Top 3 Industries Where Mobile Loyalty App Is Super Effective - Sota Holdings | A Global IT Consulting & Technology Group

Different industries across the world are struggling with ways to evaluate their brand names, retain existing customers and boost profits. In the cutting-edge technology area, it can be said that nothing is better than a Mobile Loyalty App, which has completely transformed the whole market and changed it for the better. Not only serving big and famous brands, Loyalty App for Small Business is also becoming popular. To catch up with this trend, many businesses have searched for a reliable Loyalty App Provider to adopt this advanced technology. But which sectors can gain the most benefits from this software? Let’s find out in this blog!

1. Retail

The retail market, which holds a huge number of daily transactions, is considered one of the leading industries. In the past, customers always relied on brick and mortar stores for essential needs, ranging from buying food to shopping for clothes. However, to serve customers' ever-growing needs, many retailers have turned to loyalty app development with their POS (Point of Sale) linked Odoo ERP software to stand out from the competitors as well as gain profits.

According to a study by E&Y, which was conducted in 2015, Digital Rewards Programs in the Loyalty App raised the annual revenues of large chains in the retail industry by approximately 18%. Besides, the profit margins also experienced an upward trend even though the advertising expenditures declined remarkably. To know more details about the significance of loyalty apps to retailers, here are some outstanding points:

Increase repurchase rate with Digital Rewards Programs: The reward-based and redemption systems are at the heart of the loyalty app, which acts as a huge motivation for your customers to come back to your store and use the rewards on the next order, hence increasing the repurchase rate.
Decline acquisition costs with a referral program: Word-of-mouth is no doubt the most reasonable but effective marketing strategy. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. Therefore, a loyalty app development integrated referral program (eg. invite 5 friends, receive $10) would definitely significantly lower the acquisition costs but still increase the outcome of efforts by gaining lots of new customers and at the same time, creating brand ambassadors.
Increase the Average Order Value: One of the final goals of the mobile loyalty app is still to increase revenue and profits, and the most effective way is to raise the average order value (AOV). The loyalty app allows retailers to offer various perks, such as free shipping, for orders above $20 for instance, which motivates customers to spend more to gain this discount offer.

Many retailers have turned to loyalty app development with their POS linked Odoo ERP software.

An example of a successful retail mobile loyalty app is NikePlus, which offers a fully personalized experience, such as product discounts on customers’ special occasions or free presents after completing a purchase. The more frequently they reach the Nike mobile app, the more tailored to their needs their loyalty program becomes. Besides, this mobile app also offers many rewards, such as Free shipping, Free merchandise in their stores in exchange for points and Access to products available exclusively to NikePlus members,...

2. Food and Beverage (F&B)

These days, the number of restaurants or coffee shops has gone up dramatically, and customers always want to try new places, different cuisines and different types of drink. This creates a big challenge for such F&B owners, making them try many solutions and marketing programs to retain customers. Luckily, a Digital Loyalty Card App can tackle this problem by bringing about some conveniences for customers as well as brands:

Reduce the long order queues: The order feature in Mobile Loyalty App helps restaurants or coffee shops manage their peak business hours effectively as it allows users to place an order in advance and set the pick-up time.
Bring the brands closer to M-Commerce: Customers nowadays are more likely to make a purchase if brands provide them with a favorable cashless experience. Thanks to the various payment gateways in Loyalty App, customers can choose an appropriate one to suit their needs.
Run a highly specific marketing campaign: If customers have not dropped by your brands for a long time, you can send them personalized discount offers through Loyalty App.
Simplify Reviews: F&B is an industry that customers tend to find reviews most. Therefore, instead of making them surf for various websites or apps, businesses can build review sections and encourage users to leave some thoughts. This would let new customers easily reach such reviews as well as help the brands acknowledge the existing customers’ experience, then improve the services and products.

To highlight the necessity of a Loyalty App Development in the F&B Industry, Starbucks Digital Rewards System, which is considered one of the best software, contributed to 41% of their revenue increase. The Starbucks app, which has had 16.3 million active members recently, offers great incentives for continued use, such as free drinks and cakes, early access to new products, and custom offers based on personal preferences. Also creating a sense of urgency to prompt customers to keep coming back, Starbucks only gives them 12 months to earn or use “stars” to reach the next tier or stay at the top tier.

3. Travel and Hospitality

The travel and hospitality sector which incorporates several services such as hotels, airlines, car rentals,... is one of the most wide-ranging industries in the world, with the retail value of hotels alone adding up to more than $495 billion. Besides, according to a report by Deloitte, two-thirds of frequent travelers stay at the same hotel brand for most of their travel days, regardless of location. Therefore, to prioritize the customer experience and gain ROI, a Mobile Loyalty App is an appropriate answer.

Attract customers by associating with partners: The travel and tourism industry is said to be the first sector to accept other partners to enrich their Digital Loyalty Programs. Normally, businesses can only offer customers a discount on the next flight after flying X km with the airline. However, when connecting with partners, businesses can give their users a pleasant experience such as free car rental, hotel room upgrade, reduced ticket prices, and etc.
Stand out from the competitors: Actually, Loyalty App Development in the hospitality industry is still limited in number due to lack of its advantage awareness. However, 85% of consumers of this field responded that they are more likely to choose a venue that has a rewards program. Therefore, having your own Digital Loyalty Card Apps to create a whole ecosystem for customers would put your brands a step ahead of your competitors.
Break language barriers: What would you do if the majority of calls you received in a day were from international tourists who do not speak the same languages as you? Such inconvenience can be avoided thanks to the Loyalty App. Users can easily switch between languages to fit their knowledge by providing multilingual features within your brand’s mobile loyalty app.

An example of the most rewarding Loyalty App in this sector is Hilton Honors, a hotel booking app with over 5 million downloads. This software development not only delivers loyalty programs and rewarding points but is also integrated with many features to enhance customers’ experiences, such as allowing users to View and manage their reservations, Use your device as a room key and check-in/ out from the app,...

Mobile Loyalty App allows using your device as a room key.

4. Final Thoughts

There is no doubt that Mobile Loyalty App is gradually changing the battle for customer care in the digital age and is essential in many business fields. The sooner you spice up your brand with a Loyalty App, the better it would be.

To not get left behind, contact our IT experts to build your own Digital Loyalty Card Apps. Whether you need a platform for B2C or B2B Customer Loyalty Programs, our SotaTek team can help you. We are proud to be one of the top Software Development Companies in Vietnam, who can serve you with a roughly 30% reduction in cost but still maintain high efficiency.