South Africa has a well-established retail loyalty scene, with over 70% of consumers belonging to at least one programme - according to Truth & BrandMapp’s annual white paper - but recent numbers show that this is declining year-on-year.
Research shows that participants want the rewards and loyalty, however feel the extra step at checkout to swipe another card or open a loyalty app is cumbersome.
Yoyo CEO Bevan Ducasse believes bank card-linked loyalty addresses this core need and challenge, as the landscape is ripe for innovation and simplification.
“The trend for customers is towards simplicity and speed of checkout, as seen with the rapid adoption of tap-to-pay” he says. “We therefore decided to link loyalty to this, which enables earning into the retailer’s loyalty programme seamlessly on the back of a bank card payment. No additional cards, no additional steps.”
Tried and trusted
Yoyo, which rebranded from wiGroup in 2020, has racked up over a decade of experience in creating innovative, reward SaaS solutions reaching over 5 million monthly active users for over 130 corporate global clients, including the likes of Discovery Vitality, Vodacom, FNB, Caffè Nero, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts.
“Providing a rewarding buying experience to gain rich insights is how we grow spend and increase the lifetime value of customers for our clients. This is what we set out to do as a company,” Ducasse says.
One small tap for cards, one giant leap for everyone
Yoyo is now piloting bank card-linked loyalty in the Netherlands, Germany, Iceland, Portugal and South Africa, using the feedback data to refine the product and better serve customers. Yoyo has also launched an SME offering, which offers onboarding in under 10 minutes, striving to provide the power of loyalty to any small business. The team, through their channel partnerships, hope to take this solution to the 1 million plus small businesses in the regions they operate in.
“We’re excited to extend the solution to small merchants, as we have witnessed the challenges of keeping businesses open in the current climate” Ducasse explains. “We are therefore hopeful we can play our small part to get customers returning and spending more at their local merchants.”
Data decoded
Retailers can unlock powerful insights through Yoyo’s dashboard and campaign management tools, driving higher transaction values and frequency of spend, through an enriched view of customers.
This puts tier one analytics within the reach of every client, offering a competitive advantage at a critical time for the beleaguered physical retail sector.
He concludes: “Loyalty isn’t about jumping through hoops; it’s about relationships - consistent, mutual, and meaningful. Rewarding with loyalty should be seamless and communicate, ‘we appreciate you adding value to my business, and therefore want to thank you for your loyalty”.