Retail marketing is one of the many tools used by large and small retailers alike to attract customers and encourage them to spend money in their stores and shops. The more customers spend the more rewards points they receive and the happier the store manager will be at the prospect of return customer visits.

To the customer it means special offers and bonus buys which can either make the shopping bill cheaper or it gives the expectation of some form of reward at a later date. They can build up their reward points until they have enough to redeem them for cash off their shopping bill, or choose a gift from the reward programme catalogue that is sent to them.

There are so many retailers vying for customers that the competition can be very fierce. They spend a great deal of their marketing budgets on researching and developing schemes that will attract the customers and encourage them to spend. They want the customers to return to them every time they shop so offering a points scheme based on the amount spent is a useful tool. Whatever the spend the cashier uses the points card to record the points accrued on each shop.

Points accrued on the customers card account can be redeemed for cash off a shop or in exchange from one of the many gifts on offer. To keep the customer interested the gifts can be for a wide variety of items, days out, entertainment and a whole range of other things. The more expensive gift can often be obtained for a mix of cash and points, while others just require enough points.

Rewards program aim to reward customer loyalty by giving them money off vouchers or double points when they purchase specific products. These vouchers usually have to be used within a specified time frame or they become invalid. This is to encourage the customer into the shop within that time frame.

Retailers will use any means at their disposal to encourage customers to buy products. Special offers are often at the centre of store advertising events and promotions to encourage sales of items the store has purchased in bulk, that may not be selling fast enough, or to introduce new products to their range.

Perhaps the best known marketing tool is the buy one get one free offers which all retailers have caught on to. It also causes questions to be raised about how good the offer is or is not. Would the customer have bought the item if they did not believe they were getting something for nothing. It could be surprising to find that buying two single products work out at the same or less than the special offer.

Retail marketing ploys impact on every aspect of our lives. Whatever we purchase in terms of products and services today has become subject to these type of selling practices. Whether the claims made are true and we really are getting a bargain, is only true when we really needed the product of service in the first place.

Creating Reward program since 1981, we’ll design a Loyalty cards strategy to meet your goals, surpass your customers‘ expectations, and inspire long-term loyalty and growth.