To be able to run any Loyalty Program it is important to have access to the transaction data of the partners. Many companies have systems through which the purchases and sales done by channel partners are tracked. But in quite a few industries access to this data is missing as there is no visibility of the transactions beyond the primary sales done by the company. Absence of data is also an issue with any influencer based programs as there usually is no access to the data of purchases influenced by them. To run loyalty programs in these cases, transaction data generation/collection needs to be integrated into the program itself. In this article we take a look at a few methods to do that.
· Through Sales Force
One of the desired qualities in a sales team is having regular interactions with the top channel partners or influencers. By providing technology solutions where the data can be entered easily, transaction data can be generated which is already validated by the Sales team. Another round of centralised validation can be added to make the system more fool proof.
· Through Suppliers
Usually first level suppliers who purchase directly from the company have more closer relationship with the company which are also contractual in nature. Suppliers also tend to be bigger concerns with more acceptance of tech based solutions. Giving the suppliers a web or mobile interface to enter their sales data can serve the purpose of generating the transactional data. Having an approval workflow for the sales team in this case is advisable.
· Through Partners
In most cases however, it is better to put the onus of sharing the transaction data on the partners themselves. There are many different options of doing this, listed below.
o Using technology
In industries or programs where the technology acceptance among the partners is high, it is better to provide them with a web or mobile app based interface to record their purchases along with the necessary proofs. The data collected can be validated by the suppliers or sales team or through a central validation process.
o Using Product packaging
Using a unique identifier for each product shipped is the starting point for this approach. The identifier (random code, bar code, etc) needs to be printed in an area where it would be used by the partner only. Partners will be instructed to share the details of these identifiers through SMS, Mobile App or through passbooks. This approach is specially recommended for industries which do not have very high volume of goods purchased.
o Using coupons
In cases where none of the previous approaches would work, the final method is to send out printed coupons to suppliers and instruct the partners to collect the coupons and share the details. This is the most rudimentary approach and is fraught with issues in handling and tracking the coupons.
It would take great amount of analysis and hearing out all possible stakeholders to come up with the most appropriate approach for a given requirement. If you need help from experts like us who have experience in running programs using all these methods, do drop a message through the form in the following link.
https://www.channelplay.in/india/loyalty-programs
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