Wallet Points Management for Loyalty Programs

Subscription ecommerce businesses can level up their customer retention strategy by offering loyalty programs. Loyalty programs provide subscribers with perks that they can avail to get discounts on products. They enhance users’ subscription experience, making it more engaging and rewarding.

SubscriptionFlow facilitates such programs by letting merchants implement a wallet-based points system. In this system, each customer is assigned their own wallet. Loyalty points are credited to these wallets after every purchase, or according to the rules set up by merchant.

Merchants can easily manage customers’ wallet points using SubscriptionFlow’s automation, and tracking capabilities. In this article, let’s dive into how wallet points management works in SubscriptionFlow.

What is Wallet Points Management?

Wallet points management refers to how customers’ loyalty points are managed by a business. It is a process that covers everything beginning from how the points are assigned to wallets, to how they are utilized and tracked.

Let’s suppose there is an ecommerce business selling subscription boxes. Whenever its customer makes a new purchase, or renews their subscription, they receive 5 points in their wallet. The customer can use these points to unlock multiple rewards. Each reward requires a certain number of points to be unlocked.

This specific business offers free shipping as a reward at 25 points. So the customer can either collect 25 points and unlock free shipping at checkout, or they can keep accumulating points to access a higher reward. So in a wallet points system, businesses can flexibly assign different rewards to different point values.

Wallet-Based Loyalty Programs Vs Flat Discounts

The wallet-based rewarding system can work better for subscription businesses, as compared to the flat discount system. Here are the reasons why:

Rewards can be recurring, rather than one-time

Flat discounts or promotions are often one-time. They are time-limited, and can only be availed once by the users. While flat rewards also have their own benefits when it comes to acquiring new subscribers, recurring loyalty rewards are better for customer retention.

Users are encouraged to make repeat purchases, or to renew subscription without any pauses. They get loyalty points in their wallet as a reward for their commitment. This motivates them to stay loyal to unlock higher level rewards.

Customers earn rewards, rather than passively receiving them

In a wallet-based points system, each point is earned. It is the result of a successful purchase made by the customer. Thus, customers are not simply the passive receivers of a discount, like in flat discounts. Rather, they actively interact with the business to earn loyalty points. Therefore, earning points can boost customer satisfaction better, and can make subscribers stay for longer time periods.

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Customers have greater control in the point-based reward system

One-time discounts do not make customers feel in control. That is because they are usable for one time only, and their usage is pretty straightforward. For instance, there’s a company that offers 30% off for the first three subscription renewals.

This discount lowers pricing for interested subscribers, but only for a limited time. This strategy might prove better for customer acquisition rather than retention.

In contrast, the loyalty point system allows customers to choose how they want to spend their earned points. Customers can unlock a variety of rewards by storing points in their wallets. They have control over whether to use their points right after collecting them, or store points to accumulate more of them.

This is what makes this system more flexible. Customers control how to redeem their rewards. This significantly improves retention.

How SubscriptionFlow Makes Wallet Points Management Efficient & User-Friendly

Businesses using SubscriptionFlow can implement the wallet-based points system seamlessly. Here is how SubscriptionFlow wallets can be utilized to make loyalty programs a success:

Points/credits are stored in the wallet

Customers can earn new points by making new/recurring purchases. Let’s suppose a merchant wants to set up a point-based system where the customer receives 1 point for spending $1. All the points are stored inside the customer’s wallet.

Wallet balance can be viewed by customer

Wallet is visible in the customer’s portal. It can also be accessed from inside a mobile app (if the business offers one). It shows users all of their earned points, as well as the redeemed ones. When users earn or redeem new points, the wallet updates their credit data in real-time, making point-tracking easy for them.

Alternatively, customers can see their wallet balance on their invoices. Invoices can be sent to customers as transaction proofs after they have redeemed points from their wallet.

Points can be applied automatically or used manually

SubscriptionFlow automates point application at checkout. For instance, a customer has accumulated 10 points, and is eligible for 5% off their subscription renewal amount. When this customer goes to the checkout page to pay, SubscriptionFlow automatically applies their earned discount to the total price.

Alternatively, merchants can give more flexibility to customers by allowing them to utilize their points manually. In this scenario, the customer can be given the option to redeem points at checkout, but they don’t necessarily have to avail this option. Instead, they can store up points, and use them to unlock a bigger reward in the future.

Bonus credits can be given by merchant

Merchants can transfer bonus credits to a customer’s wallet on special events, such as the customer’s birthday. For example, there can be a “$5 off for your birthday” discount that can be added to the wallet like a gift card.

This bonus credit can be redeemed like a gift card as well, i.e. instantly at checkout. SubscriptionFlow can automatically apply such special credits to the customer’s total amount at checkout. These credits come with shorter expiry dates, and encourage customers to use them urgently.

Points expiration date can be set

Merchants can choose when their customers’ points expire. For example, in 6 months, 8 months, 12 months, etc. So customers have to utilize their collected points before the expiration date.

Rewards can be based on tiers

SubscriptionFlow allows merchants to set up a tier-based loyalty program using wallet points too. There can be various tiers such as silver, gold and platinum. Customers need to have a certain amount of points to enter each tier. For instance, at least 100 points for the silver tier, and 500 for the platinum.

Upon entering a new tier, customers can unlock more rewards. The higher tier they get into, the more premium rewards they can avail. The wallet can display each customer’s tier too, and any bonus rewards they unlocked in that tier.

Refunds can be transferred to wallet

With SubscriptionFlow’s wallet points management, merchants can manage subscription refunds better too. They can return the customer’s unused amount in both the form of cash, or credits/points. This depends on what the customer wants.

If customers want their full or partial refunds transferred to their wallets in the form of credits, SubscriptionFlow makes it possible. In this way, merchants can further strengthen their loyalty programs.

How Wallet-Based Loyalty Programs Benefit Merchants?

Better Customer Retention

Customers get to benefit from an engaging subscription experience as they can earn points on purchase. This doubles purchase benefits, as customers receive both access to the actual subscription service, and loyalty rewards.

Customers stay committed to accumulate more points, and then spend them however they wish to. They can unlock exciting benefits such as free shipping, subscription fee discounts, free add-ons, and so on. These benefits further boost the perceived value of the subscription, encouraging customer retention.

Higher Average Order Value

If merchants give out wallet points according to the purchase value, they can encourage customers to buy more. For example, alongside their subscription renewal, customers can buy add-ons or more subscriptions to access more rewards. This automatically increases their order value and unlocks more revenue.

More Personalized Subscription Experiences

Each customer can control how to utilize their points. Additionally, customers can be given bonus credits on special events such as their birthdays. This makes their subscription journey more personalized, and interactive. Instead of receiving standard rewards, they can personalize point usage to unlock the benefits of their choice.

Increased Chances of Upselling

Merchants can assign different loyalty reward tiers to different subscription plan types as well. If customers subscribe to a higher tier from the get go, they can access higher reward tiers such as gold and platinum tiers more easily. These reward tiers allow them to access further benefits in turn.

This can encourage customers to subscribe to more expensive plans from the start. They can also switch to them later on, facilitating upselling, and bringing in more revenue per customer.

Want to implement seamless loyalty programs to retain subscribers? Leverage SubscriptionFlow’s wallet points management, and set up a reward system that works smoothly with your subscription cycles.