Loyalty Plan

Introduction 

iVendNext Loyalty is a comprehensive points and rewards application designed to enhance customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. It is part of the iVendNext Retail suite and offers a flexible system for managing loyalty points, which can be accrued through purchases, visits, or other activities. These points can be redeemed for various rewards, such as discounts or gift items, across different channels.

Loyalty Plan Features 

A loyalty program is a marketing strategy used by retailers, airlines, hotels, and many other businesses to encourage customers to build a loyal customer base and enhance customer satisfaction. Here are some of the key features of iVendNext Loyalty:

Rewards and Discounts: 

Customers earn points or receive discounts for their repeat business.

Special Incentives: 

Early access to sales, exclusive products, or free shipping.

Customer Retention: 

Helps businesses keep existing customers, which is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.

Data Collection: 

Provides businesses with valuable data on customer preferences and spending habits.

Loyalty Plan Types 

A loyalty program is a marketing strategy used by retailers to encourage customers to continue purchasing their products or services. These programs offer rewards, discounts, and other special incentives to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Please take note of the following Loyalty Plan types:

Points-Based: 

Customers earn points for purchases and can redeem them for rewards.

Tiered: 

Different levels of rewards are based on customer spending.

Paid Membership: 

Customers pay a fee to join and receive exclusive benefits.

Value-Based: 

Rewards are aligned with the company's values, such as charitable donations.

iVendNext allows you to create the following types of Loyalty Plan:

• Points-Based

• Tiered

Steps to create a Loyalty Plan in iVendNext 

A loyalty program is a marketing strategy used by retailers to encourage customers to continue purchasing their products and services. This is done to attract new customers and retain existing customers. The steps to create a Loyalty Plan in iVendNext are explained below:

Navigate to: Home > Loyalty. Then under the Loyalty Program section click on the Loyalty Plan shortcut. 

This will open the Loyalty Plan List View screen. 

Click on the Add Loyalty Plan button. This will take you to the New Loyalty Plan screen. Fill in the required information including the mandatory fields on the New Loyalty Plan screen. All the mandatory fields are marked with red asterisks.

Specify a name and code for the Loyalty Plan, select the Plan Type and then pick a Start Date. 

Once you have filled in the required information including the mandatory fields on the New Loyalty Plan screen click the Save button, to save the data and exit the screen. 

This will create a New Loyalty Plan and will start to appear on the Loyalty Plan List View screen. 

New Loyalty Plan Screen Explained 

The New Loyalty Plan screen is split into the following sections. 

• General

• Plan Details

• Applicable Stores

• Loyalty Exception Rule

General 

The various fields in this section are explained below:

Code

Specify a code for the loyalty plan. This code is unique and can comprise of 20 alphanumeric characters or less.

Description

Specify a description for the loyalty plan. This description can comprise of 50 alphanumeric characters or less.

Start Date

Pick a start date from the calendar pop up. The date is displayed in the MM/DD/YYYY format. The Loyalty Plan is set to begin from this date.

End Date

Pick an end date from the calendar pop up. The date is displayed in the MM/DD/YYYY format. The Loyalty Plan is set to end on this date.

Active

Check this box to mark the loyalty plan as active. Only active plans would be able to awards points at POS to loyalty customer

Loyalty Program

Select a Loyalty Program from the drop down list. In case you don’t see your preferred Loyalty Program in the list displayed, you can choose to create a new Loyalty Program by clicking on the option - Create a New Loyalty Setup.

Plan Type

Select a plan type from the drop-down list. Depending on the selected plan type, some existing fields may be removed, and new fields may appear. Valid values are:

Normal Plans: 

These plans are regular plans that are executed whenever a loyalty transaction occurs at the POS. There can be more than one normal plan active in the system.

Special Days Plans: 

These plans are those which get executed on special days defined in the system. There can be more than one special day plan active in the system. When this Plan Type is selected, an additional section for Special Days starts to appear on the New Loyalty Plan screen.

Special Days for Customers Plans: 

These plans are those which get executed on days which are special for the customer. For example, Customer’s birthdays or Customer’s anniversary etc. There can be more than one Special Days for Customer Plan active in the system. When this Plan Type is selected, additional fields to input Birth Date and Anniversary start to appear under the General section. 

Start Time

Enter the time from which the plan is applicable. By default midnight time is pre-populated.

End Time

Enter the time until which the plan will be active. 

Birth Date

Pick a Birth Date from the calendar pop up. The date is displayed in the MM/DD/YYYY format. This field is visible only when the Plan Type selected is Special Days For Customers.

Anniversary Date

Pick an Anniversary date from the calendar pop up. The date is displayed in the MM/DD/YYYY format. This field is visible only when the Plan Type selected is Special Days For Customers.

Plan Details 

This section of the New Loyalty Plan screen allows you to manage and control the settings around the Loyalty Plan. You will have to click on the Add Row button displayed below the Plan Details Template to add a new blank row. Then click on the Pencil symbol under the Gear icon to open the Editing Row screen. On the Editing Row screen you can specify the below information. 

Applicable

Select the option from the drop down list whether to include or exclude the Loyalty Plan.

Customer Type

When selecting the Customer Type for the loyalty plan, you can choose from the following options:

All:

Selecting "All" will execute the loyalty plan for all the loyalty customers as defined in this row.

Customer Code:

Choosing "Customer Code" will open the customer search screen when you click on the next field, "Customer Value." From there, you can select a specific customer for whom you wish to define this rule.

Customer Group:

Opting for "Customer Group" will open the customer group search screen when you click on the next field, "Customer Value." You can then select a customer group for whom you wish to define this rule.

Level

Select the Loyalty Level from the drop down list. In case you don't see your preferred Loyalty Level in the list displayed, you can choose to create one by clicking on the option - Create a New Loyalty Level

Criteria Group

The Criteria Group is used to define a plan for a selected group of customers based on different values. The valid values are:

All: 

Selecting "All" will apply the loyalty plan to all the criteria groups. This is the default value.

Item: 

Selecting Items will apply the loyalty plan to the item selected in the Criteria Value field.

Item Group: 

Selecting an Item Group will apply the loyalty plan to the Item Group selected in the Criteria Value field.

Promotion: 

Selecting Promotion will apply the loyalty plan to the promotion selected in the Criteria Value field.

Layaway: 

Selecting Layaway will apply the loyalty plan to the Layaway items selected in the Criteria Value field.

Bill Value: 

Selecting Bill Value will apply the loyalty plan to transactions with a bill value greater than or equal to the value specified in the Criteria Value field.

Bill Quantity: 

Selecting Bill Value will apply the loyalty plan to transactions with a quantity greater than or equal to the value specified in the Criteria Value field.

Criteria Value

This field is dynamically populated based on the selection made in the previous Criteria Group field.

Tender

Specify the payment type to be associated with this loyalty program. You can choose a tender type, such as Credit Card, Debit Card, or Cash if you wish to allocate points only when that particular payment method is used for a loyalty transaction.

Calculation Basis

This field allows the user to specify the basis on which the points are calculated and awarded. The valid values are:

Amount: 

If Amount is selected the system calculates the points based on the bill amount value specified in the Calculation Value column. The Amount option is not available when Bill Quantity is selected in the Criteria Group column.

Quantity: 

If Quantity selected then the system calculates the points based on the quantity value specified in the Calculation Value column. The Quantity option is not available when Bill Value is selected in the Criteria Group column.

Calculation On

This field allows the user to specify the calculation criteria. The valid values are:

Every:

When the "Every" option is chosen, points are given for each instance of the specified value in the Criteria Value column. For example, if the Calculation Basis is "Amount," the Calculated On is "Every," and the value in the Calculation Value column is 100, then for every 100 currency units spent by the customer, the system will award points or currency as specified in the Award Value column.

Greater or Equal:

If the "Greater or Equal" option is selected, points are awarded when the transaction value is greater than or equal to the value specified in the Calculation Value column.

Calculation Value

This field is used to specify a numeric value based on which the points would be calculated and awarded based on the value selected in the Calculation Basis field. 

Award

This field allows the user to select the Reward Type from a drop-down list. The valid values are: 

Point: 

When "Point" is selected, the customer will always be awarded loyalty points. 

Currency: 

When "Currency" is selected, the customer will always be awarded currency units. 

Award Value

Specify the number of points or currency units that the customer should be awarded when they qualify for rewards.

Applicable Stores 

This section of the New Loyalty Plan screen allows you to select a Store(s). You will have to click on the Add Row button displayed below the Applicable Stores Template to add a new blank row. Then click on the Pencil symbol under the Gear icon to open the Editing Row screen. On the Editing Row screen you can specify the below information. 

Store

Select the Store from the drop down list. In case you don't see your preferred Store in the list displayed, you can choose to create one by clicking on the option - Create a New Warehouse. A Warehouse is known as a Store in iVendNext.

Loyalty Exception Rule 

Predefined exception rules are provided on this screen that will exclude all items configured in the loyalty plan if they fall under the exception rule. The exception rules are:

Exclude all items on promotion: 

All items marked as promotional in the retail database shall not be considered for points/currency award even if they appear in the loyalty scheme.

Exclude all items with discount override: 

All items that are allowed for a discount override in the retail database shall not be considered for points/currency award even if they appear in the loyalty scheme.

Exclude all items with discount greater than X percent: 

All items that have already been given a discount (greater than X percent) in the retail database shall not be considered for points/currency award even if they appear in the loyalty scheme. However, when a discount percentage is specified in the exclusion list, items having a lesser discount shall be considered during award of rewards. For example, consider an item ITM001 which has a discount of 10% and ITM002 that has a discount of 5%. If a value of 6% is specified in the exclusion list then ITM002 shall be considered during points/currency award while ITM001 shall be ignored as the discount percentage is greater than 6%.

Exclude all items with price override: 

All items that are allowed for a price override at the point of sale (POS) shall not be considered for points/currency award even if they appear in the loyalty scheme.

Exclude all items with price override greater than X amount: 

All items that are allowed for a price override greater than X amount, at the point of sale (POS) shall not be considered for points/currency award even if they appear in the loyalty scheme. However, when a price amount is specified in the exclusion list, items having a lesser price shall be considered during award of rewards. For example consider an item ITM003 which has a price USD 200, override price USD 250 and ITM004 that has a price USD 400, override price USD 420. If a value of USD 40 is specified in the exclusion list then ITM004 shall be considered during points/currency award while ITM003 shall be ignored as the override price difference (USD 250- USD 200 = USD 50) is greater than value set as USD 40.

Enroll a Customer in a Loyalty Program 

The steps to enroll a Customer in a Loyalty Program are as follows:

Navigate to: Home > Selling. Then under the Selling section click on the Customer shortcut. This will open the Customer List View screen. 

Search your Customer you want to enroll for a Loyalty Program.

Under the Details Tab, check the following boxes:

• Loyalty Member

• Loyalty Notification

Then select a Loyalty Program from the drop down list.

Click the Save button to save the changes and exit the screen.

On the Loyalty Info Screen you will be able to see the Loyalty - Current Level and Loyalty - Available Points.