Customer reward schemes are ripe for disruption. Kate Baucherel discusses how blockchain is transforming the landscape for customer loyalty

Kate Baucherel

Schemes for customer retention are all around us. Our wallets and keyrings once bristled with supermarket, clothing store and coffee shop cards, and most have now been replaced with handy apps. Regardless of medium, such loyalty schemes are effective and useful tools for the retailer. The most sophisticated allow data to be gathered about buyer behaviour, and the simplest are designed to lock the user into continued custom, for instance by offering a free coffee with ten purchase proofs stamped on a card. Existing technology allows these features to be improved in a linear fashion. Data collection becomes easier and broader with apps and location services that increase the data points around a purchase. Loyalty rewards are enhanced beyond ‘buy ten, get one free’ to targeted upsell across the retailer’s range and even third party ‘partner rewards’. It’s an established system, but there are pain points for all participants in the existing process. Reward schemes are ripe for disruption and transformation, and current initiatives in blockchain can transform the customer loyalty landscape: