Integrating Product Strategy into Loyalty Programs

This week on the podcast, Phillip and Brian discuss the debatable success of the KITH loyalty launch, the “debauchery” during the prior eCom boom cycle, and the forthcoming Apple Vision Pro’s impact on Commerce. PLUS: Save the date for SXSW 2024! Listen now!

“No one wants to make a decision about the future without data from the past”

Key takeaways:

- Incorporating tier-exclusive products into a loyalty program can provide real value and make customers feel special and incentivized to continue purchasing.

- The potential for current technology was always built into the technology itself, often requiring new ways of thinking to fully realize its capabilities.

- Pattern recognition, which is necessary for successful commerce, can be mentally exhausting, leading to reliance on algorithms and machines for assistance.

- Building a standout loyalty program requires an understanding of the shifting landscape of commerce and media, and adapting to new technologies and mediums.

- True loyalty programs should focus on customer engagement and long-term success rather than solely relying on historical data or familiar strategies.

• {00:12:04} - “Kith's got a loyal following already. This is a great way to formalize it and reward people who are already incredible buyers and give them a reason to never leave. It builds a nice moat.” - Brian
• {00:15:09} - “This is the interesting psychology of what a good loyalty program can do, and I think only a multibrand retailer can pull off, is that I started looking at what else can I buy here and shift my spending. I wound up filling up my cart with the other things that I probably would have bought anyway over the next few months and pulled it forward but away from those brands, which is what loyalty is intended to do.” - Phillip
• {00:35:11} - “We've lived through one of those cycles already, so we understand the excesses of the prior cycle, and we're just young enough to reinvent ourselves and have already begun to do so because we saw the end of the era coming.” - Phillip
• {00:37:40} - “When technology changes, context often changes, and the message changes too because it's a new medium. No one wants to make a decision about the future without data from the past. They think that that is the indicator of what to do next. And it often is from a year to year basis until things have a bigger shift.” - Brian
• {00:41:25} - “Skeuomorphism in the abstract, not in the practice of the iPhone, but skeuomorphism in the abstract is taking tangibly something that is familiar and extending it into the new media format's unfamiliarity so that there's a bridge.” - Phillip

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