Cashbacks and rewards are an integral part of loyalty management strategy. Once, cashback was reserved for high-end customers. But today, cashback and rewards are offered to a wide range of clients. The most popular rewards system is the scan and earn scheme. With the advent of technology, scan and earn has become easy and effective. Your customer needs only the receipt and a smartphone.
Also, scan and earn schemes ensure that you are rewarding only creditworthy customers. And don’t worry! A scan and earn scheme does not mean giving away free money. You do not need to sell your products at a discount. Scan and earn schemes are methods for engaging with customers. It is a pull strategy to keep them loyal to the brand. Scan and earn add a little bit of fun to a transaction.
But before introducing a scan and earn scheme, you need to be clear on your goals:
Are you collating customer data to understand buyer behavior? Are you looking for location-specific information for targeted marketing? With the advent of e-commerce, marketplaces have diversified. You are only a click away from losing your loyal customer. Your customer’s data is available on social media. Are you using the information to promote your brand?
Brands can also use scan and earn schemes to encourage customers to report counterfeit products. At times, brands need customers to watch promotional videos before rewarding them through scan and earn schemes.
Scan and earn: Not easy for all sectors, but necessary
If you look at your phone right now, you will probably see a notification from your UPI app. It would ask you to scan the QR code at shops to earn rewards. Online payments and wallets have quickly adopted scan and earn schemes. It makes sense. UPI and online wallets have a large customer base. The brands do not know their customers personally, beyond KYC requirements. Customers have never felt any physical presence of the company. Yet, customers trust the apps with their money! With digitization, incentivizing digital wallet users is needed. Credit card providers have been using the reward points extensively. Scan and earn make reward systems hassle-free.
Implementing loyalty programs is more manageable in certain sectors. For example, a fast-food restaurant can offer reward points at the check-out counter. It is easy for a fast-food joint because the brand interacts with its end-customer. But many retail brands and FMCG have a fragmented network of stakeholders. An FMCG brand sells products to customers through a third-party seller. Such sectors cannot reward customers at the point of buy. Scan and earn schemes are an integrated loyalty management solution.
Scan and earn is an ideal loyalty management scheme for:
- Brands that are struggling with rewards and loyalty management.
- Sectors that have fragmented channels of sales.
- Sectors and brands that want to capture customer data.
What can scan and earn scheme do for your brand?
Today, your customers are familiar with scanning QR codes and barcodes. People are ready to share information if it is not time-consuming. So scan and earn is the way forward for loyalty management in the digital world.
Scan and earn can gamify loyalty management:
Brands need to look at customers as human beings. Today, a sale is not just a transaction. If you are promoting a brand on social media, your customers are not looking at making a purchase. So it would help if you offered them an element of fun. Most customers today are immersed in the world of smartphones. So how about conducting a fun survey and rewarding those who participate? Think of a quiz contest to understand your buyers’ likes and dislikes. But keep it simple. A buyer scanning a receipt does not have time for lengthy games.
Capture customer data:
Scanning a QR Code can help you capture primary customer data with ease. Push notifications, email marketing, and targeted ads are effective. But the promotions should reach the right audience. Scan and earn schemes incentivize buyers to share their personal information with your brand. It is simple human psychology. If you are rewarding your customers, they will want to give you something in return.
Capture sale trends and data:
Besides personal customer information, scan and earn schemes can give precise buying trends. Which store or locality is doing well in generating revenues? Is there a particular time of the day when sales boom? You can also get information on merchants and sellers whom your customers prefer. Scan and earn can.
The advantage with competitor data:
Your customers will be buying many products across brands. Additionally, they may buy a range of products for different uses. So if you ask your customers to upload the receipt for claiming rewards, you have extra opportunities. Now you know who your competitors are from whom your loyal customers buy products. Also, you can use this data to collaborate with complementary brands.
But are customers willing to scan a code? Is there a threat to data and privacy?
Fraudsters are a threat to everything, including loyalty management. Customers who scan your code and become victims of fraud will be livid! They may lose faith in your brand. But does that mean you should do away with scan and earn schemes? No, you don’t have to. Anti-counterfeit expert service providers can ensure your brand is safe online. ACVISS is one such company that has been using technology to protect brands from counterfeit and fraud.
Scan and earn helps you build an accurate and quick loyalty management system. With scan and earn schemes, you have control over rewards and loyalty management. Using technology, you can make scan and earn schemes fun and effective.
