5 Steps to Building an Omnichannel Loyalty Strategy

Rachel loved shopping at your store—until she didn’t.

She was excited when she signed up for your loyalty program, eager to earn rewards for her purchases. She made her first online order, received points instantly, and looked forward to using them in-store.

But when she visited your store the following week, things didn’t go as planned.

The cashier had no record of her points. Rachel checked her app—there they were. The cashier suggested she call customer service. Frustrated, Rachel left empty-handed.

She never returned.

This is what happens when loyalty programs operate in silos—when online, in-store, and mobile systems don’t communicate. Customers expect a seamless, connected experience, where their rewards follow them wherever they shop. This is omnichannel loyalty.

An omnichannel loyalty strategy ensures that:

✅ Customers can earn and redeem rewards effortlessly—whether they shop online, in-store, or through an app.
✅ Every interaction is personalized and consistent, no matter the channel.
✅ Engagement feels frictionless, with loyalty seamlessly integrated into their shopping journey.

With the right technology, like SAP Emarsys, your business can create a loyalty experience that strengthens customer relationships, drives repeat purchases, and keeps shoppers engaged long-term. In this article, we’re going to show you how to set this powerful process into motion.

Rachel’s experience could have been different.

Imagine if, the moment she signed up, she received a personalized welcome email with clear details on how to earn and redeem rewards anywhere—online, in-store, or through the app. Imagine if, when she visited the store, the cashier simply scanned her loyalty wallet and her points were updated in real time. No frustration. No lost customer.

This is the power of omnichannel loyalty done right—and SAP Emarsys makes it possible.

Let’s walk through how you can create a seamless, personalized, and effective loyalty program that keeps customers engaged across every touchpoint.

Step 1: Setting Up a Retail Loyalty Program in SAP Emarsys

A strong omnichannel loyalty program starts with a solid foundation. Here’s how to set up your SAP Emarsys Loyalty platform for success:

✅ Define Your Loyalty Tiers & Benefits

• Will you have multiple levels (e.g., Bronze, Silver, Gold)?
• What perks will customers get at each stage (e.g., discounts, early access, exclusive offers)?

✅ Customize Your Rewards System

• Choose whether customers earn points based on purchases, actions, or engagement.
• Define how they can redeem points—discounts, free products, or VIP access?

✅ Seamless Multi-Channel Integration

• Ensure loyalty points sync in real-time across your website, mobile app, and in-store systems.
• Enable Loyalty Wallets that allow customers to track and redeem rewards wherever they shop.

By setting up a clear, easy-to-understand loyalty structure, you’ll make it effortless for customers like Rachel to engage and stay loyal.

Step 2: Engaging Customers with Personalized Loyalty Experiences

Once your loyalty program is live, the next step is to get customers excited and engaged.

Here’s how:

🎯 Personalized Welcome Offers

• The moment Rachel signs up, she gets a welcome email with an exclusive discount.
• A push notification reminds her to redeem her first reward—creating an instant connection.

📱 Loyalty Wallet for Seamless Access

• Whether Rachel is shopping online, in-app, or in-store, she can see her points, track progress, and redeem rewards in one place.

🚀 Incentivize Key Actions

• Reward customers for referring friends, writing reviews, or engaging with the brand.
• For example, Rachel gets 50 bonus points when she shares your store on social media.

A fully connected, personalized experience means customers see value in every interaction, keeping them engaged for the long haul.

Step 3: Using data to reward customer engagement

A great loyalty program doesn’t just track purchases—it understands and anticipates customer behavior to deliver meaningful rewards. With SAP Emarsys, businesses can leverage data to create a loyalty experience that feels personal and valuable.

📊 Track real-time customer behavior

• Monitor purchases, in-store visits, and online interactions to understand each customer’s preferences.
• Use data-driven insights to tailor rewards based on individual shopping habits.

💡 Create dynamic, personalized rewards

• Offer exclusive bonuses for VIP customers based on their spending habits.
• Automatically adjust loyalty tiers based on engagement, ensuring customers always have a reason to stay active.

🔄 Automate reward distribution

• Use smart automation to trigger rewards at the right moment, such as a birthday discount or a reward for repeat purchases.
• Enable real-time updates, so customers always have the latest information on their loyalty status and available rewards.

By leveraging customer data effectively, your loyalty program becomes more than just a point system—it becomes a personalized experience that builds emotional connections with customers.

Step 4: Automating loyalty actions and promotions

Now that you have a data-driven engagement strategy, it’s time to streamline and automate your loyalty program to maximize efficiency. Automation ensures that customers receive timely, relevant rewards without requiring manual intervention.

⚡ Trigger-based rewards

• Set up automatic reward triggers for customer actions such as first purchases, referrals, or birthdays.
• Ensure customers feel valued at every step of their journey.

📢 Personalized promotions

• Send custom loyalty offers based on past behavior—like double points on a customer’s favorite product category.
• Deliver exclusive VIP rewards for high-spending customers.

🔁 Seamless omnichannel execution

• Ensure promotions and rewards are consistent across all channels, whether it’s email, SMS, in-app, or in-store.
• Prevent customer frustration by syncing loyalty data in real-time across platforms.

By automating loyalty actions and promotions, businesses can create a scalable and efficient loyalty system that continuously engages and rewards customers without added manual work.

Step 5: Tracking performance and optimizing loyalty strategies

Your loyalty program is live, automated, and engaging customers—but how do you know it’s working? To ensure long-term success, businesses must track performance, measure customer retention, and optimize loyalty strategies.

📈 Monitor key performance metrics

• Track customer retention rates, redemption rates, and repeat purchase behavior.
• Measure the impact of loyalty promotions and identify trends in customer engagement.

🔍 A/B test loyalty offers

• Experiment with different types of rewards, promotions, and messaging to see what resonates most with customers.
• Test tier-based incentives, limited-time offers, and personalized discounts to maximize program success.

♻️ Continuously optimize the loyalty experience

• Use customer feedback and data insights to refine loyalty tiers, rewards, and engagement strategies.
• Adapt your program based on customer preferences and emerging industry trends.

A well-optimized omnichannel loyalty program isn’t static—it evolves based on real-time data and customer behavior. By continually improving and adapting, your loyalty strategy will remain a powerful tool for customer retention and business growth.

A seamless, data-driven, and automated omnichannel loyalty program can be a game-changer for your business. With SAP Emarsys, you can deliver personalized experiences, automate engagement, and continuously optimize your strategy to build deeper customer connections and drive long-term loyalty.

🚀 Ready to take your loyalty program to new omnichannel heights? Book a demo with SAP Emarsys today and see how you can transform customer retention through smart, omnichannel loyalty strategies.