How Much Does a Loyalty Program Cost?

The cost of implementing a loyalty rewards program at your store could vary widely depending on the type of loyalty program you’re interested in using, as well as the size and scope of your business. If you’re still in the early stages of shopping around for a customer rewards program, then we highly recommend you check out our article Loyalty Program Types, which explains all of the different options on the market today.

If you’ve been perusing this “covering your bases” series on our blogsite and you’ve read our other article How to Build a Loyalty Program, then you know that paper punch-cards and plastic swipe cards are not exactly cutting edge, which is why we aren’t going to review these antiquated options. Instead, this article is designed to go over the costs—both upfront and hidden—that are associated with implementing a loyalty rewards program that has a digital, interactive interface, or in other words, a program that comes with an app.

Digital loyalty programs provide the most bang for your buck and the greatest ROI, but only if you offer a user-friendly app with social media capabilities to keep your customers engaged. That might sound like a tall order—or an expensive one—but we promise we’ll point you in the right direction (wink, wink). You’ll also need to be sure that your digital loyalty program provides you with a fully comprehensible desktop dashboard with which to design and disburse successful promotional marketing campaigns.

Take a deep breath. Think of it as an investment. Here we go!

The different types of loyalty program platforms (with associated costs) are:

• Punch-cards
•  Plastic scan cards
•  Digital loyalty app
• Integrated POS
• Enterprise solutions (mostly reserved for retail chains)

For reasons we mentioned earlier, you can go ahead and cross out the first two options above, and let’s dive straight into digital loyalty rewards programs with apps and the associated costs.

Digital Loyalty App

Depending on how you set up your digital app loyalty rewards program, the app itself could simply be a digital substitute for the old punch-card system—psst, we don’t recommend this! Or you can fully turbocharge your app with all the bells and whistles (hint, hint).

There is one major hurdle when it comes to implementing your app, it costs significant money to build an app from scratch. Hiring an app developer could run you upwards of $150 per hour and though you may want the finished product to be simplistic, it could take the developing company weeks to deliver. This kind of project can really add up.

Alternatively, there are customer loyalty rewards programs out there that include an add-on app, but these tend to charge anywhere from $19 – $49 per month, and that’s after setup charges of around $50 – $100. The expense might not be impossible for your company, but unless you can include your own personalized branding on the app interface, just remain very cautious. A lot of these cost-effective apps are boasting their own brand—not yours—to your customer base every time your loyal customers log-in.

Loyal~n~Save is well-aware of the competition, which is why our digital loyalty rewards program includes an interactive app at no additional charge to you. With our streamlined and eye-catching app, you can import and style your own branding. To learn more about this option, click here.

Integrated POS

Your retail store or stores is likely already using a POS system at the register, which means that your digital loyalty rewards program needs to be compatible. Extra elements you may need to purchase for your integrated system to run smoothly could vary widely from software plugins to proprietary modules, but for the sake of this article, we’ll assume you’ll need the whole kit and caboodle, which means you’re going to need a SaaS subscription model. Typically, the costs of these systems can be between $50 to $500 per POS device per month.

If your current POS system is relatively new, then you’re in luck. You won’t have to develop your own integrated solution. But if you’re operating an older style, such as a Windows-based solution that’s out of date, then you will need to plan the expense of properly integrating your digital loyalty rewards program app. There’s a chance you might have to hire a developer to build your solution, which could run you anywhere from $100 – $250 per hour, and the job could take weeks.

As another option, your POS system provider might have POS loyalty modules you can buy. While these tend to be limited in their features and though some POS systems offer them for free, they can be shockingly expensive. We’re talking obscene. Are you sitting down? These can set you back $500 per month. If you need to take a moment to walk it off, we’ll wait, but don’t go far because good news is on the horizon!

Enterprise Solutions

For larger companies with multiple locations, the enterprise solution costs of integrating your digital loyalty rewards program with your POS system across many retail stores can be complicated, complex, and costly. You may need to pick up the phone and call for quotes since the costs associated with this level are seldom written out in plain English on the internet.

That being said, if you’re looking to avoid having to hire a developer and you would rather not go through the painful price-gouging that comes with buying POS modules that may or may not work properly, then you should really give us a call. The Loyal~n~Save program offers the most competitive solutions on the market today, including:

•  Fully-customized loyalty rewards app
•  Admin dashboard
• Innovative loyalty technology
• Digital rewards
• Custom-built features & functionality

Perhaps most importantly, our Loyal~n~Save Enterprise Solutions comes with in-depth CRM reports that will help you track the positive effects of your loyalty program. These CRM reports are extremely important in tracking revenue success and ROI. Not every loyalty rewards program offers a comprehensive depth of reporting that Loyal~n~Save does, and we never charge extra for this feature, whereas our competitors do.

Stay in touch with your loyal customer base. Remind your customers about upcoming events and seasonal tips. Maintain a professional appearance all the way to the app notification, the inbox, and beyond. We take the guesswork out of marketing and put the “loyal” in Loyal~n~Save! Click here to learn more about our products, prices, and to schedule a demo.

Our customer loyalty rewards platform also includes email capabilities, which empowers you to reach your customer base with newsletters directly from the Loyal~n~Save dashboard. This means you will not have to integrate with 3rd party, paid email builders such s MailChimp or SocketLabs. No more jumping from platform to platform and wracking up unnecessary expenses just to connect with your loyal customer base.

Once you’re all set up and your digital loyalty rewards program is fully functional, you’ll want to stay mindful of the ongoing, incremental costs to ensure your profit margins stay healthy, and we can help with that, too!