What is a sales Funnel

What is a sales funnel?

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In the world of sales and marketing, a sales funnel is an important tool for businesses aiming to convert leads into loyal customers.

A well-structured sales funnel guides potential customers through a strategic process, optimising their journey towards making a purchase.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the concept of a sales funnel, its stages, and the benefits it brings to businesses. We will also discuss how sales incentives for employees can be linked to this powerful sales strategy.

What Is a Sales Funnel?

It is a visual representation of the customer journey, showing the process of converting leads into paying customers. A sales funnel highlights the various stages a potential customer goes through, from initial awareness to the final purchase decision.

By understanding each stage of the sales funnel, businesses can optimise their marketing efforts and effectively guide prospective customers towards making a purchase.

The 5 stages of sales a funnel

A sales funnel consists of several stages that guide potential customers through their journey from initial awareness to making a purchase.

See below for what these stages include

Awareness Stage

At the top of the funnel is the awareness stage. This is where the potential customer becomes aware of your brand, product, or service for the first time. They may come across your content through various channels such as social media, search engines, referrals, or advertising. The goal at this stage is to capture their attention and generate initial interest by providing valuable and relevant information.

Interest/Consideration Stage

Once potential customers are aware of your brand, they move into the interest or consideration stage. Here, they actively seek more information and explore the benefits and features of your offerings. They might subscribe to your newsletter, download a free guide, or engage with your content on social media platforms. The focus in this stage is to nurture their interest, provide valuable resources, and showcase how your product or service can solve their specific pain points or fulfil their needs.

Evaluation/Decision Stage:

In the evaluation or decision stage, prospects have gathered enough information and are considering making a purchase. They might compare your offerings with those of your competitors, read customer reviews, or testimonials. This is the stage where you need to provide compelling reasons why they should choose your product or service over others. Offering demos, free trials or case studies can help build trust and overcome any final objections.

Purchase Stage:

The purchase stage is where the prospect becomes a customer by completing the transaction. This may involve making a direct purchase through your website or app, contacting a sales representative, or subscribing to a service. Ensuring a seamless and user-friendly purchase process is crucial at this stage to minimise the chances of abandonment.

Post-Purchase Stage

The sales funnel doesn’t end with the purchase; it extends into the post-purchase stage. Here, you focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience, providing support, and ensuring customer satisfaction. This stage is vital for developing long-term customer loyalty, encouraging repeat purchases, and generating positive word-of-mouth referrals.

It’s important to note that the stages of a sales funnel can vary depending on your specific business and industry. Some funnels may have additional stages or combine certain stages based on their unique sales process. The key is to understand your target audience, their journey, and how you can effectively guide them through each stage, ultimately leading to a successful conversion and ongoing customer relationship.

Creating a Sales Funnel

Once you understand what it is, you might be wondering how you create a sales funnel. Creating a sales funnel involves a strategic approach that aligns with your business objectives. Here are the key steps to follow:
Awareness Stage: Attracting Potential Customers

• Identify your target audience and their needs.
• Utilise various marketing channels to generate awareness and drive traffic to your website.
• Offer valuable content, such as blog posts, social media updates, and informative videos.

Interest Stage: Engaging and Capturing Leads

• Provide compelling and relevant content to capture the interest of potential customers.
• Offer incentives, such as free e-books, webinars, or product trials, to encourage lead generation.
• Use lead capture forms to collect contact information for further communication.

Evaluation Stage: Nurturing and Qualifying Leads

• Engage with leads through personalised emails, follow-ups, and targeted offers.
• Provide valuable information to educate leads about your products or services.
• Use lead scoring to prioritise and qualify leads based on their engagement level and readiness to buy.

Decision Stage: Converting Leads into Customers

• Present persuasive offers, such as discounts or limited-time promotions, to encourage purchase decisions.
• Provide testimonials, case studies, or product demonstrations to instil trust and confidence.
• Simplify the purchase process and ensure a seamless customer experience.

Action Stage: Retaining and Delighting Customers

• Provide exceptional customer service and support to build long-term relationships.
• Offer post-purchase incentives, loyalty programs, or referral rewards to encourage customer advocacy.
• Continuously analyse and optimise your sales funnel to improve conversion rates.

Putting it to practise

With the above in mind, we can now put it into practice by applying it to something as straightforward as a lemonade stand business.

Awareness Stage:

● Flyers and Signage: Create eye-catching flyers and place them strategically in the neighbourhood, on community bulletin boards, or in local establishments to inform people about your lemonade stand.
● Social Media Presence: Utilise social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to promote your lemonade stand, sharing enticing pictures of your delicious lemonade and the location details.
● Word-of-Mouth: Encourage friends, family, and neighbours to spread the word about your lemonade stand to increase awareness in the local community.

Interest/Consideration Stage:

● Engaging Signage: Use colourful and attractive signage at your lemonade stand to grab the attention of passersby. Display information about the quality ingredients used and any unique flavours or special offers.
● Personal Interaction: Greet potential customers warmly, engage them in conversation, and describe the refreshing taste and benefits of your homemade lemonade.
● Sample Tastings: Offer small samples of your lemonade to let people experience the quality and flavour firsthand, encouraging them to consider making a purchase.

Evaluation/Decision Stage

● Pricing and Options: Clearly display your lemonade prices and any available size options, demonstrating the value for money. Offer special deals like a combo with a snack or a discounted refill for returning customers.
● Customer Testimonials: Collect feedback from satisfied customers and display their testimonials prominently at the stand to build trust and credibility.
● Visual Appeal: Present your lemonade stand in an organised and visually appealing manner, using fresh lemons, colourful decorations, and a clean and inviting setup.

Purchase Stage

● Efficient Ordering Process: Ensure a seamless and quick ordering process. Have a clear and visible menu board, accept various payment options and have a designated area for customers to place their orders.
● Upselling Opportunities: Offer additional options like lemonade refills, customised flavours, or tasty add-ons (e.g., fresh mint, fruits, etc) to increase the average transaction value.
● Provide Excellent Service: Serve customers with a smile, be attentive to their needs, and ensure prompt delivery of their orders.

Post-Purchase Stage:

● Customer Satisfaction: Ask customers about their experience and genuinely thank them for their purchase. Ensure that the lemonade meets their expectations and address any concerns or issues immediately.
● Loyalty Programs: Implement a loyalty program where customers can collect stamps or points for each purchase, incentivising them to return and enjoy more of your delicious lemonade.
● Social Media Engagement: Encourage customers to follow your lemonade stand on social media for updates on new flavours, promotions, or seasonal specials. Engage with their comments or reviews to maintain a positive online presence.

Remember to continuously assess and optimise each stage of your sales funnel based on customer feedback and preferences. By effectively guiding potential customers through this sales funnel, you can attract more people to your lemonade stand, convert them into happy customers, and establish a strong reputation in the community.

The importance of implementing a Sales Funnel

One of the key reasons why a sales funnel is important for businesses is its ability to improve lead generation and qualification. A well-designed sales funnel achieves this by:

Attracting Relevant Leads

A sales funnel starts by capturing the attention of potential customers and drawing them into your marketing ecosystem. Through targeted advertising, content marketing, social media engagement, and other lead generation strategies, you can attract individuals who are genuinely interested in your products or services. By focusing on attracting relevant leads, you can increase the chances of converting them into paying customers.

Qualifying Leads

Not all leads are created equal. Some may be ready to make a purchase decision immediately, while others require more nurturing. A sales funnel helps you qualify leads by categorising them based on their level of interest, engagement, and readiness to buy. By using lead scoring techniques, you can assign a value to each lead and prioritise your efforts accordingly. This qualification process allows you to focus your resources on leads that are most likely to convert, saving time and increasing efficiency.

Nurturing Leads

A sales funnel allows you to nurture leads throughout their journey, guiding them from initial awareness to final purchase. Through a series of targeted communications, such as email marketing campaigns, personalised content, and educational resources, you can keep your brand top of mind and provide valuable information that addresses their pain points and concerns. By nurturing leads, you build trust and credibility, increasing the likelihood of conversion when the time is right.

Identifying Barriers and Objections

As leads progress through the sales funnel, you gain insights into their interactions with your brand. This information helps you identify any barriers or objections that might be hindering their decision-making process. By understanding these pain points, you can tailor your messaging and address their concerns directly, increasing their confidence and overcoming any objections they may have. This personalised approach increases the chances of conversion and minimises potential drop-offs along the way.

Improving Lead Conversion

With a well-structured sales funnel, you can optimise each stage to maximise lead conversion rates. By strategically placing call-to-action buttons, providing clear and compelling offers, and simplifying the purchase process, you create a smooth and seamless experience for potential customers. This reduces friction and increases the likelihood of them taking the desired action, whether it’s making a purchase, scheduling a consultation, or signing up for a trial.

Reducing Sales Cycle Length

A sales funnel helps streamline the sales process, reducing the length of the sales cycle. By guiding leads through the various stages efficiently, you prevent unnecessary delays or drop-offs. With a clear path and targeted nurturing, you can move leads through the funnel more quickly, accelerating the conversion process and improving overall sales efficiency.

Benefits of a Sales Funnel

Implementing a sales funnel strategy can present several advantages for businesses including:

Improved Conversion Rates

By guiding potential customers through each stage of the sales funnel, businesses can increase their chances of conversion.

Enhanced Customer Engagement

The sales funnel allows businesses to engage with leads at different touchpoints, nurturing relationships and building trust.

Streamlined Sales Process

A well-designed sales funnel helps businesses streamline their sales processes, reducing inefficiencies and maximising sales opportunities.

Data-driven Decision Making

Tracking and analysing the sales funnel data provides valuable insights into customer behaviour, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimise their strategies.

Increased Revenue and ROI

A properly optimised sales funnel can lead to higher sales conversions, ultimately resulting in increased revenue and a higher return on investment.

Employee Sales Incentives the Sales Funnel Strategy

To maximise the effectiveness of your sales funnel, it is crucial to align your employees’ incentives with the desired outcomes. Consider implementing the following strategies:

Commission-based Incentives

Tie a portion of your employees’ compensation to sales targets and encourage them to drive conversions at each stage of the sales funnel.

Performance-based Bonuses

Reward employees based on their individual or team performance, considering factors like lead generation, conversion rates, and revenue growth.

Recognition and Rewards:

Implement a recognition and rewards program to acknowledge employees who excel in guiding prospects through the sales funnel. Offer incentives such as gift cards, employee of the month awards, or special privileges.
Continuous Training and Development:

Provide ongoing sales training to equip your employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to optimise the sales funnel. Encourage professional growth through certifications or workshops.

Benefits of sales incentives for the sales funnel

Sales incentives play a crucial role in motivating and rewarding employees within a sales funnel. Here are some key benefits of implementing sales incentives for employees:

Increased Motivation

Sales incentives provide employees with a tangible reward for their hard work and achievements. By offering incentives such as bonuses, commissions, or recognition, employees feel motivated to put in extra effort to meet or exceed their sales targets. This heightened motivation leads to improved performance and productivity throughout the sales funnel.

Goal Alignment

Sales incentives help align employee goals with the overall objectives of the sales funnel. When incentives are tied to specific sales targets or key performance indicators (KPIs), employees understand what is expected of them and what they need to accomplish to earn the incentive. This alignment ensures that everyone is working towards the same goals, fostering a sense of teamwork and collaboration.

Improved Sales Performance

Sales incentives provide a direct link between performance and rewards. Employees are incentivised to achieve higher sales numbers, close deals more effectively, and generate revenue for the business. By rewarding exceptional performance, sales incentives drive continuous improvement and push employees to reach their full potential, resulting in improved sales performance across the entire funnel.

Retention of Top Performers

Sales incentives can be used strategically to retain top-performing employees within the sales funnel. Recognising and rewarding high achievers not only motivates them to continue their outstanding performance but also creates a sense of loyalty and job satisfaction. Sales professionals who consistently meet or exceed targets and are consistently rewarded are more likely to stay with the organisation, reducing turnover and maintaining a high-performing sales team.

Healthy Competition

Sales incentives often introduce healthy competition among employees, which can be beneficial for the sales funnel. When individuals strive to outperform their colleagues and earn the incentive, it can lead to increased productivity and innovative sales approaches. However, it’s important to maintain a supportive and collaborative environment to ensure healthy competition that benefits the overall team dynamic.

By implementing sales incentives for employees within a sales funnel, businesses can effectively motivate and reward their sales teams, align goals, drive performance and more. These benefits contribute to the overall success and profitability of the sales funnel and the organisation as a whole.

In Closing…

Understanding and implementing a sales funnel strategy is crucial for businesses aiming to drive conversions and maximise revenue.

By understanding the stages of a sales funnel and linking sales incentives for employees, organisations can effectively guide prospects through the customer journey and achieve their sales objectives. Embrace the power of sales funnels and witness the transformation of leads into loyal customers, boosting your business growth to new heights.

Unlock your sales team’s potential and drive revenue growth with our powerful sales incentive solutions. Discover how our products can supercharge your sales funnel and boost conversions. Take action now and explore our sales incentive product page!”

Get set for the ‘Golden Quarter’ – 18 ways SMEs can drive sales this Christmas

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Springboard for success or harbinger of doom – not a warning from an am-dram Christmas panto, a focus on the importance of the Golden Quarter to small and medium-sized businesses.

October, November and December are critical for businesses of all sizes and sectors. Strong sales can help you hit the ground running in January and drive revenue. A weak performance can make the rest of the year a hard slog.

Jonas Bergström, head of product strategy and marketing at Extenda Retail, puts it like this: “The Golden Quarter is a time where retailers can make a majority of their yearly profits if they prepare.

“Hence, a successful pre-Christmas period can make or break the difference between the company having a successful or unsuccessful year.”

It’s a bit long for a Christmas card, but it’s a good point.

We’ve pulled together some useful advice for SME retailers and B2B businesses to help drive sales at this key time of year and set themselves up for a great 12 months.

A festive feast for all

It’s not just retailers who are looking for golden opportunities in the run up to the festive season. Businesses of all shapes and sizes across multiple sectors can also benefit from the surge in trading activity at this time of the year.

B2B businesses don’t get a free pass at Christmas either. The festive period is a time to remind loyal clients that they matter to you, with gifts and attention helping to reinforce relationships and help keep them on-board into the New Year.

With summer drawing to a close (yes, we know it barely opened), now is the time to start planning your festive marketing strategy. Competition up to the end of the calendar year will be fierce, so it’s vital to stand out from your competitors, particularly if you’re an SME.

Going for gold

For decades Love2shop Business has worked with around 150,000 businesses of all sizes to help them maximise the impact of their customer incentives programmes.

Our Ultimate Guide to Customer Loyalty offers an invaluable blueprint for any business looking to refresh its existing customer loyalty strategy or design one from scratch.

It’s a rich resource for small and medium-sized businesses looking for tips and advice on how to maintain and grow their loyal customer base.

One of the key insights it offers comes from a study by Bain & Company in partnership with Earl Sasser of the Harvard Business School. They found that even a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to an increase in profits of between 25% and 95%.

Imagine increasing sales by that much during the Golden Quarter!

It’s not too late to make the Christmas connection

In the guide, Love2shop also details the importance of building customer loyalty, illustrating the value of customer recruitment and retention.

It found incentives inspire loyalty in up to 93% of consumers, returning customers spend 67% more than new ones and more than 70% will recommend a brand with a good loyalty programme.

According to the guide: “Simply put, customer loyalty is when a business creates within a customer a strong connection. Through engagement with its customer (reward schemes, customer service), product quality and brand values, it can earn favour over its rivals.”

Small and medium-sized businesses may only now be looking at this, while larger rivals may have been operating a loyalty and retention strategy for some time. But even if you start now, you can see benefits through the Golden Quarter and, by continuing through the year, you can increase those benefits over time.

Here are some great ideas to fill your customers with Christmas cheer – and none of them include singing!

  1. Sleigh it on social media: Consumer intelligence experts at Meltwater report that, as of January 2023 over 57m people in the UK were social media users with 86.4% on at least one platform. Get your festive offers out on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Threads. Maybe you can even persuade your team to do a TikTok video for major impact.
  2. Crack open your mulled drink of choice and hold an event: If you have a bricks-and-mortar location, for the price of a few bottles of wine (or soft drinks) and some nibbles you can create a real buzz with a festive-themed event. Offer discounts, special deals and spot prizes to those who attend. Give it a twist with a competition – we love a ‘best Christmas jumper’ contest ourselves!
  3. Send out holiday cheer in an email campaign: According to Statista email marketing revenues are on an upward curve. They are projected to top $10bn (£7.9bn) in 2023. If you already have a good, GDPR-compliant customer database, now is the time to make it work. Create a campaign designed to engage customers – send messages out regularly, weekly for example, and give them early warnings about upcoming festive offers, exclusive competitions and promotions and new product information. Offering loyal customers ‘special’ treatment is a great way to strengthen your relationship with them.
  4. Dish out some early Christmas presents: Everyone loves a free gift. What better way to incentivise your customers and make them feel valued than by offering them e-code rewards? Perhaps that is driven be a promotional sales offer or by making a qualifying purchase. Or perhaps you run an event where any purchase can spin a wheel and randomly have a chance to win instantly. Giving customers the feeling of getting something valuable back can create a strong connection to your brand. Love2shop can demonstrate how e-codes can be delivered to recipients swiftly via email or text.
  5. Encourage customers to share the love: When we find a brand we love – and that seems to love us back – we want to share it. Referral experts Saasquatch claim 14% of customers offered incentives to refer your business will do so. Christmas is the perfect time to reward successful referrals, with Love2shop multi-retailer gift cards one of the most successful incentives for brand referrals.
  6. Say it from the heart: People like to have their heartstrings pulled a little at Christmas – and they like to see the personality behind the brand. Create some stories around your products and people. Use social media to build a narrative around who you are and be authentic. John Lewis does this brilliantly every year with its much-anticipated festive TV ad but don’t try to be them, give your communications your own, unique voice and tone.
  7.  Something special for someone special: Key customers are not only reliable and high value to our business, as our leading loyal clients often they are the starting point for positive reviews and the word-of-mouth recommendations that attract new customers. Christmas is a great time to say thank-you to those key customers, particularly if your business is B2B. A Christmas card with a gift card inside will help them feel appreciated and reinforce their positive view of your business. Love2shop are the experts here, offering personalised Christmas cards and multi-retailer vouchers to help you send a message to those special customers.
  8. Let them into the toy factory: If your business is retail, you know that customers often find deciding what to buy for whom stressful at Christmas. Retailers such as Amazon and Boots have nailed the trick of dividing products into sections such as ‘for me’, ‘for women’, ‘for kids’ etc. Take a look at your own product range and see if you can curate a festive collection to help your customers easily find the perfect gift.
  9. Launch a Christmas countdown: This is a great one for businesses that like to engage through social media. Launch your own Christmas Advent calendar. Create a series of offers, product highlights or opportunities to win that you can post and promote each day in the run-up to Christmas. It’s a great way to get social followers to interact with your brand and even drive purchasing decisions at this golden time.
  10. Make Christmas a holiday for all: Christmas is, of course, a Christian festival but your customer base almost certainly includes people of all faiths and none – and at Christmas most people like to take part in festive fun regardless of religion. Create your Christmas messaging thoughtfully, focusing on the season of goodwill and messages of giving and joy to make everyone feels comfortable and happy to join in with your Christmas activity.
  11. Season’s greetings: People love to feel loved – and a simple thank you can go a long way. Why not send out a heartwarming message, via email and social media, thank your customers for their support throughout the year. It doesn’t even have to be in response to a purchase, so long as you have permission to contact them, a nice festive thank you message will make them feel valued. If you like you could even add a little reward too.
  12. Think about those doing Christmas on a budget: The rising cost of living has affected people across society and many of your customers may still be feeling the effects. They may have even fallen away a little, with their expendable income shrinking. Offering them discounts or cheaper ‘stocking filler’ offers tells them you remember them and may ensure they make some sort of purchase from you in the lead-up to Christmas.
  13. Give charity or community projects some cheer: Ethical positions are having an increasing influence on both consumer and client habits. More and more, they are choosing to buy from retailers or work with businesses that have an authentic position on important environmental and moral matters. Smaller businesses can find space here too. By teaming up with a local charity or good cause such as food banks, local wildlife or environmental groups for example, you can make a real contribution to issues in your area and give your customers a reason to feel positive by supporting you.
  14. Get your customers into the festive spirit: Got a physical store or office? Great, crack open the tinsel and baubles and cry ‘Yuletide for all!’ Are you digital-only? No problem, you can use fun graphics, pictures and animations such as falling snowflakes when people click on your website. Whatever you choose to do, make it inclusive and fun and remember to keep the focus on what your customers need. Fun and purpose working hand-in-hand is a strong combination if you want to encourage customer loyalty.
  15. Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, we love sustainability: As we mentioned earlier, environmental matters are something that more customers are paying attention to. Do you offer products that are sustainable sourced? If so, make sure you tell people! For example, Love2shop works with some partners to supply biodegradable gift cards made from sustainable card, allowing them to reward customers responsibly. Businesses that demonstrate authentic environmental credentials are getting noticed for it as people place importance on doing the right thing. And we should all be doing our bit to save our world anyway, don’t you think?
  16. Spread the cheer with influencers: Social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok are increasingly populated by so-called ‘influencers’. These are people with large followings who may be prepared to promote your products. While they can be a powerful marketing tool, the costs can be astronomical. For small or medium-sized businesses, focus on identifying existing customers with followers say, up to 10,000, or contacting social influencers with this kind of audience that fit with your target customers. Businesses are often surprised that these ‘microinfluencers’ are aware of their brands and keen to work with them. Don’t be afraid of starting a conversation via their DMs (direct messages).
  17.  ‘Tis the season to make things sparkle: People associate Christmas with fun and colour, take advantage by changing the way you package up your products. Can you work your branding into a Christmas theme? Or include some little surprises within the package that make it memorable, like free festive-themed gifts. Don’t underestimate the power of visual appeal. Whether in-person or from a distance, with a little thought you can create a festive customer experience to remember.
  18. Timing is everything: Whatever you decide to put in your festive marketing strategy, choose when to activate it carefully. Starting your Christmas marketing push in August may just annoy people and have the opposite effect going into the Golden Quarter. Let autumn settle in and, once Halloween has been spirited away, give the snowglobe a shake.

Remember, incentives and engagement are at the heart of all successful festive marketing ideas. Many people are in the mood to buy and are primed to receive gifts, making it a rich time for brands willing to reach out and engage with them.

Similarly, for B2B businesses, the approach to Christmas is a time when giving thanks and appreciating those clients who have supported us over the last 12 months is front and centre. How you do it is up to you. No-one knows your customers or clients better. But at Love2shop our team of experts has worked across every sector of business to provide the platform and products on which successful customer campaigns are built.

When it comes to customer recruitment and retention programmes, we’re happy to share our decades of experience to make your Golden Quarter truly shine.

Get in touch with our team today or visit business.love2shop.co.uk to find out how we can help.

Why incentives are key to brand loyalty

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Why incentives are key to brand loyalty

After two years of COVID turmoil businesses across the UK are now grappling with the cost of living crisis that is ushering in a period of extreme caution among customers.

With inflation at a 40-year high, consumer confidence is falling rapidly. Even if people have money in the form of savings they are now more reluctant to spend. They fear soaring prices for energy and food will put the squeeze on their spending capacity for the foreseeable future.

GfK’s latest Consumer Confidence Index reported confidence was now at an historic low. Data based on interviews with 2,000 adults in July showed the worsening economic situation was “darkening the mood” of the nation.

This fear and caution is mirrored in the B2B market where businesses are being much careful about their spending with other businesses. An index from NatWest looking at business activity across the UK recorded the lowest reading in six months in July.

Retailers are facing a more permanent shift in market dynamics. A move away from high street shops to e-commerce during the pandemic has swung back the other way. E-commerce market share peaked at 37.4% in February 2020 but has now fallen back to 25.3%.

However, research published by global professional services firm, Alvarez & Marsal, reveals an estimated 17.2m UK consumers plan to make permanent changes to the way they shop.

Whether your customers are consumers, or other businesses, the message is clear: you are now in a fiercely competitive trading environment.

People and businesses will still have to spend money, of course, but now more than ever they are looking for that extra bit of value. Extra incentives can make all the difference when decisions about major supply contracts are made.

Putting together the right package

So in this tougher period what can brands do to keep people and other businesses coming back and spending? What is the key to customer loyalty?

Economists across the world swear by the same four-word phrase – ‘people respond to incentives’. Some are more obvious than others. Offering the right product, available quickly, and at the right price is one of the basics.

What must also be remembered is that all buying – online or on the high street, personal or business – is an experience. Make the experience a frustrating or unpleasant one and people will take their business literally, and virtually, across the street.

Social media has put more pressure on brands to deliver both the product/service and the experience. Pity the poor souls in charge of the big brand Twitter accounts when the ‘my nan is 85 and you have treated her appallingly’ tweets arrive on their timelines.

So let’s say you have got the basics right. The stuff is all in stock, the price is low or competitive, smiling staff are ready and eager to cater for the customers’ every whim. If that is the baseline what extra value can you offer over and above?

What do the customers tell us?

Love2shop is working with businesses across a whole range of sectors to help them improve customer engagement and, in turn, retain customers in a challenging environment. Love2shop offer a number of solutions that will incentivise customers to keep coming back time and time again.

In a major survey carried out by Love2shop, 13,000 people were asked about what they thought were the best rewards when it came to brand loyalty or moving to a new supplier. The results were no surprise. They revealed people love choice and they love gift cards.

It ran two polls across two months asking people to pick their ideal loyalty prize, and their ideal sign-up gift from a selection of popular rewards. Both showed a big preference for multi-retailer gift cards and discounts, with the former by far the most popular.

In fact, a whopping 76.6% of respondents said it was their favourite option. This was followed by 13% for discount on their next purchase with VIP experiences, upgraded memberships and merchandise all scoring in single digits. Read more about the poll on the original blog.

This explains the popularity of the Love2shop rewards and the Love2shop Engagement Platform offered by Love2shop to reward and incentivise both staff and customers.

Love2shop rewards can be used in around 150 retailers, including well-known brands such as Marks & Spencer, Wilko, Iceland, Matalan, Argos, Costa, Harvester, Tui and Jet2Holidays and many, many more.

For customers or employees, Love2shop rewards can offer a treat, or it can be invaluable for life’s essentials such as food and even school uniforms. When money is tight it can make all the difference to people.

Hard data shows incentives do work

Brakes is the UK’s number one wholesaler to the hospitality trade. It also offers food delivery services direct to consumers. In 2021 it forged what proved to be a hugely successful partnership with Love2shop.

Utilising both the expertise of the Love2shop team and the engagement platform technology, the Brakes ‘Help for Hospitality’ campaign was created and launched. The reward programme, delivered through the platform, offered Brakes customers a blend of discounts, cashback, charitable opportunities and Love2shop rewards.

Added to that, Love2shop provided strategic, technical, creative, and software support for the campaign. Love2shop provided the software to deliver cashback and also the Love2shop rewards to Brakes customers.

At that time, the UK was still only slowly emerging from the final pandemic lockdown. In this context the outcome of the collaboration was spectacular. It delivered what was described as “exceptional” growth.

During the five months of this specific campaign Brakes reported that 7.5% of sales came from new categories and products. Additionally, 20% of Brakes customers engaged in the Help for Hospitality. It generated more than 60% of Brakes’ sales revenue during the promoted period.

Help for Hospitality’s success was recognised when it picked up Best Channel Partner Programme at the 2021 Incentive Awards. This annual event recognises excellence in the reward, incentive, and loyalty industry.

Adam Heywood, Head of Commercial Marketing at Brakes, said: “The Love2shop team did a phenomenal job with the Help for Hospitality campaign.

“We’re incredibly proud to see that valuable work recognised by the Incentive Awards. I’d like to congratulate both our team here at Brakes and thank Love2shop for all their support.”

People do indeed ‘respond to incentives’. The data on that is irresistible. It is food for thought for those businesses selling directly to the public and those trading with other businesses. Increasingly, offering extra value to your customers is no longer just optional.

If you can see how Love2shop reward and recognition products could help your business, contact our business team today. Email [email protected] or call  0344 375 0739.

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