【哈佛商业评论】何时以及如何在忠诚度计划中设置障碍

CustomerStrategyWhen—andHow—toBuildHurdlesintoaLoyaltyProgramangILikeThatOne/GettyImagesSummary.Althoughrewardsprogramsaredesignedtosavecustomersmoney,mostofthemalsoincludesomeformofredemptionhurdle:policiessuchasspendingminimumsorexpirationdatesthatlimitcustomers’abilitytoactuallyreapthebeneitsoftheprogram.These...moreHaveyoueversignedupforarewardsprogram,onlytodiscoverseveralmonthslaterthatyourpointsexpiredbeforeyouhadachancetousethem?Ifso,you’renotalone.Researchshowsthatloyaltyprogrammembersloseuptoathirdofthesavingstheycouldhaveearnedfromtheseprogramsduetoredemptionhurdles:policiessuchasexpirationdates,spendingminimums,andotherrequirementsthathindercustomersfromactuallyreapingthebenefitsofmembership.Theseredemptionhurdlesareextremelycommon.Infact,weconductedasurveywiththetop100U.S.retailersandfoundthat85%oftherewardsprogramsthesefirmsofferedincludedsomeformofhurdle.Forexample,manyairlinesandhotelchainsstipulatetheminimumnumberofpointsrequiredforafreeplaneticketornightofstay,andtheyforfeitmembers’milesandrewardpointsafteraperiodofinactivity.Thesesortsofpoliciesmayincentivizecustomerstospendmore—buttheyhavealsobeencitedasamajorsourceoffrustrationforcustomers,andmayevenpushsometocanceltheirmemberships.Isitpossibleforbusinessestoreapthebenefitsofincorporatingredemptionhurdlesintotheirrewardsprogramswithoutalienatingcustomers?Toexplorethisquestion,webuiltaneconomicmodeltodeterminehowredemptionhurdlesimpactcustomers’purchaseandrewardredemptiondecisions.Wealsoanalyzedkeyfeaturesofthetop100U.S.retailers’rewardprogramsandconductedaseriesofin-depthinterviewswithseniorexecutivesinordertobetterunderstandhowreal-worldcompaniesareimplementingtheseprograms,whattendstowork,andwhatdoesn’t.Theseanalysesdemonstratedthatredemptionhurdlescaninfactbeawin-winforbothcompaniesandtheircustomers—butonlywhenthey’resetuptherightway.Redemptionhurdlesenableeffectivepricesegmentation.Specifically,wefoundthatredemptionhurdlescanprovideamechanismforretailerstoeffectivelypricesegmenttheircustomersincontextswhereactuallylistingdifferentpricesisinfeasible,ultimatelyenablingaclosermatchbetweencompanyofferingsandcustomerneeds.Todothis,firmscanusepastpurchasehistories,surveyresults,orothermarketresearchdatatodeterminetheircustomers’willingnesstopay(i.e.,howmuchtheyarewillingtospend)andpurchasefrequency(i.e.,howoftentheyarelikelytomakeapurchase).Oncethefirmhasasensefortherangesofthesetwokeymetrics,itcancreateredemptionhurdlesthatsplitcustomersaccordingtotheirfrequencyandamountofspending,meaningthatthesedifferentcustomergroupswillbechargeddifferenteffectiveprices.Forexample,ifacoffeeshoprewardsmemberswithafreecupofcoffeeforeveryfourcupspurchasedwithinacertaindaterange,theeffectivepricepercuppaidbyacustomerwhomakesuseoftherewardwillbeabout20%lowerthanthatofacustomerwhoserewardpointsexpirebeforetheyreachfourcups.Theredemptionhurdleallowsthefirmtoofferalowereffectivepricetolow-willingness-to-paycustomerswhomakefrequentpurchases,whilestillchargingahigherpricetohigh-willingness-to-pay,less-frequentpurchasers.Conversely,iftheshopchoosesnottouseanexpirationdate,itwillbeeffectivelysettingthesamepriceforallcustomers—whichmeanseitherpricingoutlow-willingness-to-paycustomers,orleavingmoneyonthetablebyfailingtochargeasmuchashigh-willingness-to-paycustomerswouldbewillingtopay.Ofcourse,thisonlyworksifyousettherightredemptionhurdles—andtheoptimalthresholdswilldependonbothyourindustryandyourspecificcustomerbase.Ingeneral,themorefrequentlycustomersbuyyourproduct,theshortertheexpirationtermshouldbe.Forexample,mostpeoplebuygrocerieseveryweek,buttheyonlyflyafewtimesayear,explainingwhygrocerystorestendtosetmuchshorterexpirationtermsthanairlines.Indeed,thisisborneoutinourdata:Amongthetop100U.S.retailers,theaverageexpirationtermforgrocerystorerewardpointsisaboutaweek,whilespecialtystoressuchasGameStopandDick’sSportingGoodsgiveyouuptoayeartouseyourpoints.Butit’snotjustaboutaveragepurchasefrequency.Ouranalysisalsodemonstratedthatifcustomersvarywidelyintheirpurchasefrequencies,thenfirmswillbenefitfromashorterexpirationterm,whileifcustomershavesimilarpurchasefrequencies,alongerexpirationtermismoreadvantageous.Thisisbecauseit’shardertosegmentcustomerswhentheirpurchasefrequenciesaremoresimilar,andassuchalongerexpirationtermisneededtoeffectivelyseparatethemintomeaningfulgroups.Redemptionhurdlescanbeawin-win—butonlyifthey’resetupright.Tobesure,therearestillpotentialrisksassociatedwithredemptionhurdles.First,ouranalysisdemonstratedthattheycanbemutuallybeneficialifsetupcorrectly—buttheycanalsobackfireifexpirationtermsorotherthresholdsaren’toptimizedtomeetcustomerneeds.Forexample,whenrideshareplatformDidilaunchedanewrewardssysteminwhichdrivershadtocompletemorethan30tripsperweektounlockbenefitsassociatedwithatop-tierstatus,manycomplainedthatthisreducedtake-homepayandincentivizedunsafedrivingpractices,ultimatelypushingdriverstocompetitors’apps.Second,aswithanycustomersegmentationstrategy,yourabilitytodesigneffectiveredemptionhurdleswillhingeonyouraccesstodataregardingindividualcustomers’priorbehavior.Thatsaid,wefoundthathurdlescanbeeffectiveevenwithminimalinsightintocustomerpreferences,andsomefirmshavebeenabletoachievesuccesswithprogramsbasedpurelyonananalysisofthegeneralcompositionoftheirmarket,withoutindividual-levelinformationregardingtheircustomers’actualpurchasefrequenciesorwillingness-to-pay.Whilemanypersonalizationeffortsrequireextensivepersonaldata,redemptionhurdlescanessentiallyofferashortcut,providingfirmswithmanyofthesameadvantageswithouttheneedforcostlyinvestmentintocollectingandprotectingcustomerdata.Andfinally,eveniftheprogramisdesignedwell,poorcommunicationcanbeamajorstumblingblock.Toavoidfrustratingcustomers,firmsshouldexplainrewardprogramstructuresclearlyandtransparently,andavoidjargon,complicatedrules,orfineprint.Forexample,OldNavy’srewardprogramrecentlycameunderfireforbeingunnecessarilycomplex,confusingandangeringloyalcustomers.Similarly,firmsshouldensurethatmembersarefullyawareofexpirationterms,andthattheyaregivensufficientremindersbeforetheirpointsexpire.Forinstance,manyofthehotelchainsinourdatahad24-monthexpirationterms,buttheywouldbeginsendingmonthlyremindersat12months,andthenincreasetoweeklynotificationsduringthelasttwomonths(theseremindersnotonlyreducetheriskofsurprisingcustomerswithlostrewards,butalsoboostthechancesthattheywillmakeapurchase,againcreatingawin-win).Somechainswouldalsooffercustomersoptionstoredeemtheirpointssomeotherwayiftheyweren’tgoingtoneedahotelroombeforetheirpointsexpired,suchaspurchasingmerchandiseorgiftcards,makingadonation,orextendingtheexpirationdate,furtherbolsteringcustomers’trustandsatisfactionlevels.Ultimately,there’snoperfectdesignforarewardsprogram.Butwithanintentional,data-drivenapproach,firmscanbuildredemptionhurdlesthatareatruewin-win,creatingsubstantialvalueforbothcompaniesandtheircustomers.YachengSunisProfessorofMarketingatSchoo