Why Customers Don't Feel Appreciated...

In this episode of the Chew on This podcast, host Ash Melwani interviews Mike, the co-founder and CEO of Smile, about strategies for e-commerce brands to move away from relying heavily on discounts and instead build customer loyalty and improve profitability. Mike shares insights on how brands can use rewards programs to appreciate customers, segment them into tiers, and offer exclusive experiences, rather than just providing discounts. He emphasizes the importance of thinking about attributed profit rather than just attributed value in marketing campaigns and suggests tactics like double points events and airdropping points to top customers. The discussion covers integrating loyalty programs into pre-purchase strategies, using them to bridge the gap between online and retail channels, and empowering customer service agents to issue points for customer satisfaction, all aimed at creating a healthier, more profitable business model.