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reward, or save up their points for a larger reward that may take their balance down to zero. While this is a form of transactional loyalty, the
personalisation of offers leads to emotional brand loyalty over time.
Stamp program – A stamp/token/star is awarded to customers who take certain actions e.g. making a purchase or visiting the information
desk. Stamps are capped at a certain number and then the entirety of stamps collected is redeemed against a reward. No partial redemption
is permitted, and rewards cannot be “stacked” to receive a greater reward. Typical examples of this include a free coffee after the purchase
of ten hot drinks.
Tiered loyalty scheme – Once a member spends a certain amount, or makes enough visits to a mall, they rise to a higher tier which
unlocks different rewards/experiences e.g. members who have spent a total of £1,000 through the loyalty scheme within one year are entitled
to VIP rewards such as valet parking for a heavily discounted rate. Unlike points collection, redemption of an offer does not reduce their
“lifetime points total” allowing them to continue rising through the tiers rather than falling back upon a redemption. While more complicated
to implement, this can have great rewards in terms of emotional loyalty from your high-value customers.
Tourist program – These programs allow you to give special discounts or rewards for your tourist shoppers. Enabling you to understand
where your tourist shoppers are coming from, how often, and where they are shopping. It is also possible to use the functionality of the sign-
up forms to identify and partner with your most engaging tourism agencies, partners and hotels.
Paid program – An exclusive program that members are required to pay to join. In return, they receive discounts, offers and invitations
to members-only events. As members have made an investment into your loyalty program, they are more inclined to use it. However, they
often form only transactional loyalty rather than emotional loyalty, unless there are excellent personalised communications used in tandem.
Paid programs are growing in popularity because these guarantee revenue to the loyalty program owners.
Surprise and delight program – An emotional program where shoppers are offered targeted rewards based on their behaviour
and predicted value. A key element here is to surprise members, rather than allowing them to select offers from a catalogue of
available rewards.
Gamification program – Gamification elements are used to unlock a specific reward, for example shop at the centre three times over
the summer to win a gift voucher, or shop at four stores in one day. These are usually designed to trigger certain behaviours as part of a
larger program (e.g. to drive repeat local visitors to a centre over the summer period). Often this is used in conjunction with another type
of loyalty program, e,g, when your stamp card is redeemed you can enter a draw for a special prize.

Mixing and matching
Many of the above can be combined to make the perfect loyalty program for your shopping centre and customers. For example, a points
program, with a tiered structure that unlocks targeted and experiential rewards will create both solid transactional loyalty, as well as more
deep rooted emotional brand loyalty. Gamification could then be used to drive a repeat visit during quiet times, and then an Invitation Only
tier could be launched in specific centres to give extra special treatment to certain VIPs. This means that the loyalty proposition can evolve
from centre to centre over time with no additional cost or complexity.

Conclusion
In summary, a simple points based loyalty mechanism allows you to engage your target audience in a cost effective way that is flexible
enough to cater for all of your business goals.
To help you get this right, here are our five tips for effective loyalty:
1. Create a compelling proposition that customers will keep coming back for again and again
2. Ensure you are capturing enough, good-quality data to build long lasting relationships with your members
3. Tailor your offers and rewards to your particular customers and centre goals
4. Delight your customers at every step of the journey – use geofencing to entice them to enter your store and reward them for doing so
5. Remain flexible in your offers, campaigns and messaging. Constantly review the effectiveness of your program and make any changes
necessary to cater for any changes in customer sentiment

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