In this edition: When loyalty program execution fails, brand loyalty is eroded

This edition of Loyalty Tidbits (you can see the previous edition here) addresses scenarios when brand loyalty can be negatively impacted by glitches in loyalty program operations.

• Every brand wants customers to enroll in its loyalty program, so the process should be easy and convenient, right?. What happens when this is not the case?
• Reward redemption should be the highlight of the loyalty lifecycle, but when the fine print of program rules make point exchange a stressful experience, there’s an opportunity for improvement.

Once again, we share our Editor’s view of the “loyalty experience” from a consumer’s point of view. There are lessons to be learned and opportunities to improve. We hope these down-to-earth examples clearly illustrate pitfalls that could occur for any brand, and help you avoid the “Loyalty asterisk” in your program.

Uneasy Enrollment at Tops GasPoints

Many groceries have adopted the “groceries for gas” loyalty model. It’s a straightforward value proposition and easy to understand. Living in an area on a seasonal basis means that I’m not always inclined to sign up for loyalty programs that I won’t use more than a few times per year.

But if there is one thing about rewards programs (you’ll notice I didn’t call this a “loyalty” program) it’s that you shouldn’t leave easy money on the table. No matter what else is going on in the world, I’m still buying groceries on a weekly basis. I also buy gas for the vehicle so that I can get around and purchase those groceries.

So when I stopped for gas last week at a Tops location and saw that I had been missing out on earning points from my grocery spending to get discounts on gas, I decided to enroll in the  Tops GasPoints program. There were multiple stickers on the fuel dispenser informing me of the program benefits, including a step by step instructional on how to join.

To save you some reading time, I’ll get to the point. Tops does not allow enrollment at the gas pump. Customers must enter the grocery store and enroll at the customer service counter. In a world where people have been groomed by retailers to conveniently scan a QR code on a POS location and enroll in a loyalty program with a minimum of clicks, or by entering a phone number, this enrollment experience was a big disappointment.  In this instance, I chose not to add a stop to my errand run and to enroll another day, probably the next time I go grocery shopping.

The enrollment experience create by Tops sucks the program excitement out of the customer and misses the opportunity to capture new rewards program members in the midst of a fuel purchase transaction. I’m sure there is an easy fix to this one and hope that Tops would soon open up enrollment at the pump.

Clunky Redemption at Ten Thousand Decem Milia

I’m not a gear junkie, but I appreciate quality gear. I’m willing to pay for gear and clothing that is created with specific use cases in mind and made from quality material. A good example is something called the Set Short by Ten Thousand. My favorite outdoor pursuits are combo events where we might swim in a lake or ocean, transition to kayaking in that same water and wrap up with a bike or run on a nearby trail. The traditional cotton-based shorts that I grew up wearing don’t cut it in these multi-sport events. They usually end up in chafing somewhere you don’t want it, and that can ruin your day.

I had been looking for something that I could swim in without feeling like I was towing a sea anchor and then were quick drying enough that I could run or ride a bike after getting out of the water without ending up chafed and blistered. The Set Short was designed just for this purpose.

Sometime in the past year or so, Ten Thousand introduced its Decem Milia loyalty program. It’s nothing special and probably an out of the box configuration from the company’s ecommerce platform. You know the drill – earn 1 point per dollar and redeem points at an equivalent rebate percentage of 5%. Considering the average item price sold by this company, it’s not much of a gesture, but better than nothing.

Recently I received an email from Ten Thousand alerting me that I had enough points to redeem for a $40 credit. With my eyes on the Set Short already, the opportunity to redeem points was right.

Curiously, the redemption process showed red flags from the start. First, I learned that I could only redeem points in $5 increments to a maximum of $20. In other words, I couldn’t apply all my points for one big purchase. To redeem, the customer selects a level ($20 was mine) and copies the coupon code into memory to use later in the shopping cart.

When I did just that, I was informed that my purchase was not eligible for rewards. No explanation was given. There was no way to reverse the redemption at that point and because all codes expire within 14 days of redemption, I was worried I would lose the value. My only option was to find a customer support email and send a request to return points to my account.

The reversal was promptly processed and the agent informed me of all the instances in which my points could not be applied to a purchase. The fine print collectively defines the “Loyalty Asterisk” which I wrote about 10 years ago on my Loyalty Truth blog. The impact of these complicated conditions was to make me hesitant to attempt another redemption. Why? Because I’m not sure when the points can be applied and don’t want to waste time sending emails to the customer service group to recover my points.

Ten Thousand has created a redemption process where the conditions in the fine print erode the customer experience in redemption and dilute overall brand loyalty for me.