Optimal Customer Engagement Requires Consistency

Optimal Customer Engagement Requires Consistency

COVID-19 fundamentally changed the way consumers interact with convenience stores, forcing brands to innovate overnight. Now, more than a year into the pandemic, surveys show that consumers are still seeking more digital c-store experiences, from online ordering to contactless payments. 

The key to creating a successful digital customer experience is consistency. Consumers expect personalized rewards and offers, as well as frictionless methods of ordering, payment, and redemption. Keeping track of their behaviors and preferences has become a critical component. 

The easiest and most effective way to create a consistent brand experience across channels is to operate on a single platform. By having one technology partner that hosts your entire engagement suite, you get seamless integrations, effortless data flow, and a guest experience as dependable as your brand. 

Seamless Integrations

Loyal customers are likely to want to engage with your brand in multiple ways. For that reason, it’s important that all facets of your platform work together flawlessly. 

Paytronix data shows that brands that merge loyalty programs and online ordering platforms – enabling customers to earn and redeem rewards online – see an 18% boost in order frequency. And a survey released by AlixPartners earlier this year found that 36% of c-store consumers view loyalty as the best way to encourage customers to adopt online ordering behaviors.

If a brand chooses one provider for loyalty and another for online ordering, some technology companies have custom-built integrations that allow various tech stacks to communicate. But having both on the same platform ensures uninterrupted, reliable data flow between the engagement tools, resulting in a better customer experience and easier reporting. 
 

Effortless Data Flow

Loyalty programs and the data they collect enable brands to create personalized and consistent customer experiences across platforms, from the mobile app to the website. They also enable some of the most cutting-edge marketing tactics, like subscription programs and AI-driven campaigns. 

But to truly capitalize on this data, it needs to be easy to access and manipulate. It’s also best used in conjunction with data collected through other channels, like online ordering platforms and mobile apps. 

When operating on a single platform, all of this information is already in one place. And if your engagement platform also hosts messaging tools, you have the ability to segment guests, build campaigns, and communicate directly with your customers without needing to import data or build custom lists. 

Dependable Guest Experience

Today, convenience is about more than location and inventory – it’s about meeting customers where they’re comfortable. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), 21% of c-store operators have shifted to curbside pickup since the start of the pandemic, while 14% are focused on drive-thrus.

Customers expect these new engagement methods to deliver an experience like what they’d get in the store. They also expect to have a similar experience on the mobile app, at the pump, and wherever else they’re interacting with your brand. By using the same technology partner for each piece of engagement – loyalty, online ordering, mobile apps, contactless payment, messaging, and data analysis – you can ensure that the user experience is uniform and positive. 

Ready to maximize engagement with your customers? Learn more at Paytronix.com.