Nearly two-thirds of retailers say their loyalty rewards program is their best way to connect with consumers, according to Forrester, yet more than half of all loyalty programs are not actively used. The reason? Loyalty points alone don’t influence consumer behavior. The only way to do that is to usher in the era of the loyalty experience.
Adored, a Manchester-based mobile app startup, claims to be leading the charge with an app that uses iBeacon technology to allow businesses to offer a tailored experience for each individual customer in a way that is easy for both the consumer and the merchant. As a result, the tech firm raised $2.3 million round of funding from several investors, including Kepha Partners, Boston Seed Capital and Matrix Partners, to further accelerate its rapid adoption by both consumers and merchants in the northeast.
“Brand loyalty can’t be taken forgranted,” said Cory von Wallenstein, CEO and co-founder of Adored. “It needs to be earned by offering each customer the best experience possible every time they interact with your brand.”
That ideal experience is going to be different for everybody. For example, a ski resort would make a different offer to an advanced skier than they would a beginner, while a restaurant would highlight different daily specials to a regular than they would to a suburban customer who only visits on Friday nights. This type of real-time, real-world experiential marketing has never before been possible.
With Adored, however, merchants,consumers and brands can create entirely new and mutuallybeneficial relationships. The app collects robust analytics and does all the segmentation and consumer behavior profiling in the background. As a result, brands are able to offer the content their consumers actually want. Customers get the VIP treatment they deserve thereby creating more engaged customers.
Von Wallenstein says, a more engaged customer is the goal of any business because it increases the:
·Lifetime value of the customer
·Spend per visit
·Likelihood that the customer will become a repeat customer, which is huge because returning customers spend on average 67 percent more than first-time customers, according to Bain.
·Engagement, thereby creating more brand advocates - an area ripe for opportunity given that 78% of consumers are not yet loyal to a particular brand, according to Nielsen.
“These days, making great beer just gets you a seat at the table,” said Peter Egelston, founder of Smuttynose Brewing Company. “To compete, we need to create great experiences for consumers and at every level of the distribution chain. That is why we use Adored to help build stronger relationships and more remarkable experiences.”
Adored allows locations, like restaurants, bars, ski resorts, hotels, etc., to increase the lifetime value of their customers. All a customer needs to do is enter one of these establishments and Adored is activated offering rewards, exclusive real-time content and cross promotions.
One of Adored’s key differentiators is that unlike other iBeacon companies, while providing tremendous value for the vendors, Adored respects the consumer.
“iBeacons are a marketer’s dream but a consumer’s nightmare,” said von Wallenstein. “Consumers must be treated as first class citizens in both value and respect for their privacy. Since the app is entirely anonymous, with no consumer account creation required, consumer privacy is 100 percent preserved.”
But that anonymous data - from robust analytics to track foot traffic to peaks and valley's in activity and visits per week - is gold for vendors. Merchants get those analytics sent directly to their phone so they can be easily digested and used to make decisions that drive revenue and decrease costs.
"We started with Adored at two of our locations in February, and saw strong consumer adoption and engagement. Tailoring the loyalty experience in real-time based on a customer's anonymous behavior is the key differentiator for Adored, and we're now introducing the Adored loyalty experience to over 20 locations in the Common Man Family," said Erica Murphy, director of communications and community at the Common Man Family of Restaurants, headquartered in Ashland.
Adored, which has seven full-time employees, knows that just deploying beacons is only one side. The right strategy is the right combination of value to consumers, locations and brands scaled in proportion from a starting point of high density (locale by locale).
For more information on Adored or to download the app, visit www.adored.com.
Current Issue - May 2024