more than non-loyalty customers over the course of a year. Plus, mobile loyalty programs require less operational management than a paper-based program, which will ultimately lead to reduced operational costs.
Loyalty programs are an excellent way to differentiate yourself—and having a mobile loyalty program gives you an even bigger edge in the marketplace. Consider what your competitors are doing for their loyalty programs and figure out a way to make yours even better!
VIP TreatmentConsumers want their experiences to be enjoyable and they want to feel as though they’re valued. Loyalty programs help to make both of these criteria possible. They open the door for more communication between the retailers and the customers during checkout. Loyalty programs also give loyal customers rewards for their patronage, making them feel appreciated.
The next step in mobile loyalty programs, according to experts, will be to integrate them with leading mobile wallet providers. Up until this point, consumers have been forced to use mobile loyalty programs within each store’s individual apps. In the near future, we can expect to see these wallets begin to not only implement store loyalty programs, but ultimately become a platform for integrated, real-time marketing.
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For many retailers, Black Friday sparks the beginning of their busiest period of business: Holiday shopping. Especially this year–when Black Friday sales were already underway as early as November 1. It’s just the tip of the iceberg. Forbes reports that post-recession savvy shoppers have changed the rules of the holiday shopping game. So how can you make the most of this potentially very lucrative time of year?
• Know your window of opportunity. Did you know that you get 
almost a month–28 days, to be exact–to make the most of your holiday shoppers?
• Mobile payments are the key. Most of your shoppers might use cash or plastic, but one way to help speed up long check-out lines? Mobile payments.* 
•Reward savvy shoppers. Price-matching will remain a key element of staying competitive with shoppers.
• Each shopper matters. Black Friday shoppers will spend, on average, $399/person.
• Apple Payers and Google Walleters will spend more. In fact, they may spend up to 17% more than customers not utilizing mobile wallets.
• Protect yourself. With such heightened sales activity during the
holidays, the risk of data breaches is especially high. Do you have an action response plan in place?
*Need some help with this? Click here.
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