How to increase the purchase frequency in vending

Friday 18 September, a new appointment of Friday Coffee with MatiPay!

Meeting, dedicated to the topic “How to increase purchase frequency“, was introduced by Giovanna Voltolina, General Manager of MatiPay.

The objective of the appointment is to offer operators an additional tool to engage users during the shopping experience, retaining them and encouraging to increase the frequency of purchase.

Loyalty initiatives provide an adjustment of legal documents such as the Privacy Policy. Saverio Massari, Legal at MatiPay, helps to clarify the regulatory framework by offering a broad overview of the provisions of the GDPR regulation.

Finally, MatiPay presents the “STARS” loyalty initiative and shares the results obtained following the activation of the loyalty program in one of a customer’s offices.

A loyalty program is a program designed for the end consumers of a product or service and aims to establish a lasting relationship between the product or company and the end user.

Loyalty tools are created to reward the users who make recurring purchases or who reach certain levels of spending or consumption.

Loyalty programs, given their strength in establishing relationships, are excellent for creating listening groups of privileged consumers who can try some products and services in advance, so as to be true “spokespersons” for the brand towards which the consumer expresses his confidence.

Loyalty programs have evolved over time undergoing a natural digitization process: from loyalty cards where the number of purchases were “checked” on a physical card to digital cards that allow the collection of points for each purchase or for certain spending thresholds.

Market research carried out by Nielsen has shown that 74% of Italians are enrolled in a loyalty program with at least one retailer that offers this type of initiative, 44% of the people who join the loyalty program participate in a loyalty program number between 2 and 5, and only 16% took part in more than 6 loyalty programs.

Italians prove to be very reactive to promotions and loyalty programs, the data is comparable on average to the behavior of the European population but is higher than the rest of the world, where only 66% adhere to a loyalty program.

Unlike retail stores with dedicated staff, the engagement of consumers who buy from automated stores is certainly more complex, creating an ongoing and lasting relationship must pass through digital means of communication, such as the MatiPay mobile app.

Thanks to the MatiPay app it is possible to establish a direct relationship with users and reward them for each purchase or to further customize the experience with dedicated promotions and discounts based on certain consumption thresholds, or again, based on the purchase of specific products.

The users sees as their advantage that of being rewarded, they live a gaming experience that engages them: in short, they have fun when they buy.

Loyalty initiatives are nothing more than the “game of loyalty” towards a brand, a company or a purchasing behavior.

Those who join loyalty initiatives want to receive something regardless of the value of the prize and this generates a positive atmosphere towards the shopping experience, creating a gaming experience that pushes the user to repetitive behaviors in order to obtain the offered benefit “as soon as possible”.

At the base of the loyalty programs there is the objective of establishing repetitive behaviors, thanks to which users develop new habits, the change of habits becomes easier if there are associated to gamified attractive elements that transform the real shopping experience into a gaming one.

Therefore, associating a reward or a so-called “positive reinforcement” speeds up this process, creating direct benefits for the business.

The STARS loyalty program is available within the MatiPay application both in the powered by version, customized with the branding elements of the operators, and in the MatiPay branded version.

To access the STARS program, users are to download the app, register and join the program in the section dedicated to the “STARS” initiative, in compliance with current privacy regulations.

Loyalty STARS allows the conversion of the spent amount into a certain number of points called “stars” within the program.

The vending operator makes the rewards catalog available within the app and end users can view, from the first moment they log in, all the rewards within the catalog.

The rewards that can be unlocked in the loyalty catalog are:
• free products (free delivery mode)
• discounted products (discount delivery method)

Both options fully comply with the provisions of current regulations with respect to the communication of transactions to the Tax Agency.

The loyalty program therefore does not generate any misalignment with respect to sales data and its transmission to the Tax Agency.

The rewards catalog can offer you the possibility of creating promotions even on specific selected machines, to encourage distribution on remote and little used vending machines.

The operator can review the sales and transaction reports by verifying the best performing products, to decide whether to increase the promotional pressure with discounts or not.

STARS gives benefits to both the vending operator and the final consumer. With the STARS loyalty program, the consumer enjoys a purchase incentive and makes the vending operator to receive a greater number of sales, with all the probability of increasing of the purchase frequency thanks to the engaging experience.

Guarda qui il video di come funziona l’esperienza utente

We analyzed the reaction of a group of users to the launch of the Loyalty initiative, with a total number of 930 users, but due to the vicissitudes related to Covid-19, only 50% of users were attending the offices. The result was that in the first two weeks of activation, 257 joined the initiative, and observing the behavior of these users we noticed an increase in average value spending of 57% which is also reflected in the volume trend (+ 56 %).

In the following weeks we found an increase in the number of users in the loyalty program, due to the return of a wider range of employees: the loyalty activity should not be considered a static activity but rather a dynamic activity, which evolves as user behaviors evolve and based on the evolution of the business.

How much of all this, how much of user loyalty is transformed into a direct benefit on the business?

Observing the behavior within 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after activation, an increase in value and volume on the entire operational site has been noticed, which stands at 17% in value, and 15% in volume.

The total investment of the operator spread over 4 weeks was equal to: € 2.64, a minimum amount compared to the turnover generated by the machines on that site in the reference to the analyzed period.

STARS statistics show that, with a small investment by the vending operator, the final consumer is engaged in promotions and offers that lead to increased sales, especially in the more impulse categories such as snacks and cold beverages.

If we want to experience the growth of our business first-hand we must absolutely activate these mechanisms that reward, retain, attract, engage users to spend more and remain loyal to the brand where loyalty is the basis, while the vertical promotions, as we have seen in our previous event, give a further boost to sales, the effect of which is seen in the short term.