The first noted instance of the word ‘shopaholic’ occurred in 1983; a hedonistic time when consumerism was at an all time high.
But the powerful desire to buy wasn’t just driven by an urge to own – it was driven by a change in the way we acquired things. Shopping was no longer a utility exercise but a leisure activity in itself: social, indulgent, luxurious, stimulating, immersive – and with brand marketing stronger than ever, it was also about belonging. The culture of the mall was about participation and enjoyment far more than mere possession.
Cut to today and things have changed a little. The world has moved online, attitudes towards consumerism and the environment have changed, and increasingly, consumer finances are stretched. The pleasure associated with the purchase experience has been eroded. The thrill of shopping is reduced to a fleeting moment – a single click – rather than an immersive, enduring experience.
Commercial market research and academic investigation strongly link purchase intention with brand relationship: a relationship built through awareness, connection and engagement."
For brands, that’s a real problem. Both commercial market research and academic investigation (see for instance Kerse’s study on brand relationships) strongly link purchase intention with brand relationship: a relationship built through awareness, connection and engagement. People immersed in the ideas, visuals and products of a brand are not only more likely to make a purchase, they’re more likely to come back in the future too.
But without a physical store to craft the experiential element of the shopping process, what options do brands have left?
The answer: Rewards Wallets.
What is a Rewards Wallet?
Rewards wallets come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The Blue Marble’s Rewards Wallet represents a fully customisable brand experience that gives your customers an ability to immerse themselves in your brand as if they had walked into your shop.
First and foremost, it allows for users to accumulate points for their purchases, which in turn can be converted into discounts on future purchases – incentivising individual purchases and fostering loyalty in the future.
But Rewards Wallets go far beyond this. Through collaborations and integrations, users can generate points through their purchases with you, and use them for discounts with other companies – something which hugely enhances the value proposition of your brand, turning a purchase with you into a gateway to something much bigger. The Blue Marble Rewards Wallet uses a Shopify integration to allow your customers to use their accumulated points in a variety of contexts.
Whether it’s leaving a review, creating or sharing social media content or completing surveys - brands can use ‘quests’ to assist their overall brand strategy."
Moreover, Rewards Wallets can encourage all kinds of beneficial brand behaviours, not just purchases. Whether it’s leaving a review, creating or sharing social media content or completing surveys - brands can use ‘quests’ to assist their overall brand strategy. Indeed, it is the presence of a challenge as much as the promise of a reward that engages and excites the customer, driving participation, involvement and purpose and fostering a more direct relationship.
What is crucial is that a Rewards Wallet is more than just a generic app with your brand logo slapped across the front; every facet needs to embody your brand, both visually and experientially. To be effective it needs to leverage all of the psychological benefits that were once associated with shopping as a leisure activity, using seamless integration to bring all brand services under one (virtual) roof.
The Blue Marble allows for complete customisation and integration to achieve this, creating a brand ecosystem that incorporates existing mailing lists, PoS, e-commerce platform, social updates, in-app chat – whatever you need to immerse your customers in your world.
Put together, all of these things transform the shopping experience for customers, returning shopping to a time when it was about the process as much as the product. Digital wallets make shopping experiential, social, immersive, engaged and – most importantly – exciting, turning customers from passive consumers of your product to active, involved brand contributors, giving them a sense that they are participating and contributing to something bigger than themselves.
Playing with the big boys
Rewards Wallets aren’t some niche marketing gimmick – they are a key part of some of the globe’s most prominent brands: Amazon, Starbucks, Vodafone, McDonalds, to name but a few. Indeed, they’re now so crucial to a joined-up brand strategy that those who don’t get in on the process risk getting left behind. Fortunately, their customisable nature means that those who do deploy them have the potential to use creativity to craft a real point of differentiation.
Rewards Wallets aren’t some niche marketing gimmick – they are a key part of some of the globe’s most prominent brands: Amazon, Starbucks, Vodafone, McDonalds, to name but a few."
Crucially, access to the technologies that enable Rewards Wallets is - both logistically and financially – more accessible than ever before. This means that they don’t need to be the exclusive preserve of market leaders; niche, boutique, start-up and alternative brands can all use digital wallets as a way to craft a unique brand proposition, whilst established operations can augment their offering and push growth even further.
If you want to find out how a Blue Marble Digital Wallet could bring these benefits to your brand, why not schedule a discovery call with us?
