Most importantly, keep your loyalty program simple , fair, and make it easy for customers to figure out what they need to do to get the free stuff. Tier-Based Loyalty Program Tier-Based Loyalty Program Tier-based loyalty programs are mostly used by the airline industry, but may work for your online store depending on the type of products you sell. Whenever a customer takes a certain amount of action, they are placed in a special tier that entitles them to additional benefits and special pricing. For example, Royal Caribbean, my favorite cruise line, rewards you with special benefits for life after you earn enough cruise points . Knowing that every cruise I book contributes to a "lifetime benefit" has greatly influenced my bookings with Royal Caribbean and not any other cruise line .
The main advantage of a tier-based system over a points-based system is a long-term benefit , rather than a one-time reward. In general, tiered plans are better for higher-priced purchases, such as flights, hotels, cruises, and services that require a lot of fax List commitment. However, any e-commerce business offering services other than physical products can benefit from a tiered system. Fee-Based Loyalty Program Fee-Based Loyalty Program Fee-based loyalty programs work best if you already have an established business with a large number of customers . Amazon and Costco are probably the best-known e-commerce companies offering fee-based plans. In return for a one-time or annual fee .
Customers can get special discounts, deals, or fast free shipping. I can tell from experience that both Costco and Amazon's fee plans are very effective . My wife and I are happy to pay their annual fee because we can't live without both services. But having said that, fee-based loyalty programs may not be suitable for most small e-commerce businesses. However, if you can identify a set of factors that typically cause customers not to buy , you can bundle those factors into a special program and charge a flat fee to address them.