How to use the Black Friday rush to turn sales into long-term customer loyalty

Introduction

Black Friday customers are money-smart: they are patient, strategic and make informed choices to get the best deals. Discounts aren’t going to cut it anymore. You need to do more than just undercut your competition on price to get customer’s attention. Understanding and connecting with this customer base will create long-term success for your business. This blog explains what you should be focusing on to make the most of this annual shopping holiday. We’ll show you how the principles of loyalty can help you leave a great impression on Black Friday buyers so that they come back to you again and again. 

What will Black Friday 2022 look like? 
 

The rise of eCommerce

Since last year, many retailers have quickly adapted to selling online. Online spending reached an all-time high as a result of nationwide lockdowns, and consumer confidence is now increasing post-pandemic. As a result, the online retail space is estimated to hit over $9 billion this Black Friday. But boosting sales online is more competitive than ever - online shoppers can switch to other brands in a click. So it’s critical for brands to stand out. 

[Some businesses will win customers from big discounts but lose them shortly after if they don’t have a retention strategy. If you’re an eCommerce business looking for inspiration on how to build a successful post-purchase retention strategy, take a look at our tips here.]

This year, there’s more to focus on than discounts
 

Customer lifetime value

Instead of focusing on sales KPIs during Black Friday, have a look at customer lifetime value. CLV is a long-term KPI that often gets overlooked. Simply put, it’s a measurement of how much value a customer brings to your company - not just on a transaction level - but throughout the whole relationship. Unfortunately, 64% of retailers note that customers acquired during the Black Friday season tend to have a shorter customer lifetime value. This is because businesses forget to put a strategy in place that influences their customers to make regular purchases throughout the year. 

First-party data and Personalisation

Over ⅔ of marketers see first-party data as the key to improving sales because it allows you to create personalised experiences that resonate at an individual level. Delivering specific messages to specific customers is more compelling than generalised marketing communications - it makes customers feel as if the brand knows them. Shep Hyken, a New York Times Best Selling Author and thought leader in the customer service industry, highlighted the importance of personalisation and making customers feel special: “That’s the beginning of true connection. That’s what customers want - to feel recognized. There’s a trend towards personalization in the market experience. They want to feel connected and feel that [companies] know and understand them”. 

Loyalty programs are your way into collecting valuable first-party data. 
 

Your loyalty program can gather customer consent to use data in exchange for more personalised rewards. Transactional activity and other consumer behavior can also be added to create a clear picture of how your shoppers behave. To gain even more insight into your consumer base, you can combine your existing CRM with your loyalty card app. (If you need a CRM, our Loyalty Console module can provide CRM functionality out of the box). 

Direct CRM integration gives you access to complete transaction data with 100% accuracy. What CRM system do you use? It doesn’t matter! White Label Loyalty has the ability to integrate most of the world’s popular CRM systems, with more in development. We can help your business out no matter what you use. 

To find out more about how first-party data and loyalty programs can help your business, get in touch with one of our loyalty experts.

How strong is your UX? Black Friday will be the ultimate test...
 

This year, user experience (UX) has been a key focus in the digital marketing world. With Black Friday bringing many new potential customers to your business, this is your opportunity to give them a positive experience. Make sure the UX of your website, loyalty program or app is optimized: it should be a frictionless, personalized experience that keeps your customers coming back for more. If you need guidance, you can check our top 5 tips to improve the UX of your loyalty program here. 

How can loyalty help? Our tips for turning Black Friday bargain shoppers into loyal customers

Loyalty mechanics can create value for new and existing customers. Remember, value isn’t just about price. Value is anything you can offer to potential customers that will give them more incentive to buy - think free gifts, double points or future discount codes. What can you offer that will make your customers feel valued? Let’s take a look at ways that loyalty programs can make this Black Friday into your most successful one yet. 
 

1. Use your loyalty program to showcase a frictionless user experience. The first part of the user experience is the ‘sign-up’ process, so make sure it is as easy as possible. You can remove friction in the onboarding experience by implementing a straightforward ‘one click’ sign up through social channels. 
    
2. Give your customers something valuable. You could reward bonus points for new sign ups, or offer extra points for making purchases this Black Friday. This will give your customers a good reason to come back to you for their Christmas shopping…
    
3. Personalise your program. A loyalty program is your opportunity to show how much you care about each customer as an individual.  If you’re collecting first-party data, you can take the opportunity to really delight and impress your customers by offering bespoke, personalised rewards. 
    
4. Get the messaging right: Your customers are unique individuals, so make sure you communicate with them in a way that delivers the right message to the right people. Our system allows you to segment your users based on any characteristic and tailor your messaging to speak to each group.
    
5. Reward referrals to drive new customer acquisition. Your customers will do the work for you - offer rewards for those who encourage sign-ups from family and friends. Make it easy for customers to refer friends with unique URLs delivered via email, social and mobile. Our events-based system tracks the complete referral lifecycle, letting you include the value of referred customers when analysing your customers’ lifetime value.
    
6. Go beyond discounts - if you buckle under the pressure to provide huge discounts, you run the risk of teaching your customers to wait for this season to purchase with you. This is your opportunity to show how your brand can create value for them all year round. 

If you already have a loyalty program in place, you can use Black Friday to increase your sign ups. If you don’t have a loyalty program yet, don’t worry. WLL can quickly set up a bespoke data capture solution for you which is the first step to your loyalty program. 
 

Turn impulse buys into repeat purchases and long-term loyalty

Black Friday is a great opportunity to grow your business long-term. Those businesses that invest most of their marketing budget into loyalty mechanics and retention strategies will stay ahead of the ones that focus on discounts. 

How do you measure Black Friday success? Most businesses focus on the number and value of sales made during this shopping holiday. But how many of these transactions are once-only, impulse-buys driven by sudden discounts? How many of these customers will wait until next year to buy from you again?  The real value of Black Friday is in its potential to help you acquire lifelong customers that regularly purchase from you beyond the Black Friday rush.