Attention: Struggling to increase customer retention? Launch a Digital Loyalty Program!

Launch your own ...

digital loyalty app for hotels and restaurants

 .. and gives your customers incentives to come back again and again

Want to boost your customers' loyalty?

Are reward cards the solution?

The idea of a reward card has been around for while. You issue your customers a card and if they come back you will provide them with rewards. This has been a time-tested way for businesses of any kind to save on marketing expenses to get new customers while diverting some of that money to incentivize existing customers to come back. Returning customers are the most reliable source of recurring income and they do a great job of spreading the word of mouth.

However, reward cards have downsides. Remember that time when you spontaneously decided to pop into your coffee shop only to find out you do not have the card with you?

What if you would always be able to carry the loyalty card with you, in a manner of speaking then? This is where digital loyalty programs come in. You can always access them on the one device everyone carries with them all the time: their mobile phone.

We are bringing reward cards to the digital age by providing hotels and restaurants with a mobile rewards app that they can easily self-brand.

Spend less on platform apps to get new customers and offer better rewards to returning customers.

Any hotel that can work without platform apps? Booking platforms, discount apps, coupon apps. Sure these are great to get your name out and great for bargain hunters. They will get you new customers through the door. In return, you give them a hefty discount, or a two for the price of one deal, and on top of that perhaps a hefty commission for the privilege of being on the platform?

You expect the discounts to make it profitable for you – ultimately. They might order that extra bottle of wine, items that are not discounted, and you hope they will like your place so much they will keep on coming back. Money well spent to get them through the door … the first time.

But you know, often these customers will not return, they are on the platform after all. And the platform offers 1000’s of deals at many different places. Many are one-time customers.

Now, we are not saying to avoid these platform apps altogether. They are a great way to get new customers.

But then? Shouldn’t you try everything possible to get them to come back? After all a returning customer is a profitable customer.

Is a loyalty program the answer?

Yes it could be!

Instead of paying a platform app – stay in touch and reward your loyal customers. You get them to book rooms or make reservations through your app and you give them incentives to return to your hotel, its outlets or restaurants.

Because you save on their commissions you instead can pass on the savings partially to your returning customers. You save and your customer saves.

This is ultimately why most of the big hotel and restaurant chains offer these in the form of a loyalty program app. 

But the smaller hotel and restaurant chains mostly do not. It is costly and time-consuming to figure out what works best and then to develop the software to support it. 

That is where Loyaltier comes in. We have developed a mobile loyalty program app for Android and iPhones that can be easily reskinned by us for your own brand. The app will use your brand colors and your app icon and will have its own listing in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

So how will your loyalty scheme work?

The best loyalty program in the world are those that are kept simple, so that customers immediately understand how rewards are accumulated and can be used. 

We have implemented this principle as follows:

Every time a customer spends, whether on a restaurant bill, a spa bill, a room bill, he accumulates points. How many points? That is up to you. For example for every $100 spent you can reward 20 points. The 20 points are equal to $20 and these can be redeemed as a discount on the next visit to the hotel.

Now, what is easier than that to understand? The first time a customer visits he is invited to download the app upon being presented with the bill. He can immediately accumulate points that he can use during a next visit.

You can hand out promotional cards with a QR code on it together with the bill that they can scan and redirects to the App or Play Store to download the app.

Becoming a member of your membership program is as easy as logging into the app with a Facebook or Gmail account (or if desired an email address). The membership number is created immediately.

When the customer returns he opens the app, a staff member types in the bill amount, the receipt number, and an authorization code. The bill is then reduced accordingly and the rewards redeemed.

In order to incentivize the customer to not postpone the return visit for too long points expire after a year.

Are there any other benefits of having a digital loyalty program?

Yes, when you use our app as the platform for your loyalty program that is…. The app offers much more than bare-bones points collection functionality:

  • In the hotel app you display information about your hotel & its outlets, room rates, members-only discounts, outlets deals and menu items. In the restaurant app you display information about your restaurant, your current promotions and your menu items. You get access to a content management system (CMS), through a web portal, where you can upload the images and the promotional texts, and validity periods. 

  • You can stay in touch with your customers by using our web frontend to send push messages to your members, attending them to current promotions. In this way your members will keep o returning to the app.

  • You can even display promotions and send notifications in multiple languages. Your members will see the content and messages you sent in their language of choice. You get contact information from your clients: emails and telephone numbers (if provided), which you can use for other marketing purposes, such as email campaigns. All data can be exported to excel, as the data are yours and not ours!

  • For each member, you have points collection and redemption information which will tell you who your most valuable customers are. You can target these customers separately if you want.

Finally!

Stop wasting time trying to develop a loyalty program on your own

We have ready made apps that can be easily rebranded for you for 

Restaurants - click for details here

Hotels - click for details here

Check out all features here


Support

You can submit any technical support request. We will continuously monitor performance, investigate crashes, and release new versions to address any bugs or to do required updates. From time to time we will also release a version with added functionality based on industry feedback. You are responsible for monitoring reviews in the stores and responding to them.

Summary of benefits

Own branded app

Have your own app listing in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in no time, branded in your own house style.

Straightforward rewards system

Implement a proven, easy to understand rewards point system that incentivizes customers to return, and save money on platform apps.

Showcase rooms, outlets, menu items

List general information for each of your hotels on your rooms and outlets or your restaurant and menu items.

Display promotions

Hotels can showcase room and outlet promotions as well as menu items. Restaurants can showcase promotions and menu items.

Stay in touch with your members

Send push notifications to your members when you have a new promotion. Get your customers’ contact details and insight in who your most valuable customers are. 

Technical support

We will maintain the technical infrastructure: the apps, the server, database and web-frontend. We will make sure it stays up to date and provide support.

Just 8 steps to launch your app

In one week you can be live!

step

01

Think of a name for your loyalty program

Think of the name and promotional text for your loyalty program and submit your logo. We will create an Android and iOS app for your hotel and upload it to the Play Store and App Store.

step

02

Upload the content to be displayed in the app

Think of the name for your loyalty program and submit your logo. We will create an Android and iOS app for your hotel and upload it to the Play Store and App Store.

step

03

Screenprints

We will take screenprints of the app and upload it to both stores

step

04

Customize

Use the web portal we provide to customize the program to your requirements, eg. decide on the points ratio and the validity period of the points you award.

step

05

Create a privacy policy

Create a privacy policy (or copy ours) and put it on your website and display it in the app.

step

06

Write terms and conditions for your loyalty program

Review the default terms and conditions we provide to app users and modify if necessary.

step

07

QR codes

We will provide QR codes for both stores. Include them in your printed materials which you can display at the checkout desk, on tables, and in between menus so your customers can sign up easily to your loyalty program

step

08

Go Live!

Let your customers know at any chance that they can sign up to your membership program and start earning reward points

How to Collect and Redeem Reward Points


Navigate to a hotel's or restaurant's home screen or to an outlet screen

On both screens you will find "Collect Points" and "Redeem Points" buttons. On the hotel screens you can collect points for room deals. And on the outlet screens for outlet deals.




Collect Points

A customer collects loyalty points when paying the bill by clicking on the Collect Points button for the hotel or outlet in question. A staff member optionally enters the receipt number, the bill amount and a staff authorization code. Points are rewarded at your preferred ratio. Eg if the ratio is 1 to 5, then 20 points will be awarded for every $100 spend.



Redeem Points

A customer redeems loyalty points before paying the bill by clicking on the Redeem Points button for the hotel or outlet in question. A staff member enters the bill amount and a staff authorization code. Each point redeems gives $1 discount on the bill. A redemption code is generated which the staff member should track (typically write on the retained copy of the bill).



Points History

The customer can check his claim and reward history and his points balance. Also it will be clear when the collected points will expire.



Transaction History

You have access through the web front end to the points collection and redemption history along with receipt number for collections and redemption code for redemptions.


Why have a loyalty program?

Just to drive it home!

  • 1.   The mobile app is like a mini-website where you can display your rooms, outlets and current offerings. But it is a loyalty app too. And because of that very few of your loyalty program's members will delete the app after collecting points. Once they have installed the app you can get them to open it, and check out your offerings, again and again by sending push notifications to their phones.


  • 2.  Through a loyalty program you give an incentive to come to you back by giving them rewards without having to lower your headline rates - which can lead to brand devaluation.


  • 3.  You get their name and email address and can send them marketing promotions by email (in addition to push notifications to their phone).


  • 4.  You get valuable statistics on customers: which ones are returning, how often and what do they spend.


  • 5.  By redirecting customers to your reservations page or 3rd party booking engine when they click on a room or restaurant deal in the app you give your customers incentives to book directly with you instead of through aggregators.
  • 6.  Your loyalty program (and hotel or restaurant!) get listings in the App Store and the Play Store with a link back to your website. These listings will increase the traffic to your website, where they can book directly with you too. 


    Find out all about customer loyalty
    check our blog below