As the competitive shopping market grows, more and more stores are recognising the value of rewarding and encouraging customer loyalty. The growth of the online market in-particular has had several major consequences for businesses. Customers have less opportunity to form strong relationships with a business through in-store interaction meaning that it is harder for consumers to feel loyal to a business and therefore consumer feels less 'guilt' shopping around for the best price! Additionally consumers have more opportunity to compare price and quality between business. Instead of travelling store to store, we simply now open a new tab in safari! As a result businesses have had to develop unique reward schemes that attract and encourage shoppers to purchase with them! For example, loyalty is built by keeping in touch with customers using email marketing or tracking customer purchases so products can be tailored towards each market directly i.e. the email you receive an email from ASOS reading "you may also like" or "we recommend". As the consumer, not only should we be aware of this, but there are several things we can do to make sure we are optimising these rewards! Being a uni student defiantly restricts my shopping budget (which makes me sad) so I have learnt a few tricks over the years to making sure I don't have to miss out completely! My first tip is to subscribe to EVERYTHING! Visit the Facebook pages and website of your favourite brands and sign up to receive notifications of new stock and sales. This means you are always first in the know when your favourite labels are launching new ranges (read: discounting old ranges) or offering special promotion codes on purchase! You know the old saying, first in best dressed! One of my favourites is The Birdcage Boutique as they are constantly rewarding your shopping habits with discount codes, shopping promotions and they also let you know as they add new items to sale! Green With Envy boutique are also fantastic for this! Once you have purchased from the store you can become a VIP entitling you to first picks on sales before the general public is notified!
A second thing you can do is to contact your favourite boutiques shops directly! Let them know when you have an event coming up or you are on the market for some new season pieces! Not only can this save you time trawling through tabs (or racks) but its forms a relationship with the business! This allows the staff and buyers to get to know your style and shopping habits! I guarantee in no time they will be flicking you lookbooks of new season arrivals or calling you when something arrives in-store to your taste and budget! You'd be surprised how much $$ and time this can save you in the long term!
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