Survey reveals current state of exclusive promotions and programs
Eugene, OR — January 26, 2017 — With discounts and loyalty programs at an all time high, eligibility verification solution SheerID, is today releasing survey findings from 76 companies nationwide looking at how they are offering exclusive promotions and what impacts those promotions have on their bottom lines.
On par with the industry as a whole, the survey data showed that promotions and discounts are a driving force behind many customer loyalty programs. Even though a reported 75% of companies sacrifice margins to offer exclusive discounts, the survey found that over 84% of companies plan to offer promotions in 2017, with 64% already offering or planning to offer exclusive promotions to customers such as students, teachers, and military members.
“This survey confirmed some facts that we know to be true: Customers shop for discounts, and to win their business, brands are willing to sacrifice margins,” said Jake Weatherly, CEO of SheerID. “What you don’t want to see are brands that suffer extensive margin erosion due to discount fraud when customers who aren’t eligible for exclusive offers lie to gain access to those deals.”
63% of the businesses surveyed noted that they offer their promotions year-around online (68%), in-stores (39%), and on mobile devices (37%), however, the data also showed that the majority of these companies verify their customers through coupon codes, email, or by manually checking ID’s, all of which are highly vulnerable to fraud. This is precisely why SheerID is continuing to perfect it’s own hosted solutions.
“We created our verification technology to address a variety of challenges that businesses encounter when creating exclusive programs, one major one being the inability to authenticate someone’s credentials online. Verification technology is a virtual ID check that creates a seamless process for the customer, as well as provides peace of mind to the business,” explains Weatherly.
Of the ⅓ of brands that indicated that they are not offering exclusive deals to their customers, the majority noted their primary reasons for not doing so were not having enough time, a lack of IT resources, slim margins, and the risk of discount fraud. When asked if they would be more likely to offer exclusive promotions if they knew only qualified customers were receiving them, nearly half said yes.
SheerID’s solutions span a variety of customer groups, including students, educators, military personnel, employees, and associations and is trusted by customers including Spotify, Amazon, Tommy Hilfiger and hundreds of others.
For more information about SheerID, please visit https://www.sheerid.com or follow @SheerID on Twitter or Facebook at www.facebook.com/SheerIDdotcom.
About SheerID
SheerID’s instant eligibility verification solutions ensure margin and profit protection for enterprise and SMB clients while also making personalized marketing programs scaleable. By instantly verifying consumers’ eligibility against authoritative data, SheerID delivers a seamless customer experience without interrupting the shopping process. Backed by Voyager Capital, the SheerID verification solution helps clients, including Spotify, The PGA TOUR, and Foot Locker, protect their exclusive offers to high value customer segments such as military, students, and teachers. Verification is available across multiple channels, including online, in-store, via mobile device, or over the phone, all while still keeping customer information safe and secure. SheerID’s verification services can be configured for any e-commerce website, internal customer sales/support system, mobile application, or POS system.
