Loyalty is the real battle ground for QSRs. The key weapon they must use to build loyalty is an authentic approach to customer relationships that relies on emotional connects. The path to creating emotional connects depends on the quality of available customer data. Fortunately, with the growing number of channels – such as contactless payment systems, social media, pick-up services, the use of mobile apps and partner delivery systems – customer data has become richer and more dependable. But are QSRs exploiting the new opportunities to build better loyalty programs? The answer is, “No, they are still stuck in the Loyalty 1.0 mindset� which is the traditional points-for-rewards approach combined with a smattering of discounts.

Loyalty 2.0 is the next level

The top 5 factors that will define Loyalty 2.0, the new approach to building customer connect, that QSRs must adopt will include:

1. Supplement traditional cookie-cutter approaches: Traditional loyalty programs must be supplemented using actions that target individual customers. Did your customer just spend $50? Give them a higher discount for an about-to-be-launched new product or provide free deliveries. The goal should be to provide discounts on categories that the customer has shown interest in (yes, the clues to this are in customer data).

2. Think of customers as VIPs: Make customers feel special by providing them exclusive combos on high-value products that are not available on the regular menu. Customers will feel special and will increase their visits/spends.

3. Leverage intelligence at Point of Sale: Integrate the loyalty system with POS. The integration allows customer-facing executives to access loyalty information in real-time (such as balance available) to make intelligent suggestions that drive sales.

4. Build future sales:  Reward customers who promote outlets/products/brand with loyalty points. These points can be redeemed within a pre-specified period.

5. Focus on safety/security: Customers return when the food is great and when it is matched by convenience. However, convenience – by way of payment and delivery options – is driven by the availability of data. Ensure that mobile apps used by customers are secure and meet regulatory standards such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Engage with Customers on Mobile Apps

The use of mobiles is going to grow further as QSRs make ordering food simpler and more rewarding. Food apps will become the bridge between a brand’s physical and digital presence. These should be used in strategic ways to improve loyalty and boost margins.

91¶¶Òõ and SessionM co-develop mobile apps for QSRs

91¶¶Òõ has co-developed a modern mobile app (Android and iOS) with SessionM loyalty platform for mid-segment QSRs. The app delivers on all 5 factors that go into creating Loyalty 2.0 by providing real-time integrations with SessionM and other online food ordering platforms. QSRs can also configure and customize the app interface and use our cloud-based API Orchestration Framework to support modern and memorable mobile experiences.

The application enables the following features:

• Allows customers to design relevant campaigns
• Geo location intelligence for timely notifications/push messages
• Recommendations based on customer’s past transactions
• Redemption of rewards
• Online ordering of products, tracking and checkout processes
• Notifications for new product or service launches
• Personalization that can result in incremental sales of up to

91¶¶Òõ’s rapid implementation and deployment approach is powered by key accelerators such as Data Migration Toolkit, Partner Data Manager and API Framework for data orchestration across customer portals, admin portals and mobile applications. With our experience and accelerators, we can assist QSRs speed up go-to-market and enable cost savings of up to 25%.

To know more, check out the whitepaper on ‘Smart Loyalty Application to amplify QSR growth’.

Author:

Shweta Subbaraman,
Lead Consultant, DATA

References

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COVID-19 has completely altered customer expectations in the Hospitality Industry. Customer’s behavior, their journeys and interactions are changing on an unprecedented scale. The Hospitality industry is struggling to align with the “new normal� and is at a point in time where it has never been easier to lose customers. While retaining customers has always been less expensive than acquiring new customers, the need to keep those trusted loyal customers has become an imperative for survival. There is a need for deeper connect and building trust-based relationships with the customers.

The new normal has led to the emergence of the “new anxious guest”. A recent qualitative study conducted by 91¶¶Òõ’s Digital Design Studio team has found that frequent business travelers are anxious about their upcoming travel journeys. The study reveals their emerging needs and concerns around health and hygiene assurance, proof of safe and hygienic services, mindful consumption of services to prepare for the unexpected and an inclination towards discounted services and flexible booking options. Hotels that provide health and wellbeing related information and services such as contactless self-service options, flexible check-in times and immunity boosting menu options will become the preferred choice. The new anxious guest also wants tangible and intangible evidence of services such as COVID-free certified personnel for taxi services during stay, details of last time the room was sanitized, etc. In addition, the pandemic is driving growing uncertainty and guests want to be assured that the property will be able to maintain a supply of daily essential, safety kits, and other resources for a comfortable stay. Finally, the instability of the economy is aggressively shaping new asks. The anxious guests are worried that they may not be able to afford the comfort and luxury of hotels and therefore want flexible booking/ cancellation options and discounted services that allow them to continue using the hotels of their choice.

Some highlights from the research are shown below:The new anxious guest journey. Source: Re-building trust in the ‘new anxious guest’ is crucial for the survival of the Hospitality Industry, Digital Design Studio, 91¶¶Òõ, 2020

In order to address these emerging needs and concerns of the anxious guest, loyalty programs can help to retain customers and measure behavior changes. A good place to start is with the most engaged customers by reaching and connecting with them to ease their anxieties and build trust. Hotels can use this learning to design the loyalty program. In this unprecedented scenario, pure transaction-based loyalty offerings are likely to fail. On the other hand, programs driven by analytics and led by experience are the key to address the most affected areas in the customer’s journey – health and safety and uncertainty and wealth. Offering contextual experiences based on real-time or near real-time data should be the basis for delighting the new anxious guest. For instance, using partnerships to offer benefits that can be redeemed before travel will be appreciated by the new anxious guest. These offers could include the purchase of daily essentials, home services and support, health consultations, etc. The daily and routine interaction with the guest will become a factor in re-establishing trust for the brand. Delivering experiences of fine dining at home can be a pleasant offering (chef curated meals, food delivery, recipe sharing, etc.) to reconnect guests with the brand experience. Re-defining the personalization and doing it rapidly with flexibility — like doubling points, extending point expiration dates, automatic monthly increments of the points, tier retention or upgrade even if the points requirement is not met and extending point expiry — are the types of actions that will work to retain customers.

Providing customers a chance to converse with the brand through next gen loyalty programs is a way of increasing brand engagement at various levels and building the emotional connect through an underlined approach of incentivizing data sharing and behavior. The next gen loyalty solution crafted by 91¶¶Òõ is a combination of platform and services offering Smart Loyalty in the Hospitality segment. Based on intelligent platforms, Smart Loyalty enables hyper-personalization at scale and can help hotels to actively engage with their customers at various stages in their new normal journey. It combines the rich features of SessionM with ITC infotech’s expertise and accelerators to address the needs of the new anxious guest effortlessly. Our domain expertise, derived from two decades of meeting the technology needs of award-winning sister company ITC Hotels suggests that now is the right time to adopt a modern, integrated cloud-based loyalty solution that can amplify personalized engagement. It will minimize the impact of COVID-19 and put in place next gen loyalty solutions that will last long after the pandemic has abated.

To know more about how we have re-imagined this journey for new anxious guest, watch this video

Author:

Tarannum Bano
Service Design Consultant, Digital Design Studio, CX

Udita Chaturvedi
User Experience Consultant, Digital Design Studio, CX

The post Digital Experience – Impact of COVID-19 on the Hospitality Industry appeared first on 91¶¶Òõ.

Legacy systems were never built to inspire loyalty. They were focused on delivering standard rewards such as discounts and cashback based on frequency and volume of purchase. In the US alone, the average customer signs up for 14.8 loyalty programs. ² This means, customers rarely distinguish between a 10% discount being offered by one retailer from another. Customers need a stronger reason than a discount or cashback to remain loyal. They need to be engaged/excited across channels, feel special through customized offers and personalized/contextual messages. The need is for a Modern Loyalty Ecosystem – an ecosystem that would leverage data to stay connected to the customer before and after the transaction, and thereby build a lifetime relationship with the customer. In fact, few of the smart retailers have already started leveraging their modernized loyalty ecosystem as competitive differentiators.

However, modernizing loyalty is a complex activity. Retailers need to align with the right partner who can help strategize and orchestrate critical components of the modern loyalty ecosystem to maximize Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) and improve ROI from loyalty investments. At 91¶¶Òõ, we consider the following critical components while dealing with any Loyalty.

Modernization engagement

• Customer Data lies at the center of all loyalty programs. Retailers need to unify customer data from first, second- and third-party sources to create a single view of the customer. The data would then get analyzed based on the online footprints, behavior, and actions of the customers, thereby generating actionable insights that are critical to craft promotions and reward programs that bring value. At 91¶¶Òõ we address customer data related concerns by leveraging our in-house Data Science and Analytics experts.
• Design Thinking helps Retailers to develop customer-first loyalty experiences. At 91¶¶Òõ, we practice a design-led approach to define the customer persona based on their online behavior and intent. We redesign the customer interactions journey map in order to improve and optimize touchpoints experiences to make them more relevant.
• Smart Personalization is an absolute must for retailers wanting to build long-term relationships with their customers. According to Gartner smart personalization engines that recognize customer intent will enable businesses to increase profits by up to 15%. This is possible only when retailers can deliver relevant content, next best action recommendations, and emotional experiences across every customer journey touchpoint. Personalization is the outcome of intelligent insights generated from all relevant data points and acts as the foundation for long-term loyalty. Today, there are numerous Artificial Intelligence enabled personalization engines that create tailored experiences for customers.
• Omni-channel experience has become a vital component in the modern loyalty ecosystem, mainly due to the increasing number of channels and devices (e.g., In-store POS, mobile applications, webstores, social media, etc.) that are part of a typical customer-brand interaction scenario. Customers want the convenience and comfort of an omnichannel experience by making the interaction experiences seamless and consistent across channels and devices. And by enabling this experience, retailers not only increase customer engagement but also get access to a rich source of interaction data that helps them to create more precise and relevant loyalty programs. Recent data shows that 60% of retailers use loyalty programs to track customer activity/purchases across omnichannel.³
• Partner programs or coalition programs deliver much-needed flexibility to customers and ensure that reward points are put to the best use. Customers have more probability to get engaged with a brand that offers a coalition loyalty program. Multibrand loyalty programs, across brands owned by an enterprise and in collaboration with external brands, are difficult to ignore as they extend market reach. The surging adoption of coalition loyalty programs clearly indicates that consumers understand the value they are achieving by being part of a program that allows them to earn and burn their loyalty in the most appropriate manner. At 91¶¶Òõ we spend significant effort in ascertaining the right partner ecosystem that can be leveraged by the Retailer to maximize brand visibility and customer acquisition.

Recently, 91¶¶Òõ upgraded the loyalty system for a Leading Retailer with over 15 million customers. The loyalty function of the retailer aspired to become an independent profit center but was restrained due to its poorly configured and disintegrated ecosystem. The customer churn was high, and the chain could not cross-sell. Our domain experts conducted a detailed program diagnostic and benchmarking workshop and formulated a comprehensive Loyalty Program and Customer Experience strategy. We modernized the platform and built an integrated loyalty ecosystem coupled with an insights platform that could deliver personalized campaigns and promotions with improved loyalty program penetration across markets and brands. The loyalty ecosystem also integrates with partner programs, for increased customer reach and engagement. The retailer immediately witnessed an improvement of 2.5 percent in sales and a 10 percent increase in member spends. But most telling was that the retailer saw a 30 percent increase in its loyalty customer base – an increase that will continue to deliver superior results into the future. 91¶¶Òõ continues to provide application maintenance and support for the client, ensuring ongoing success.

Author:
Bijayananda Bardhan
Sr. Project Manager

Reference:

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