Prime Day’s sales have increased significantly each year, including last year’s event held in October due to the pandemic. Typically held in July, this year’s Prime Day is set for June 21-22.
Besides recording massive sales during the annual two-day shopping extravaganza, Amazon uses Prime Day for retention and as a key member acquisition tool.
Amazon always does a great job at collecting personal data from its members, using it to enhance the already plentiful benefits of the Prime program.
And Prime members become more loyal to Amazon. Amazon officials have stated that Prime Day is a celebration of Prime members. As part of our Prime Day 2021 Survey of 1,147 consumers (who are primary account holders of Prime memberships), 26% said Prime Day was the reason they joined Amazon Prime.
So, should you offer a special shopping holiday just for your loyalty program members?
Exclusivity Makes Consumers Feel Special
One of the main reasons for Prime Day’s success is Amazon offers exclusive deals for its loyalty program members.
When consumers receive anything deemed exclusive, your brand creates an emotional connection with them.
Consider that 94% of Americans would take advantage of an exclusive offer. There is an undeniable appeal to anything exclusive.
Exclusivity makes any loyalty program more attractive, compelling, and desirable. And when your program members feel they’re receiving exclusive access and benefits, they will keep your brand top of mind and tell family and friends about you.
Consider 35% of consumers say exclusive deals would motivate them to sign up for a premium loyalty program.
Brands like Restoration Hardware, lululemon, REI, 1-800-Flowers, and CVS offer premium loyalty programs that include exclusive benefits.
For example, when members of Lululemon’s premium loyalty program pay their $128 annual membership they receive a pair of yoga pants or shorts with a special logo on them.
REI’s Co-op premium loyalty program only costs $25 per year and includes special member pricing on classes, events, and rentals; member-only events; and an annual member dividend.
Restoration Hardware’s RH Members Program charges members a $100 annual fee in return for 25% savings on all full-priced items, an additional 20% savings on all sale items, and concierge service.
If you want to create an annual loyalty program holiday for your members, make the appeal of exclusivity a key building block. Our Prime Day 2021 Survey shows 61% of respondents would join other companies’ loyalty programs to gain access to members-only shopping events.
Other Retailers Have Benefited From Prime Day
In recent years, many retailers have leveraged Prime Day to take advantage of the heavy online consumer presence.
Riding Prime Day’s ‘halo effect” has proven beneficial to other retailers. Research shows that more than 75% of Prime Day shoppers in the U.S. visit competitor websites to make sure they’re getting the best deals.
Consider that Prime Day can generate a 66% revenue lift for other e-commerce retailers.
Many competing retailers offer targeted promotional campaigns and leverage Prime Day with Back-to-School sales. Retailers also target consumers in the few days after Prime Day since some might have missed the two-day event but are still attracted to summer deals.
Big brands like Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have offered their own deals in conjunction with Prime Day.
For example, Target has offered Target Deal Days – its biggest sale of the summer – with no membership required to shop thousands of deals. Customers can access Target’s same-day delivery and pickup options.
Given its rousing success in the past six years, Prime Day has become a key event for other retailers as well as they engage their customers with special deals.
But the question becomes: Do you want your brand to continue to lie in the slipstream of Prime Day?
Create Your Own Exclusive Loyalty Program Holiday Every Year
There’s an adage that says: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
This could apply to retailers who want to create their own exclusive loyalty program holiday to celebrate their members each year. But not everyone is Amazon nor needs to be. What works for Amazon may not work for your customers.
So, instead of launching something similar around Prime Day with your own deals and special offers, why not create your own annual event for program members and schedule it away from Prime Day?
There’s enough emphasis on Prime Day each summer and many retailers launch promotional campaigns and deals during this time, but ultimately exist in Amazon’s wake.
Instead of watching Amazon achieve huge success each year with Prime Day, why don’t you create and launch your own exclusive event that will spark increased engagement, increased spend, and increased loyalty?
According to our Prime Day 2021 Survey, more than 95% of respondents said their Prime memberships make them consider Amazon first when shopping.
Why aren’t more retailers considering their own version of Prime Day for their respective loyalty program members, and scheduling it at another time of year to make it unique, impactful, and memorable?
When success is found in various forms (retail, sports, art, literature, etc.), there are many who want to emulate that success and make it their own.
You can do this by launching your own special loyalty program holiday for your members and focus on retention and acquisition.
Differentiate Your Loyalty Program Through a Special Event
Creating your own special loyalty program event each year is a great way to not only show appreciation to your best customers but also to entice new customers to sign up for your program.
If you had an annual event, like Prime Day, but designed to your customers’ likes, it would stand as a beacon of differentiation for your loyalty program members.
It would excite and inspire them to, not only keep your brand top of mind but also advocate for you and everything your brand represents.
It’s all about honoring your existing loyalty program members, inviting other consumers to join, and offering exclusive deals that encourage participation.
Sure, you can offer deals to coincide with Prime Day each year, but is that differentiating your brand?
Why not create your own day, each year, to celebrate your loyalty program, your program members, and your brand?
Check out more new Prime Day Data here.
ebbo
ebbo helps brands achieve their customer loyalty goals with full-service, end-to-end solutions and also creates original educational content straight from the experts to help loyalty marketers stay on the cutting edge of customer engagement.