Last year Black Friday sales figures for the UK topped £1 billion, and as the event continues to deliver as one of the biggest shopping events in the retail calendar.
NB: This is a viewpoint by James Berry, ecommerce director at Collinson Latitude, part of Collinson Group.
For any loyalty programme to succeed, forward planning is crucial. The significance of Black Friday for brands in any vertical should not be underestimated.
Events such as Black Friday, and others like it - Christmas, Valentine’s Day and China’s Single’s Day – should be seen as key moments in terms of member engagement and value generation.
Black Friday is no longer a single day in the calendar, with Cyber Monday's emergence creating a week-long event that gives loyalty programme providers the chance stand out from competitors via the quality and value of the rewards and earning promotions on offer.
Last year, Collinson Latitude called out Black Friday 2015 as a missed opportunity for loyalty programme providers.
Loyalty programme providers need to encourage greater earning of points and redemption of rewards. Black Friday brings into focus disciplines which should be applied across the year to make loyalty programmes work harder.
Planning, planning and more planning
Given Black Friday/Cyber Monday could be your most profitable and engaging day/week of the year, it should be on your radar as part of annual and quarterly programme strategy planning, in order for all content and marketing activity to be prepped accordingly across the relevant channels.
Have member insight close at hand
Analysing what rewards and retailer promotions will be most desirable to your members, based on previous purchase history as well as current trends and insights, is crucial.
Having this sort of knowledge to hand, and being aware of what last year’s Black Friday traffic looked like, is key in order to make informed decisions around what rewards and earn promotions to offer.
Secure retailer and merchant relationships
You also need to work closely with your merchants and retailers to ensure you secure, publish and market the most compelling rewards and retail offers from them. You need to give members fresh and exciting content.
Have confidence in the long term value of Black Friday
When planning for Black Friday, don’t be afraid to increase the value of your loyalty currency or raise the value potential of points earned while also keeping an eye on the balance between what is desirable for the member and what is profitable for your programme.
It’s quite often the perceived value of the transaction which spurs members to engage. Loyalty marketers should have faith in the fact that upping the return against a transaction will drive future engagement, as we see for example in our ‘burning drives earning’ research.
Think bigger than your competitors!
Ahead of Black Friday, you need to look at what competitor merchants and retailers are already doing, while ensuring you’re own plans are kept confidential.
Overall, you should view Black Friday as a profitable opportunity and a chance to grow member engagement long after the day itself has passed.
The idea that discounting only brings short-term gain and eats into profit margins fails to acknowledge the bigger, longer-term picture.
Maximising your loyalty programme’s potential during one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year is by no means an easy feat, but with the right mix of insights, timing and planning, the occasion can be leveraged to boost customer engagement well beyond the event itself.
NB1: This is a viewpoint by James Berry, ecommerce director at Collinson Latitude, part of Collinson Group.
NB2:Image by IR Stone/BigStock