Why customers come back: the psychology behind a loyalty card
Six well established patterns in how people behave, and how to use each one in Aloke.
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A loyalty programme that works is not a discount. It is a goal the customer sees close every time, a feeling of being recognised, and a pleasant surprise now and then. These patterns come from published research, and each comes with the way to apply it in Aloke.
The closer the goal, the faster they move
A study of a café's programme (Kivetz and colleagues, 2006) found customers bought more often the closer they got to the free coffee. In Aloke: keep the first prize close; the card shows what is left, so the goal is always in sight.
A head start
At a car wash (Nunes and Drèze, 2006), customers given a 10 stamp card with 2 stamps already on it finished it far more often than those given a plain 8 stamp card (about a third against about a fifth), though both needed 8 more washes. In Aloke: set the «welcome gift» to one or two stamps and every new member's card starts with progress on it.
Money has pockets in the mind
People keep money in mental pockets (Thaler): a cashback balance feels like «this shop's money», spent there more easily than their own. In Aloke: cashback returns riyals to the same card, paid with at the till or in Pre-Order.
A loss weighs more than a gain
People feel a loss more than an equal gain (Kahneman and Tversky). A balance about to expire moves a customer, but a harsh expiry feels like you took something. In Aloke: if you set an expiry make it a year or more; the oldest goes first, and banked prizes never expire.
A gift comes back
Someone who receives a gift they did not ask for wants to return the favour (Cialdini). A birthday gift, or a menu gift to a customer who drifted away, beats any advertised discount. In Aloke: the «birthday gift», and «a gift from the menu» to customers you pick.
People like to be recognised
A higher tier makes a customer feel one of the shop's own, which often moves them more than the reward's value. In Aloke: «tiers» with names you choose and a factor that multiplies their earning; keep the top tier small so it means something.
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