The bent head, the lifted arm, the intense focus in the eyes, the face bathed in a slightly blue glow—this is becoming the new familiar—the tech savvy customer, strolling down the street or through a store, smartphone or tablet in hand, ready to scan barcodes and search Yelp reviews at a moment’s notice. They’re here to stay, and the best way to keep them coming back to your business is to reward them and their technological proficiency. Here are a few great ways to use technology to provide the ultimate customer satisfaction:
1. Discounts at Their Fingertips
Take advantage of the siren song of the sale by using a website like Coupon Sherpa. The site’s mobile app notifies shoppers of coupons available in their vicinity making it a great way to get a passing customer off the street and in your store. Once inside, there’s no need to print a coupon, let their phone and your POS scanner do all the work. Customers will love getting a hassle free discount.
2. Long Live the Loyalty Card
There’s no business like return business. By all accounting, return customers spend more money, and generate more word of mouth sales that any other type of customer. So show your loyal shoppers you care by giving them easier access to your loyalty program discounts. Rezoop will show you how. Their easy to navigate website is free to use, and allows companies to design a digital rewards program to their unique specifications. Rezoop then issues a bar code which can be placed at point of sale for shoppers to scan with their handheld device. No more easy-to-lose, expensive-to-produce stamp cards, no fees, no frustrated customers wondering why they need to divulge personal information to a sales clerk. Everyone wins.
3. Contests are for Winners
Winning a contest creates customer loyalty and brand affection, and online contests are a simple and free way to provide customers with the chance to win products or services you may have already been willing to give away for free. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are all great venues for online competitions and giveaways, and since customers carry their internet with them everywhere they go, online events can be promoted in store, and customers can participate while they shop.
4. Extra Credit for Referrals
Encourage loyal customers to make referrals and give new customers reduced rate incentives using PostcardMania. This site can be employed by individual companies to create unique referral rewards programs, and provides postcards with tear-off referrals to give to customers, making it easy for anyone to participate. PostcardMania also uses social media to market these rewards programs, and when a customer shares a PostcardMania blog post, they are eligible for a monetary reward in the form of credit. PostcardMania is a great way to show customers, old and new, that their business is highly-valued.
