Footfall in many UK shopping districts has declined. Throughout the country, retailers have been adjusting to changes in consumer behaviour. Many have introduced new business measures, such as online shops, click and collect or delivery services. Footfall has often remained low.

Retailers are looking for ways to win back trade and improve footfall. One approach many business owners have had success with is a town loyalty card scheme, run by their local council.

Improving High Streets and Town Centres

All retailers know that customer loyalty is crucial to making a success of a business. There is good reason for that: you are far more likely to sell to an existing customer than to a prospective one.

Loyalty programmes let businesses reward their customers for shopping with them over their competitors. This forms an emotional connection between the brand and the customer, as the customer feels their custom has been noticed. It also encourages customers to return to spend the points they’ve collected.

Where local councils have funding to improve shopping and retail districts, regional loyalty schemes are a popular all-in-one solution.

A customer loyalty scheme that covers an entire district encourages consumers to be loyal to the area the programme covers. Consumer spending also stays within that area instead of going to shops out of town.

Each participating retailer has its own loyalty scheme with adjustable elements, including how points are collected and the rewards they can be redeemed for. Retailers can also use the system to collect valuable data on their customers. These fields are fully customisable, so you choose to collect the information that is important to you.

With the built-in marketing platform, you can use this data to create targeted email campaigns for your customers. Email marketing is a key tool for small businesses. 80% of them believe that most of their customer retention comes from email marketing campaigns.

It’s not just retailers who find email marketing important. 59% of customers say marketing emails from their favourite retailers influence most of their purchase decisions.

A digital town loyalty scheme also helps to future-proof high streets. It lets you interact with younger generations and encourage them to build the future of the high street.

Alongside the loyalty and marketing platforms, a town scheme can include extras that help boost revenue, such as physical gift cards, electronic gift cards or integration with a retailer’s existing website.

For more information on our loyalty and marketing solutions, please get in touch with one of our experts today.