A couple of weeks ago Adobe invited me to attend its Summit as part of its Adobe Insiders Program. The Adobe Summit is a user conference primarily for customers of the Adobe Marketing Cloud, and has become a massively-popular and important industry event, reaching an attendance of 10,000 this year. I also did a Live #Blogchat as part of the event and was compensated by Adobe for my involvement before and during the event.
The event itself was heavy on case studies from Adobe clients with a focus on how Adobe’s Marketing Cloud services are helping clients grow their businesses. This is to be expected from a user conference, and the information shared was very compelling. Over 3 days I learned how Adobe clients like the NFL, ESPN, Comcast, McDonalds and dozens more were leveraging emerging marketing technologies to better connect with their customers.
The use of storytelling and data was a focus of many of these case studies and success stories. One of the case studies that I attended was a closer look at The Container Store’s customer loyalty program called POP! or Perfectly Organized Perks. The POP! program was launched in 2014, and its goal has been to utilize data about the members to customize their perks, whether that is discounts or gifts or just thank yous. The Container Store uses data about its members to track what areas of their company they work for, where they are located, if they are buying online, or offline. Additionally, it tracks number and type of sales and uses this data to identify its ‘best’ customers, and then further customizes offers and perks based on being part of this group. And perks go beyond simply discounts or birthday gifts, POP! members get early access to new products and free concierge services during in-store visits.
What are the results? The POP! customer loyalty program drives one incremental visit a year per member for The Container Store. I talked to Nicole Coburn, The Container Store’s Director of Customer Engagement and Loyalty after the session, and she clarified to me that the average customer visits a location twice a year, and that POP! members increased their number of visits by an average of 1 a year after joining the program. She did add that POP! members tend to visit a Container Store location more often than the average customer, so the POP! program is driving an increase of one incremental visit versus increasing from 2 to 3 visits a year. I didn’t think to ask Nicole, but I would assume that the average amount spent per year is higher for a POP! member than the average customer.
I did ask Nicole if The Container Store has an existing brand ambassador program and she said it did not, but said with the success of the POP! program, it may be possible in the future. If you’re a customer of The Container Store, it sounds like the POP! program is definitely something you should check out.
Small and medium size businesses also profit from implementing loyalty programs. An independent crafts retailer in Washington state added a customer-loyalty program last year in hopes improving customer insight, engagement, and sales
I always wonder what a good loyalty program would look like for me as a photographer. It’s tricky to think of something that might actually work when 99% of my clients are one timers.
Hi Dave! While they might not be customers again, I am betting a lot of the people you are shooting for are very happy with your work. These happy customers would gladly refer you to others, most times it’s simply a matter of reminding them that they can help you out by doing this. In your case if you had something like an email newsletter where you could stay in touch with them that could help you tell your happy customers how they could promote you. If they are happy with your work most would be happy to help you!
It’s the most ridiculous perks program I know of. I’ve just moved and am remodeling my new place. I’m a POPs member and in the past couple of months I’ve spent a small fortune at The Container Store, and I’ve gotten 20% the highest price item (which saved me less than $10) just once. By contrast, I regularly get $20 rewards from Crate and Barrel, where I don’t spend nearly as much. I totally don’t see where the consumer gains any benefits by participating in The Container Store program.