Fine jewelry has a timeless allure & sentimental meaning that’s unmistakable. For many customers, buying a piece of jewelry is a considerable purchase, and marks a special occasion, milestone moment or deeply-held feelings of love and affects. For others, it’s simply a way to highlight their natural beauty. In selling jewelry, both online and offline, you not only sell the finished product but also the experience of wearing it.
A loyalty program is a great way to get the most out of these relationships and cultivate greater trust while building on your local reputation. Here’s how to create a loyalty program for your jewelry store, step-by-step.
Before you even start thinking about points and rewards and marketing, it’s important to take a step back and consider your current customer base. Who are they? What do they buy? How often do they shop? What motivates them to buy? If you’re not sure about the answer to any of these, consider implementing surveys or feedback forms on both your website and in-store.
Once you’ve fully understood your customers’ buying habits, it’s time to create the objectives for your loyalty program. Do you want them to buy more often? Spend more each time they buy? Or would you rather attract new customers or retain more of your existing customers?
Keep in mind that it’s possible to create a loyalty program for your jewelry story that does all of these, but it’s best to focus on one objective at a time so that you don’t muddy the waters too much and get overwhelmed in the creation of your loyalty program.
Now comes the fun part – deciding the type of program you want to create. Here, your creativity and business goals can come together in a way that rewards your customers while also boosting your bottom line. Here are some of the most common types:
With a point-based system, customers will earn points toward each purchase which can be redeemed for discounts or free items on future visits.
A tiered system is like a leaderboard. The more a customer spends, the higher their tier and the better their rewards. This can help increase your average order volume.
Invite your customers to join an exclusive member’s only club that offers special privileges like being the first to check out a brand new collection.
Reward your customers for referring their friends and family to your jewelry store.
After you’ve decided what type of program to offer, the next point is to figure out what kind of rewards you want to offer. This can be anything from exclusive access to new collections to discounts, gift items or even personal shopping experiences. Make sure that whatever rewards you offer are enticing and interesting enough to keep your clients participating.
The easier it is to sign up and earn rewards, the more likely your customers will be to participate. Make it easy to do so, through an app or digital platform, to encourage sign-ups. There are numerous programs and platforms that track purchases, points and customer interactions, and they also offer detailed analytics so you can see more detail about how customers are interacting with the program and if you’re hitting your goals.
Once you have your program up and running, it’s important to keep customers in the loop about upcoming promotions, when to spend their loyalty points or perks and what new collections you have coming up. Leveraging email marketing to deliver personalized messages, including birthday messages or anniversary reminders can be a great way to personalize your messages and build on your professional relationships.
Keep in mind that setting up a loyalty program for your jewelry store may be a one-time task, but keeping it going isn’t. Track the metrics of your program, including participation and redemption rates and how much the program has contributed to overall sales growth. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments and review the program periodically.
And last but not least, it should go without saying that you should take steps to diligently protect your customers’ data and get their feedback and opinions on the program. Be clear with them how their personal contact information will be used and listen to their suggestions. Your improvements to the program will encourage more people to join and tell others.
It’s important to remember that many jewelry purchases are rooted in emotion, and a solid loyalty program can help build on that emotion by driving repeat business while adding to the overall customer experience. By continuing to cultivate trust and offer value, you’ll be taking steps to attract and keep customers loyal and engaged in what you have to offer.