Go Back The Retention Playbook

How Loyalty Creates Long-Term Brand Lovers

For eCommerce brands looking to drive retention from their shoppers, a loyalty program is an obvious and highly effective first choice for a long-term strategy.

loyalty program

Learn more about how Yotpo can help your brand drive stronger retention.

A loyalty program can enable your brand to incentivize and reward for (and drive higher value from) all sorts of customer actions, including making a purchase, following the brand on social media, attending an event, signing up for a subscription, and many more.

According to a 2022 survey conducted by Yotpo, over 69% of global respondents say a loyalty program makes them more loyal to a brand. And how do they define loyalty? Over 38% of consumers say they buy from a brand 5+ times before considering themselves loyal — and a loyalty program is the way to get them to that number fast.

For brands, loyalty programs increase average order value (AOV), repeat purchases, and lifetime value (LTV), while also turning happy customers into brand advocates. They keep shoppers engaged, making them a win-win retention strategy

Princess Polly creates VIP experiences with loyalty

Australia-based fashion and apparel brand Princess Polly has tons of loyal customers who love their brand, especially amongst Gen Z. However, the brand wasn’t treating those loyal shoppers any differently than first-time buyers.

A customer who’d purchased multiple times was receiving the same on-site experience as a shopper who’d purchased once. They knew they needed to get more personalized to make their loyal customers feel valued and create the best customer experience.

To create those dedicated experiences, the brand launched Princess Polly Rewards, a tiered VIP program that leveraged experiential rewards, like opportunities to be featured on the brand’s social channels and exclusive access to their Facebook Insider group.

So, has launching loyalty helped Princess Polly drive retention? Yes — in a big way.

Princess Polly’s loyalty program has brought a new level of engagement from their customers. VIP participation averages 74% across the four loyalty tiers, and 95% of redeemers are in the most elite tier. Now, loyalty redeemers are their most valuable customers — they have a 66% repeat purchase rate and a higher average order value compared to the average shopper. Overall, Princess Polly’s loyalty program drives 15.4x ROI. And counting.

HomeWorx pivots to D2C — and invests in loyalty

Prior to 2020, HomeWorx’s primary retailers were brick and mortar stores and QVC. As in-store shopping became unpredictable during the pandemic, the brand saw the opportunity to begin growing their D2C platform. They knew a loyalty program would be a key strategy to incentivize shoppers to return to the website and purchase, increasing their conversion rates.

So, HomeWorx created Club HomeWorx Rewards, a tiered loyalty program with multiple campaigns to encourage customer engagement and retention. They launched a punch card campaign to drive repeat purchases, VIP tiers to create exclusivity, and rewards for social media follows. The brand also used Club HomeWorx to create excitement around product launches and promotions, boosting their ROI early on.

And this strategy has worked. Homeworx has increased their retention rate by 25%, and program members make 4x as many purchases as non-members. 

One thing is clear — loyalty programs are clear retention drivers. Read the next lesson to learn how loyalty programs strengthen emotional connections between brand and consumer.