Recently, we wrote about the challenges of composable MarTech architecture and introduced the concept of composable architecture accelerators. In our follow-up piece, we explained why we believe our Loyalty Accelerator can be a game-changer for implementing modern loyalty engines.
Today, we're diving into a case study that showcases the power of our accelerator in action.
In this post, we'll take you behind the scenes of an example loyalty project for a fashion retailer. You'll see how our Loyalty Accelerator simplifies the integration between Open Loyalty, Shopify, and Klaviyo, transforming what could have been a complex, time-consuming process into a streamlined loyalty solution.
Whether you're looking to introduce or update your own loyalty program or are simply curious about the practical applications of composable architecture, this case study provides insights into the future of MarTech implementations. Let's dive in!
Setting the Scene
FashionCo is a prominent fashion brand with a strong presence across four countries in the Middle East. With around 50 physical stores and a rapidly growing e-commerce platform, FashionCo serves approximately 80,000 unique customers annually. Their journey toward implementing a loyalty program started with a crucial transition in their e-commerce infrastructure.
Shopify Migration
FashionCo had been operating on a custom e-commerce solution built atop a lesser-known open-source engine. While this setup had initially met their needs, it became clear that it was holding them back as they grew. Here's why they decided to migrate to Shopify Plus:
- Cost and Time Efficiency: Maintaining their custom storefront was becoming increasingly expensive and time-consuming. As their business expanded, so did the complexity of their e-commerce needs, putting a strain on their development partner.
- Integration Capabilities: There was a growing need for specialized integrations with other systems, particularly a Product Information Management (PIM) system. Shopify's extensive app ecosystem and API made these integrations much more feasible.
- Multi-Market Expansion: FashionCo had plans to expand into new markets. They needed a platform that could effortlessly handle multiple currencies, different product variants, and localized content - all strengths of Shopify Plus.
Once the migration to Shopify Plus was complete, FashionCo was ready to take the next step in enhancing their customer engagement strategy: introducing an omnichannel loyalty program.
Key Priorities for the loyalty program
FashionCo approached us with several key priorities for their new loyalty program:
- Omnichannel Integration
This was by far their most critical requirement. FashionCo explicitly wanted a coherent loyalty program that worked seamlessly across both their physical stores and e-commerce platform. They had observed that a significant portion of their customer base frequently used both channels. Therefore, they wanted to ensure a unified experience where loyalty incentives worked equally well in physical stores and in their online shop.
- Points Collection System
FashionCo wanted to implement a points-based system where customers could earn points for both purchases, but also other interactions (e.g. participation in promos & leaving product reviews) and redeem them for rewards. They saw this as a way to encourage repeat purchases and increase customer lifetime value.
- Gamified Achievements / Challenges
To boost engagement and add an element of fun to their loyalty program, FashionCo was keen on incorporating gamified elements. They envisioned a system where customers could complete challenges or reach certain milestones to earn extra rewards or exclusive perks.
- Future-Proofing
With plans to launch a mobile application in the future, FashionCo needed a loyalty solution that could easily extend to this new touchpoint, ensuring a consistent experience across all customer interactions.
These priorities set the stage for a comprehensive, engaging loyalty program that would work across all of FashionCo's sales channels and provide a foundation for future growth.
In the next section, we'll explore how our Loyalty Accelerator, combined with Open Loyalty, Shopify, and Klaviyo, helped us meet these requirements and streamline the implementation process.
Loyalty Accelerator in action
In a typical scenario, designing an omnichannel integration between a loyalty engine, POS, an e-commerce platform like Shopify, and a marketing automation tool like Klaviyo would be a relatively complex and time-consuming process. It would involve weeks of planning and decision-making, addressing questions such as:
- What should be used as a universal identifier for customers across all systems?
- How can we ensure discount data syncs effectively between the Loyalty Engine and Shopify while also making these discounts usable at POS terminals?
- What's the best way to make data from all channels available in Klaviyo for segmentation and flow building?
- What's the most efficient way to manage program rules and ensure they're applied consistently across all touchpoints?
- How to present loyalty data on customer touchpoints without it looking like it is coming from a different system?
These questions, while crucial, can often detract from the main goal: creating an exceptional customer experience. This is precisely where our Loyalty Accelerator shines as we have already figured out much of the integration hiccups and can jump straight into the fun stuff.
Data Synchronization
At the heart of our integration was the use of the Shopify customer ID as the universal identifier across all systems. This approach ensured a seamless flow of data between Shopify, Open Loyalty, and Klaviyo, eliminating the risk of duplicate profiles or lost data. If a different identifier (e.g. coming from a CDP platform) was ever used, it could easily be used instead.
Transaction syncing was handled in real-time, with Omnivy Loyalty Accelerator automatically pushing purchase data from Shopify to Open Loyalty. This included not just regular transactions but also the more complex scenarios like returns and exchanges. When a return was processed in Shopify, Loyalty Accelerator would automatically adjust the customer's points balance in Open Loyalty, ensuring accuracy across all platforms.
Customer data synchronization went beyond just transactions. Our accelerator ensured that any updates to customer profiles in Shopify - be it a change of address or a birthday update - were immediately reflected in Open Loyalty and Klaviyo, maintaining a single source of truth for customer data.
Loyalty Profile Details
A key feature of our implementation was the ready-to-use front-end block displaying comprehensive loyalty information for each customer. This block was designed to seamlessly integrate with FashionCo's Shopify theme, providing a cohesive look and feel that matched their brand aesthetic.
The beauty of this front-end block lies in its plug-and-play nature. Thanks to our Loyalty Accelerator, FashionCo didn't need to invest time and resources into designing and coding this interface from scratch. Instead, they were able to quickly implement a user-friendly loyalty dashboard that their customers could start using immediately.
Moreover, this block is fully responsive, providing a consistent experience across desktop and mobile devices. This was particularly important for FashionCo, given their plans for future mobile app integration.
Achievements & Gamification
FashionCo's loyalty program incorporated a variety of achievements to keep customers engaged. These ranged from simple "Welcome" achievements for joining the program to more complex, multi-step challenges like "Beauty Expert" for trying products across different categories.
Points Simulation
To help customers understand the value of their loyalty program participation, our accelerator features a points simulator. This allows customers to see how many points they would earn on potential purchases, encouraging larger basket sizes.
On the customer-facing side, we integrated a point forecasting feature into product pages and the shopping cart. This showed customers how close they were to their next reward, often encouraging them to add one more item to their cart to reach a points milestone.
Discounts Handling
Integrating loyalty discounts with Shopify's existing discount system required careful consideration. Shopify requires discount coupons to be stored locally - it is not possible (yet) to call a 3rd party system and apply a discount based on its response.
Our accelerator was designed to work harmoniously with Shopify's native discount functionality, allowing FashionCo to run both loyalty-based and traditional promotional discounts simultaneously without conflict.
Summary
Our Loyalty Accelerator can dramatically reduce the time and complexity typically associated with such integrations, allowing us to focus on crafting a program that truly resonated with FashionCo's customers.
Key achievements included a unified customer view across all channels, real-time point accrual and redemption, engaging gamification elements, and powerful, loyalty-driven marketing capabilities.
Looking ahead, FashionCo is well-positioned to expand their loyalty program as their business grows. The flexible nature of our implementation means they can easily add new features, such as integration with their planned mobile app or incorporation of in-store experiences into their loyalty challenges.
