Rewarding Loyalty - An Age-old Concept
Businessmen and
merchants have been using Customer Loyalty Programs from ages.
Their shapes and
forms have changed, but loyalty programs seem to hold a great deal of
importance for a business, still.
Here are a few
loyalty reward practices that were followed in the olden days. They still find
application in business today to retain customers.
Allowing credit period
Merchants were known
to offer credit to their trusted and important customers. Customers who stayed
associated with a vendor for long were allowed a credit period of a fortnight
or more, depending upon the relationship of the merchant and customer.
Giving finance options
This worked well for
merchants selling expensive items. Merchants allowed customers to pay in
installments and charged a nominal rate of interest. This helped customers
purchase expensive products and helped develop goodwill for a continued
business relation.
In those days, at
times, even a credit collateral was requested from customers by merchants.
Financing options
like installment payment options are still widely used by offline and online
merchants. The collateral is replaced with collection of customers’ credit or
debit card details.
Giving discounted price
Merchants offered
discounts to their loyal customers. This made loyal customers feel special, and
kept them loyal to the merchant, as they couldn't get the same price elsewhere
for the same quality of products.
Offering bulk discount
Merchants also
offered discount on bulk purchases to customers. This helped loyal customers
get higher benefit for higher quantities.
Offering complementary products
at discounted prices
Complementary
products were offered at low prices to increase the basket size of customers.
Gifts and rewards
Merchants got exotic
gifts from far-away lands to offer to their loyal customers. This made them
feel special and connected with the merchant for continued business.
Such Customer
Loyalty Programs still hold true today, and are used in different
forms and shapes by offline and online businesses through sophisticated loyalty
software solutions like Loyera.
The way business is
done might have changed over time, but what keeps customers motivated and loyal
seems to have the same scent of the past.
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