With coronavirus cases increasing and new shutdowns starting, consumers are continuing to demand contactless services that they can use with ease. Most Americans have used contactless services including curbside pickups and delivery options, and 86% expect local businesses to continue offering these services, even after the pandemic. Additionally, nearly eight in 10 consumers say they use contactless payments.
With the market for contactless options growing, the expectation for digital incentives is right around the corner. More than half of Americans have purchased from a local business for the first time due to their pandemic-friendly services. Missing out on that kind of traction by not switching to contactless incentives is a serious, and unnecessary, risk for your business. Partnering with Entertainment® can help your company enhance, or create, an incentive program with contactless possibilities.
The Advantage of Contactless Incentives
As the holidays approach, the consumer focus is on keeping small businesses in their local community afloat. All over social media you see people posting looking for ways to help local mom-and-pop shops. Some consumers have vowed to only shop local this holiday season while others are planning to buy gift cards for local restaurants and other businesses that may be temporarily shut down due to government orders.
This new trend towards supporting small businesses combined with the adaptation of contactless services has created the ideal market for introducing locally based contactless incentives as part of your incentive program. With the largest discount network in North America, Entertainment® can offer digital incentive options to connect consumers to numerous local establishments throughout their cities. Whether your incentives are aimed at members or customers, you can implement contactless options for receiving and redeeming them with a customizable Entertainment® acquisition solution.
The statistics highlight just how advantageous a contactless incentive program can be. Not only are contactless options utilized, but they are also expected, and can even draw more consumers to your business. Of the 57% of Americans who have purchased from a business for the first time due to their contactless options, 92% said they are also likely to return to this business post-coronavirus.
You must also take into consideration the 43% of Americans who said they avoided local businesses who didn’t offer contactless and other pandemic-friendly services, choosing instead to purchase from a competitor. So, not only do contactless options attract new customers and increase retention levels, but failing to include these services could hurt your business.
Introduce Contactless Incentives with Entertainment®
If your business is looking to add digital incentives to draw in more consumers or members, you should dive into the loyalty and engagement solutions offered by Entertainment®. Individualized solutions are offered that can include premium benefits in dining, shopping, travel, attractions, and online discounts. Aside from offering custom programs for business, working with Entertainment® also gives you access to more local businesses and opportunities than any other discount provider.
When you partner with Entertainment® you can not only offer national incentives to attract more consumers, you can also personalize your digital incentives program by providing location-specific rewards. This allows you to tap into the current consumer desire to support small, local businesses, while still enticing them to shop with you or become a part of your membership program. Among the customized offerings, there’s also an incentive option that is already prepped to be contactless: The Entertainment® Dining Advantage® Program.
The Dining Advantage® Incentive
Dining Advantage® is a low-cost, high-value way to reward your customers for desirable behavior, upsell your products and services to consumers, or incentivize subscription and membership renewals. It utilizes the Entertainment® restaurant network, which is the largest in the country and includes over 55,000 restaurants and 100,000 offers to choose from.
But aside from the vast possibilities Dining Advantage® offers, the real value it brings to the current market is the contactless feature. The incentive is offered to consumers as a card or a digital code. Either option allows your customers to receive the incentive without direct contact, whether by mailing them the card or emailing them the code. This gives consumers a contactless way to receive the incentive, as well as contactless redemption of the incentive.
Dining Advantage® can be used as a contactless incentive to try a product, join a program, or start a membership. It is a consumer-oriented incentive that offers real value, allowing users to easily save money. Besides the savings, this product leverages relationships with thousands of local eateries, as well as regional and national restaurants, to give consumers extensive options to save on dining out.
This is a great benefit for your customers or members, who get great discounts, but it’s also beneficial to you. Whenever they use a Dining Advantage® card or code, they’ll think of your business or brand, especially if you choose the option to co-brand this offering. That constant reminder that you’re helping them save money leaves a lasting positive image of your brand and breeds customer loyalty, and loyal consumers generate more referrals and lead to increased profits.
By partnering with Entertainment® and utilizing the Dining Advantage® incentive program, your business can attract the growing market seeking contactless options, as well as appeal to those that want to help struggling local restaurants dependent on consumers using their contactless services. You’ll be able to leverage the thousands of relationships Dining Advantage® has with local businesses to offer hyper-localized discounts within your incentive program.
Offering a digital incentive that allows contactless redemption and can help local restaurants will help your business attract new consumers or members, giving you a low-cost option that helps your bottom line. Contact us to learn more about how the Entertainment® rewards and incentives program can help your business.
Sources:
Podium. (2020). The State of Local Business.
Mastercard Content Exchange. (2020). Mastercard Study Shows Consumers Globally Make the Move to Contactless Payments for Everyday Purchases, Seeking Touch-Free Payment Experiences.
