In the Philippines, the traditional suki system is a mainstay of small business customer retention, especially for niche or geographically restricted retailers. However, once your business has reached a certain size, you’ll need to look into implementing a modern customer loyalty program.
These programs go beyond mere transactions; they create lasting relationships with your customers and ensure that your customers will come back In this article, we will explore nine loyalty program best practices tailored to Philippine-based retailers.
1) Create a Simple and Transparent Program
Filipinos are among the busiest and most hardworking people anywhere. With that in mind, your loyalty program should be easy to understand to save customers’ time and maximize their participation. Reliable small business payroll management and cash disbursement tools like Maya Disbursements can be used as part of your loyalty program to efficiently reward program participants when they hit different milestones.
While Maya Disbursements is most often used as a payroll system component for small businesses, over the years, savvy small- and medium-sized enterprises have also used the salary disbursement tool to enhance their loyalty programs. The tool’s allowance management and loan disbursement functions, for example, can be used to offer qualified program participants unique perks. With Maya Disbursements, you not only gain a potent payroll management system but also a valuable way to incentivize repeat business.
2) Understand Your Customer Base
Having the right tools is just one part of creating an effective loyalty program. Before you launch your loyalty program, take the time to understand your customers' preferences, behaviors, and specific pain points. Doing this ahead of time will allow you to craft a truly compelling program that isn’t just about price cuts. Consider conducting surveys or using data analytics to gain insights into what motivates and turns off your customers.
3) Offer Relevant Rewards
Offer rewards that resonate with your target audience. In the Philippines, rewards such as discounts, free products, or exclusive access to promotions are often appreciated. However, these generalizations may not necessarily hold true with your intended market. In any case, always align your rewards with your customers' preferences to ensure they find value in participating.
4) Segment Your Customers
Segment your customer base to deliver personalized rewards and incentives. Recognize that not all customers are the same; some may be frequent shoppers, while others visit less frequently. Tailor your loyalty program to address the unique needs of different customer segments.
5) Track and Analyze Your Program’s Results
You’re probably not going to get your program exactly right the first time you launch it. But if you properly monitor customer participation, redemption rates, and the ROI of your loyalty initiatives right from the beginning, you’ll be able to make adjustments that result in wins for your business and its loyal customers.
6) Emphasize Mobile Integration and Accessibility
Leverage mobile technology to make your loyalty program accessible and convenient to Filipino consumers. The vast majority of Filipinos use smartphones, so having a mobile app or SMS-based loyalty program is a prerequisite for earning sufficient engagement. Additionally, do extensive testing to ensure that your loyalty program and associated apps are user-friendly, only use a minimal amount of data, and are compatible with various mobile devices.
7) Promote Social Engagement
Filipino consumers are not just mobile — they’re active social media users as well. Leverage the social media platforms that your intended customers are on to encourage conversations and engagement with your brand. Consider rewarding followers for sharing their experiences, writing reviews, or referring friends and family to further increase your reach and relevance.
8) Maintain Consistent Communication
To keep engagement up, try to maintain regular communication with your loyalty program members. While social media can be a great tool for this, you can also send program members regular email updates, should they consent to your marketing. To keep them interested, send them brand stories, exclusive offers, and personalized recommendations based on their past purchases.
9) Offer Exclusive Benefits
Make your loyalty program members feel special by offering exclusive benefits and experiences. This could include early access to sales, VIP events, or personalized shopping assistance. These exclusive perks can set your program apart and create a sense of belonging among your customers. Satisfied program members may even recommend your business to their friends and relatives so that they too can get exclusive deals, expanding your customer base through word-of-mouth referrals.
Build Customer Loyalty and Repeat Business with Maya Disbursements
For managing payroll for small business operations, on-time disbursement of loan payments, or creating your first professional loyalty program, Maya Disbursements is the best solution you can consider. Aside from being the payroll system Philippines’ SMEs and startups have come to rely on for prompt, hassle-free bulk cash transfers, Maya Disbursements is now at the heart of many popular customer loyalty programs, thanks to its flexibility and uniquely SME-focused feature set. Create your Maya Business Manager account to strengthen your customer base and enjoy Maya Business’s lineup of financial services.
Successfully creating a Maya Business Manager account automatically lets you unlock the benefits of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow business growth bundle. This special offer lets you enjoy an MDR discount of 1% on all QR Ph payments for 3 months upon onboarding. This translates to PHP 14,600 in savings for every PHP 1 million worth of QR Ph sales. As part of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle, you can also take advantage of the benefits of using Maya Business Deposit as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, allowing your business to have more resources for expanding and increasing customer loyalty. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments. The more you use Maya, the better the loan offer. Sign up for a Maya Business Manager account to activate Maya Disbursements and enjoy the many benefits of Maya 1-2-3 Grow.
