It has only been nine years since the world started looking at adopting blockchain. Reward and loyalty programs, on the other hand, have been there since a very long time. Yet, it is only now that businesses realize how blockchain can help them make their reward and loyalty programs better.
What is the problem with traditional loyalty program?
Traditional loyalty programs don’t work. You can’t transfer points from one brand to another. Nobody really wants to get ten loyalty cards from ten different brands you shop in. Plus, if you move around places, your loyalty cards will not work too.
It’s just too complicated for your liking.
- Companies are adding more and more rules to make their loyalty programs look better. They are reducing the reward points. Consumers in turn, find it more confusing.
- No matter how good the program is, a client is going to take a back step if doesn’t have a good UI design and has broken links.
- You get to redeem the points for only a year or two after purchase. It’s only one brand that we are looking at, and before you do get to the appropriate ‘reward’ level, you would have to spend significantly. You wouldn’t want to do that.
- There is one too many programs that people find difficult to keep up with. Research suggests that 53 percent people who have signed for loyalty programs stop using it within the first year.
Blockchain and loyalty programs
Airline companies like Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Cathay Pacific and rental company like EZ Rent-A-Car have already started offering blockchain-based loyalty programs. Rakuten, a Japan-based ecommerce company and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are currently working on similar programs that will be launched very soon. Australia’s University of New South Wales is also working with LoyaltyX to create an experimental program called Unify Rewards.
Why use blockchain for loyalty programs?
Blockchain loyalty programs differ. For instance, as customers you get to redeem points that you earned in one brand, across different brands – all in a simple user interface. It’s exactly what Dewber is, and what we will take a look at below.
You can buy a plane ticket, rent a cab, go for a free coffee or do more. Here are a few reasons why you should sign-up for a blockchain-based loyalty program:
1. Rewards redeemed across various brands
You can consider a blockchain-based loyalty program as an overreaching program that lets you redeem points collected while buying product from a particular brand and using them to purchase from somewhere else. A traditional loyalty program doesn’t offer such privilege.
2. Simple and easy
An average American signs up for around 29 rewards programs and don’t use half of them. One of the main reasons for it, like we mentioned earlier, are the complex rules and policies. On the other hand, a blockchain-based loyalty program is simple as perks can be shared more easily.
- by Soubhik Chakrabarti
