5 Loyalty Program Examples In The Fashion Industry

The fashion industry is an attractive one (pun intended) when you look at the numbers. The market is huge with menswear estimated to be a $423 Billion industry and womens fashion eclipsing that at $621 billion.

As a society we love to shop for fashion. It is estimated that we spend somewhere between 15% and 23% of our discretionary income on apparel.

That is a lot of money being spent in the fashion industry, so why doesn’t everyone start up their own clothing brand? In short, it is a very competitive industry. This is why so many online fashion retailers are turning to loyalty programs and customer retention.

Loyalty programs are becoming more commonplace in the fashion industry. They let sites of all sizes retain their customers and increase profitability. Here are 5 example loyalty programs in the fashion industry.

Gilt – Insider Points

Country of Origin: United States

% Back: 3%

Rewarded Actions: Account Registration, Site Visits, Referrals

If you don’t know Gilt, it is flash sale clothing site. This means that sales happen for a predetermined amount of time, or till product runs out. Gilt has implemented some cool components to their loyalty program based on this business model. Here are a few of them:

Gilt rewards customers points for visiting the site, 1 point for every visit. This is a great feature to have for flash sale site, when you are always releasing new deals you want customers to continually visit and check them out. Gilt even rewards extra points if you visit the site all 5 weekdays in a row.

This is also a great loyalty program example because it uses tiers. For more information about tiers see “tiered loyalty programs”. The program gives you more benefits the more you interact with the site.

You start in the basic tier and work your way up to the noir level. Every time you progress up a tier you get access to more benefits. In the noir level you get early access to sales (huge benefit for flash sales) and VIP customer service.

Gilt is a great example because it takes advantage of tiers, rewards for actions that fit into their business model, and have a ton of ways that a customer can redeem their points on. To see all the options visit their explainer page.

Jeweliq – Heart Rewards

Country of Origin: United States

% Back: 4% – 25% (explained below)

Rewarded Actions: Referrals

Jeweliq is a very unique loyalty program example. Instead of rewarding points for every dollar spent, jeweliq rewards one point per piece purchased. This is why the percent back is so varied, it depends on what you buy to accumulate your points and what you redeem it on.

The way the jeweliq rewards program works is as follows. You earn one point for every piece purchased. You can also earn 5 points when you refer a friend. Once you accumulate 10 points you can redeem the points for an item of your choosing.

A great visual representation of how many more points I need for a reward (I was buying for my girlfriend I swear)

I like this example because it has earning and spending rules that are truly unique for the fashion industry. The rewards that jeweliq provides are a strong motivator to get customer shopping more often, and telling their friends.

Country of Origin: United States

% Back: 2%

Rewarded Actions: Signing up for the card

Nordstrom is another great example of a large fashion retailer doing loyalty right. The program really only rewards shoppers for purchases, but it is the rewards where Nordstrom really shines. Just like in the Gilt example Nordstrom uses tiers. At every tier shoppers get access to more and more rewards.

Nordstrom’s Tiers

The rewards that shoppers can claim with their points range from $20 off all the way to holiday party invites and exclusive VIP store events. The experiential rewards are reserved for Nordstrom’s two upper tiers. I like to call this aspiration marketing, you need to get shoppers aspiring to be part of the exclusive club.

The other component of Nordstrom’s program that I love is the special point events. Nordstrom has events where customers can earn bonus points or have exclusive access. The additional point days are a great way to drive additional business and are a great way to promote a loyalty program.

Days to earn extra points

Special reward dates and exclusive rewards make Nordstrom’s fashion points a fantastic loyalty program example. I definitely recommend incorporating special point events into your loyalty promotions.

Country of Origin: United States

% Back: 10%

Rewarded Actions: Newsletter Subscription, Referrals, Social Shares, Birthdays

Prima Donna is a loyalty program example from a smaller retailer. The New York based fashion retailer sets itself apart from the competition by rewarding customers points. Prima Donna rewards customers in many different ways.

The site rewards customers the most points for referring friends, which they have deemed to be the most valuable action. They also reward for sharing products on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Pinterest is very effective for fashion retailers

Rewarding customers for sharing on Pinterest is very lucrative for the fashion industry, especially womens fashion. About 80% of users on Pinterest are women, and when shoppers are referred to a site from Pinterest they are 10%more likely to buy. If you are in the fashion industry you should be rewarding for Pinterest pins.

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

% Back: 4%

Rewarded Actions: Account Registration, Newsletter Subscription, Reviews, Order Size

The first program example on the list that is not based in the United States. Van-Dal Shoes are a UK based shoe company that has a great loyalty program. The program is great because it rewards for some unique customer actions, and has one of my favourite explainer pages.

There are two customer actions that Van-Dal rewards for that we have not yet talked about; those are product reviews, and order values. Rewarding for product reviews creates credibility, according to Marketing Land, 90% of customers say they impact a purchase decision.

Along with rewarding reviews, Van-Dal also rewards order value. This is giving extra points when a customers order exceeds a certain value. Rewarding this action is great at driving additional value from your program and increasing a customer’s lifetime value.

Discover what the average order size is for your store, then set extra points for orders 10% – 15% higher than that. This loyalty program is a great example of how a program can help you establish credibility and increase order size.

Tips for Loyalty Programs in the Fashion Industry

I hope the examples provided have given you ideas on what a loyalty program could look like for your store. There are a ton of loyalty program examples in the fashion industry, these are meant to inspire a program of your own.

We have seen a lot of fashion loyalty programs and we have seen what works well. Here are a few tips that we think are essential in the fashion industry.

1. Reward for Pinterest Pins

Fashion is one of the most pinned categories on Pinterest. Just browse the boards and you will see exactly what I am talking about. We have seen that fashion industry programs that rewards Pinterest shares do very well. Remember, referrals from pinterest are 10% more likely to buy.

1. Give Exclusive Rewards

The fashion industry is very competitive. All programs are giving the basic rewards like a percentage off or save a few dollars. To really differentiate your program you need to offer something the competition can’t replicate. Rewards that can be repeated are events and experiences. Brainstorm ideas for what experiences you can give your best customers.

3. Have a Loyalty Program

Fashion sites that do not have a loyalty program are missing a huge opportunity to get customers returning. There are so many fashion options out there, it is really easy for a customer to be persuaded to try a new brand and new store. Give them a reason to stick with you, you will be glad you did.