Loyalty Blogs

Do loyalty programs genuinely create customer loyalty?

This is one of the questions most often asked by businesses. Though the global loyalty marketing industry is expected to grow from USD 11.4 billion in 2024 to USD 25.4 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 17.3%, technology integration has left businesses with a lot of questions in mind.

Customers tend to join a lot of loyalty programs, but the real question is how many loyalty programs they are engaged in. The question is tricky to answer.

Middle East Loyalty program has grown substantially in recent years and is expected to reach US$10442.3 million by 2026. There’s a skyrocketing rise in digital loyalty software in UAE. More and more customers are gravitating toward loyalty technology to dispense enterprise loyalty programs.

Let’s have a detailed view of Middle East loyalty programs and the importance of customer loyalty.

What Do Customers Want?

Here’s an interesting bit: 2 out of 3 customers in the UAE prefer cashback or discounts. Isn’t that exactly what customers want? For instance, the popular e-commerce platform Souq’s loyalty program, Souq Extra, gripped the nerves of customers. They offer a range of tangible benefits, such as free shipping, discounts, and access to exclusive deals and promotions. Not only that, but they also leverage technology to render a personalized experience to their customers. Souk Extra uses machine learning to personalize their retail loyalty programs to tailor their rewards and benefits. Isn’t that exactly what customers want?

What Drives Customer Loyalty?

Knowing what drives customer loyalty can help businesses craft more personalized retail loyalty programs. The underlying effect behind loyalty success stands on certain important pillars.

Financial and Structural Drivers

A business can reach out to its customers to build lasting loyalty through financial bonds, which include discounts, points, and cashback offers. These monetary benefits drive loyalty, for sure. Then there are customers looking for convenience. Businesses can drive loyalty for this set by offering membership tiers and exclusive access.

Emotional and Social Drivers

Often overlooked but highly effective, emotional bonds make customers feel connected with a brand and sustain the relationship through highly competitive times. Emotionally engaged employees showcase more commitment to a brand and spend twice as much.

Middle East Loyalty programs can create a buzz by using these bonds strategically.

Top Strategies to Build Next-Generation Loyalty

If you’re wondering how to use the above-mentioned drivers to drive customer loyalty, we, as a leading loyalty management company in the UAE, will be revealing the top strategies to build effective enterprise loyalty programs.

Paid Membership

Before you wonder how loyalty can be built using paid subscriptions, here’s an important detail for you: Customers are more likely to engage in a loyalty program for which they have paid. Amazon Prime is one of the biggest examples of paid membership. Paid memberships are exclusive in nature and build a similar notion among customers about subscribing.

Meaningful Personalization

Hyper personalization is the hour’s need, and almost every business in the UAE is rethinking its loyalty programs due to technological advancement. If not executed effectively, personalization might come across as a generic solution. Personalized loyalty isn’t just about sending emails with their names. It’s about understanding their preferences, behaviors, and patterns to offer the most tailored experiences. Novus Loyalty follows a data-driven approach to personalized retail loyalty programs. Our focus on making personalization meaningful makes us one of the most advanced loyalty software companies in the UAE.

Break Away from Spend-and-Earn

Not every action that is worth rewarding should be transactional. Non-transactional interactions should also be rewarded through efficient retail loyalty programs. First Abu Dhabi Bank has crafted its loyalty programs beyond the spend-and-earn approach. They reward their customers for digital banking activities such as profile completion, filling out surveys, writing reviews, and social media engagement. This approach ensures more participation from the customers.

Reward Them Anyway

It’s not always necessary to base loyalty rewards on the purchases or actions customers are making. Surprise rewards, informational content, charity donations, and random freebies will onboard them on your brand’s success journey for a long time. For example, a formula breastfeeding brand can offer free content to new mothers on how to provide the best nutrition to their children. This content can be shared weekly with all new and old customers as a newsletter. Such unconditional loyalty builds customer loyalty and, more than that, a community.

Instant Gratification

If rewards aren’t released instantly, customers don’t want them. Gone are the days when customers accumulated reward points for years to spend on their flight bookings. They want redemption quickly and now. Mobile apps have greatly addressed this need. Loyalty software that runs smoothly on mobile apps can efficiently support instant gratification options such as single-tap enrollment, geo-fencing, and strong push notifications.

In Line with the Overall experience

A loyalty program that makes customers go out of their way to redeem their points proves a hindrance to a smooth customer experience. A retail loyalty program that integrates well with online and offline shopping experiences succeeds. Customers hardly like to go out of their way to earn points, redeem them, or avail themselves of anything offered. Seamless integration is the key to success in loyalty.

In a Nutshell

If retail loyalty programs aren’t generating more business, money, and new customers for your business, you need to rethink your loyalty strategy. Middle Eastern countries are likely to see a boost in enterprise loyalty programs with a rewarding twist of technology. The traditional approach to customer loyalty is seeing a shift, and it’s the right time to adopt the above-mentioned strategy to reinvent your loyalty programs.

If you’re a striving business assessing your customer loyalty strategy, Novus Loyalty can help you find the blind spots and help craft a highly rewarding loyalty solution. Our extensive knowledge of what drives customers makes us the best in the market. Book a demo today to learn what Novus can do for your business.