Loyalty Blogs

Living in the era of stiff competition, most brands often focus only on optimizing website content, navigation, and customer service offerings. However, the checkout experience is something which is left out of the picture most of the time. This can be the biggest mistake as checkout plays a key role in customer experience, which impacts customer loyalty to a huge extent.

Retailers must evolve with the integration of new and innovative strategies to engage their customers and generate more loyalty using reliable customer loyalty software. In this blog, we will talk about how the shift towards diverse checkout options and digital receipts can foster new touchpoints for retailers struggling to make a memorable impact.

Ways That Show How Retailers Can Engage Shoppers at Checkout

Keeping up with customers having ever-evolving expectations can be hard but with the right loyalty strategies, retail businesses can unlock business success and gain customer loyalty. The key lies in meeting customer needs effectively. Here are some of the ways that enable brands to optimize checkout and win customer loyalty-

• Make Use of a Feedback Loop

Customers are still the king for any business and the most effective way to gain customer satisfaction is by strengthening the customer experience using feedback. However, customers today are always in a hurry, which makes it a little challenging to gather valuable feedback. Thanks to the point of sale that makes it possible to collect input.

One way to collect feedback is to ensure that every transaction is paired with a simple question that the shopper can answer while getting their billing done by the cashier. The question can be related to customer actions, brand preferences, participation in loyalty programs, pricing of products, or other aspects of the customer experience. The one-question approach always works because it saves the customer from being overwhelmed by inquiries and increases the likelihood of a response. Even if response rates are not quite high, retailers can offer personalized offerings like discounts on frequently purchased items as a reward for answering the feedback.

Additionally, you can make use of AI technology in this feedback process to automate the task enabling retailers to tailor each question based on individual shopping preferences and needs. the personalized questions in the feedback process can be used to enhance product offerings pricing loyalty rewards and more. Make sure that you customize the right question for the right person to make sure that they respond to the feedback. The point of sale serves as a great way to gather feedback that enables retail businesses to improve the customer experience.

• Keep Enticing Products Near Checkout

Another way to attract customers during checkout is to place enticing products by the checkout counter. Known as one of the best retail strategies, this is designed to increase basket sizes with impulse purchases. By integrating AI, retailers today can invest in stronger last-minute strategies that help achieve higher basket sizes and boost loyalty and engagement at the point of sale, both online and in-store.

By taking help from the leading loyalty platform, you can integrate the loyalty program into omnichannel points of sale, which allows retailers to connect with shoppers on a personalized level. For instance, the cashier or point-of-sale kiosk can share a reminder if a shopper is missing any item added earlier to the list on the loyalty app. Also, they can be reminded about loyalty coupons or discounts. These AI-driven add-ons to the checkout experience can make the shopper satisfied and eager to return for their next shopping journey.

Connecting online and in-store loyalty programs via point-of-sale touchpoints can help retailers delight shoppers whenever and wherever they check out. Additionally, retailers can add capabilities for self-checkout kiosks and mobile checkout options, which will overcome problems associated with delayed shopping experience and enhance efficiency making it easier for retailers to grow their basket size. By enhancing the point of sale, retailers can simplify the customer’s shopping journey while increasing revenue, customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• Promote Sustainability with Digital Receipts

Another way to enhance point-of-sale and post-purchase touchpoints is to offer digital receipts rather than physical ones. This sustainable approach is good for the environment and saves the retailer money on printing. Digital receipts also redirect shoppers to an app or website unlocking sale opportunities. When the shoppers sign into these touch points to access their receipts, they get personalized recommendations, promotions and more.

These offerings are exclusively customized based on the information the shopper shares with the loyalty program and can even include specific preferences. We can consider an example where a shopper frequently purchased a seasonal beverage from a coffee shop last summer and he/she may want to search their past orders to find their favourite summer drink, encouraging them to repeat the order.

Apart from that, when the shopper signs in to find this information in the app or website, they might find a discount coupon with recommendations to try new products that will go perfectly with their favourite drink. Doing so will increase basket sizes and showcase the value of being a repeat customer. This personalized approach is made possible through the help of digital receipts encouraging customers to stay connected with the brand and enhance profitability for retail businesses.

Final Takeaways

As we can see, retailers must improve their checkout experience regardless of how their site is built. By integrating different ways to enhance the checkout counter and the digital receipt, retailers can ensure that they fulfil the shoppers’ needs, feedback, and efficiency. Research says that more than 50% of shoppers under 45 years old prefer self-checkout options and 89% of consumers of any age prefer a digital receipt over a physical one.

If you are looking for a way to take advantage of checkout touchpoints and connect with shoppers effortlessly, talk with the experts of Novus to build a bespoke loyalty software solution and win customer loyalty at any stage of the shopping experience. Book a demo today to unlock new customer engagement strategies for your retail business and boost customer loyalty in no time.