Mobile Wallets Can Heavily Impact Customer Loyalty

Judy Chan, director of product marketing, Urban Airship, believes that customer loyalty is at a crossroads.

Urban Airship’s The State of Mobile Wallet Marketing survey−a 2016 study of 2,000 consumers in the U.S. and U.K.−reveals that loyalty cards are the No. 1 most requested application of mobile wallet passes.

In fact, 67 percent of consumers want to use mobile wallets to keep track of loyalty benefits, ridding themselves of unnecessary cards and taking advantage of added mobile convenience. What’s more, nearly 70 percent of respondents stated that they would be more likely to use their loyalty programs if the cards were on their phones.

“Marketers need to think about how to enable this evolution for their brands,” Chan told attendees during Wednesday’s Loyalty360 webinar titled, “Using Mobile Wallet To Drive Loyalty And Action: Today’s Opportunity For Brands,” presented by Urban Airship.

Mobile wallet contains the ability to store non-payment content to help drive customer engagement (sales, coupons, offers, loyalty cards, passes, etc.)

“On the phone, you’ll have a single point where the whole shopping experience will exist,” Chan said. “You’re leveraging an ecosystem that is already on the phone. The apps sit on these phones natively.”

Mobile wallets create new opportunities: loyalty cards, digital coupons, sale offers, event tickets, gift cards, ID cards, boarding passes, and reminders.

“You have to think about the framework within how you’ll engage your customer going forward,” Chan said. “There is the demand for mobile wallets and the way brands can utilize them. Location marketing is something to build toward and get more sophisticated around so you can trigger messages that increase foot traffic.”

Jonathan Rueda, mobile wallet strategist, Urban Airship, believes mobile wallet is an opportunity to expand your mobile strategy at the point of sale and beyond.

Mobile wallets create new opportunities and deliver passes through existing channels such as email, the web, apps, SMS, QR scan, banner ads, and social.

Nearly 70 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to use their loyalty cards if they were on their phones.

Brands and businesses that adopt a long-term strategy for mobile wallets will not only be able to drive revenue and foot traffic but nurture customers with personalized communications delivered to their lock screen and mobile wallet cards. Every field on a wallet pass can be personalized to include things like the customer’s name, loyalty point balance, special rewards, and sales. What’s more, lock screen messaging can be personalized to individuals, or to segments exhibiting any combination of preferences and behaviors.

“Once someone starts using a mobile wallet, it becomes a habitual thing,” Rueda told attendees. “You have a healthy cross-section of generations here (using mobile wallet). It’s all about speed and convenience. We’re used to our lives becoming automated and easier. Mobile wallet drives loyalty program membership. People want this kind of functionality inside a mobile wallet. If it fits in their mobile wallet, it will be more likely used. Loyalty is a huge opportunity.”

Mobile wallets are designed to make the customer experience easier and more seamless.

Wallet passes are key to greater coupon use and redemption, and timely expiration reminders are critical to coupon redemption.

Chan and Rueda believe the intersection of customer loyalty and mobile payments will drive behavioral change.

“Brands will use the digital loyalty experience to differentiate from their competition,” Rueda said.

Rueda offered some key attributes of mobile wallets:

Millennials and household incomes above $60K love mobile wallets

Mobile wallet is a proven customer acquisition channel (“Just ask Sprint!”)

Give them what they asked for: Dynamic updates for new content and expiration

Personalized and location-triggered

Deliver convenience, ease, and speed

Identify the moments where a wallet item can add value to your new or existing customer

Promote cross-channel

Update your wallet items for ongoing value

Think engagement, not a one-time event

Personalize

Look for mobile wallet marketing solutions that allow you to easily pull in customer information from other systems to personalize mobile wallet passes. The solution should make it easy for you to dynamically update mobile wallet passes and personalize messaging to individuals or segments.

Recent Content

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing