Building a Customer Loyalty Community at LIDS

Jeff Pearson, senior vice president e-commerce, LIDS Sports Group, wants to build a fiercely loyal community.
In mid-March, LIDS launched a new app-based loyalty program called Access Pass. The loyalty program has two tiers: Access Pass is free while Access Pass Premium costs $5 per year. Standard Access Pass members will receive five points for every dollar spent, while Premium members will receive 10 points per dollar spent. Once the member collects 1,000 points, they will receive a $10 reward toward their next purchase.

“We’re trying to build a loyal community,” Pearson said during his session, “CX with Style: Driving Mobile Engagement to Improve Overall Customer Experience,” at this month’s 10th annual Loyalty Expo.

The new loyalty program integrates directly with the brand’s mobile app to create a complete customer experience. Pearson wants to engage the company’s audience through mobile as part of a holistic customer experience.

“What story do you want to tell?” Pearson asked attendees. “How will you influence and shape your company’s future story and create long-lasting loyalty?”

Pearson believes customer preference for mobile loyalty has changed.

Mobile-enabled loyalty programs continue to influence customer purchase behavior: Customers who make store visits/purchases because of a mobile-enabled loyalty program went from 59 percent in 2016 to 62 percent this year, Pearson noted.

Customers want a well-rounded customer engagement offering (SMS, email, push, wallet, app, virtual assistants, messaging apps, direct mail).

“We have to understand where they want to spend their time,” Pearson said. “It’s crucial to have a formulated and detailed roadmap/plan for how you want to navigate your organization.”

What do you truly want to accomplish?

Goal No. 1:  Become a True Omnichannel Retailer
Goal No. 2: Become More Digital, More Social, More Loyal

Execution of these two goals, Pearson said, will “drive traffic to our sites and stores and will assist in creating loyal customers.”

What’s more, Pearson wants to develop a loyal LIDS community and headgear culture that comprises: Brands, leagues, athletes, entertainers, influencers, tastemakers, fashion bloggers, LIDS advisory team, stores, radio/tv, digital, and community.

Pearson noted the strategy for LIDS Access Pass:

Integrated customer experience (360-degree of the customer):
- Know Me
- Show Me that You Know Me
- Show Me That You Value Me and Care

Pearson said that LIDS engages throughout the customer lifecycle (before, during, after, and in between events). The company gains personalized insight into each customer: Favorite teams, hat/jersey sizes, style preferences, etc. That information is unified from multiple data sources: loyalty, e-commerce, mobile, customer service, and marketing.
LIDS offers an omnichannel, personalized experience based on customer profile and LTV. From March 15, 2017, through April 23, 2017, the LIDS Access Pass app-based loyalty program generated 46,350 new users; 90,034 returning sessions; and nearly 29,000 visits.

Pearson stressed the following points awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty.

“Customer journeys are unique and we are focused on maximizing every moment,” he said.

Pearson offered Three Keys to Success:
- Know reward member status
- Unique content and different from LIDS.com
- Interact with Us Socially             

LIDS Sports Group, which operates within Hat World, Inc., comprises the LIDS retail headwear stores, the LIDS Locker Room specialty fan retail chain, the LIDS Clubhouse retail stores, and the Internet businesses: www.lids.com, www.lidslockerroom.com, wwwlidsclubhouse.com, and www.lids.ca.
 
LIDS retail stores offer officially licensed and branded headwear of collegiate teams, major professional sports teams, as well as other specialty fashion categories in the latest styles and colors. LIDS Locker Room is a mall-based retailer of sports headwear, apparel, accessories, and novelties that also operates under the Sports Fan-Attic and Sports Avenue retail concepts.
 

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