Marketing
Tanger Outlets takes digital-first strategy in loyalty program revamp
The company has refreshed its TangerClub loyalty program and launched a new app that puts loyalty rewards and information in the customer’s hand.
August 3, 2023 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
Tanger Outlets, which manages 37 open-air shopping centers in 20 states and Canada and whose centers are leased to over 2,700 stores operated by more than 600 different brand-name companies, is all about elevating the retail customer experience.
That's what drove the strategy to refresh its TangerClub loyalty program, with a digital-first focus, and an all-new consumer app.
Both strategies are aimed at empowering brand connections and optimizing the guest experience.
"Tanger has been innovating improvements to the shopping experience for more than 40 years, and reimagining our loyalty program was an important next step in our ability to provide the best experience for our guests and to more thoughtfully serve our retail partners," Andrew Wingrove, EVP, chief commercial officer at Tanger, said in an email interview.
The TangerClub loyalty program is powered by Coniq, a provider of customer engagement and loyalty solutions for shopping centers and retail destinations. Coniq's platform will let Tanger improve its ability to support retail partners with more access to customer preferences, patterns and spend, and leverage these insights to drive customer engagement.
Existing "insiders" and TangerClub members have been automatically enrolled in Tanger's new program at a corresponding level to their current engagement.
"Our new loyalty program empowers our guests to engage with their favorite brands at our shopping centers in a more personal and intuitive way, which in turn provides us with deep and meaningful visibility into our guests' spend preferences and patterns. Together with our retail partners, we can use these insights to better target and personalize offers for our guests, which helps to create a better shopping experience and drive more frequent and impactful visits," said Wingrove.
The news comes at a time when retailers are working harder than ever to retain customers while luring in new customers. And that's no easy feat given that 71% of consumers made at least one brand switch in the past year, according to the most recent Salesforce State of the Connected Customer survey. Among those shoppers, 48% said they switched for better customer service, 44% for convenience and 34% because of changing needs or expectations.
Why digital first is so important
A digital-first and personalized approach not only benefits the customer but allows Tanger to use customer insights and experience to inform the future of shopping and lets Tanger personalize via an understanding of customer preferences and behavior.
"Our vision is to use customer insights and experience to inform the future of shopping, and taking a digital-first approach allows us to personalize the Tanger shopping experience through an understanding of customer preferences and behavior," said Wingrove.
"By moving our program onto a highly capable digital platform, we now have visibility into our guests' past purchases, in-app browsing history and nearest center location. With these insights, we're able to present guests with the most relevant offers and recommendations based on their preferences. We also can make this data available to our retail partners to help them more efficiently and effectively engage with our center customers as well."
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| Andrew Wingrove |
Rebuilding the loyalty program with a digital-first approach provides the efficiencies and insights needed to achieve this level of personalization, according to Wingrove.
The approach, he added, is "vital to driving customer loyalty and engagement."
Such an approach, as shared in a blog from Elissa Quinby, senior director of retail insights at Quantum Metricis, is critical and data plays an invaluable role. "Not only do they [retailers] need to anticipate the customer's needs before they do, but they also need to provide cost-effective solutions. When brands are able to understand how customers interact with them and why, they can optimize and improve the outcomes across all the micro-experiences within the digital journey. And making decisions about where to begin optimizing starts with leveraging data," she wrote.
Where the app plays in
With Tanger Outlet's new app shoppers can more easily find and use digital offers that are tailored to their interests and contextual to their Tanger location.
"The new app offers our customers a better connection to their favorite retailers. Customers want to feel a connection to the retailers they shop with and prefer a shopping experience that's more personalized and intuitive for them. While most loyalty programs give broad, arbitrary discounts that guests must sort through to find something relevant, Tanger shoppers have access to their favorite brands right at their fingertips…literally," said Wingrove.
The app provides a direct connection to the loyalty account so offers are right on customers' smartphones.
"With our innovative loyalty program, shoppers now have the convenience of accessing their accounts and exclusive offers directly on their smartphones. This user-friendly approach allows our guests to effortlessly check out the latest deals and promotions from their favorite stores and easily redeem them with just a few simple taps," he said.
Taking a subscription approach
The company has also moved its customer service offering to a digital messaging service that gives guests real-time information and responses to requests.
Loyalty members are rewarded any time they shop, play or dine at Tanger's centers. The latest center, a new Nashville location, is opening this fall, according to a press release.
The loyalty program features three tiers: Blue, which only requires an email and provides points on purchases; Gold, which provides access to elevated retailer offers and double points per dollar spent, and Platinum, which provides the best retailer offers and triple points once a spending threshold has been hit.
The subscription strategy, also new, lets Tanger reinvest a portion of the subscription fee into providing an even more differentiated experience, according to Wingrove.
"This approach was designed to offer our "Blue" tier customers a more personalized and user-friendly experience at no cost to them," said Wingrove. "At the same time, collecting subscription fees helps us tailor an even more unique and personalized experience for guests who are invested in shopping at Tanger. Taken together, our tiered approach allows us to directly engage and cultivate a relationship with a wide range of our guests, while rewarding them for increasing levels of engagement."
Loyalty strategy insight
In building, or revamping as in Tanger's scenario, retailers should follow two philosophies, said Wingrove. Those are: Don't fix what's not broken and listen to the shopper.
"While numerous companies have received criticism for removing beloved perks from their customer loyalty programs during a digital transition, the primary objective of our own program transformation has been to raise the bar on our guests' experience," he said.
Retailers need to stay focused on delivering a first-class customer experience, said Wingrove, and shape loyalty programs based on the feedback and desires of guests.
"We have delivered a more rewarding and intuitive program that caters precisely to our customers' needs and preferences, meeting them right where they are. This is exactly what we accomplished at Tanger, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive."
About Judy Mottl
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