Australian retailer Adore Beauty has upgraded its loyalty program to better match its new omnichannel offering and meet the demands of the modern beauty consumer – an individual who enjoys shopping across brands and categories. “There is never a bad time to be looking at improving customer experience,” Jeremy Eaton, head of loyalty and acquisition at Adore Beauty, told Inside Retail. “We’re in a key growth phase as a business, becoming an omnichannel retailer, and we want to delive
deliver a consistently best-in-class experience across all our touchpoints,” he continued.
Adore launched its first loyalty program, Adore Society, in February 2023. The program followed a three-tier system that rewarded customers with birthday or anniversary vouchers, free express delivery on minimum spends, rewards for friend referrals, member-only promotions and ‘money can’t buy’ experiences.
“While our initial loyalty program, Adore Society, drove great traction in our subscriber base, we wanted to make the value of the program clearer and much easier to redeem for our customers by creating a more streamlined and simplified experience. One that better equipped them to make choices that were right for them as individuals,” Eaton said.
It has become conventional wisdom in retail that loyalty is essential for brands to maintain stability in a fluctuating market. Moreover, loyal customers act as an extension of the marketing funnel, amplifying word-of-mouth marketing and providing genuine feedback.
When executed correctly, loyalty programs can go beyond customer retention – they can strengthen customer relationships, drive revenue growth and generate valuable data for personalized marketing.
Rewarding with beauty
The relaunch of Adore’s loyalty program, now known as Adore Rewards, was a direct response to the retailer’s understanding of how much its customers value tangible and easily accessible rewards in exchange for their online and in-store loyalty.
The new program offers Adore Beauty customers more value than the retailer’s previous loyalty program.
“As Adore Beauty’s portfolio of brands and products expands, customers can shop across a wider range of categories – from cosmeceutical skincare to supplements and everything in between,” Eaton said.
“Our new ‘Spend & Earn’ offer, A$20 for every A$250 spent, directly encourages that behaviour and rewards customers for consolidating their beauty and wellbeing shopping experience with us,” he added.
A standout addition to Adore Beauty’s revamped loyalty program is its four complimentary full-sized rewards per year, where members can select a free product of their choice.
This choose-your-gift approach separates Adore Beauty’s loyalty program from Mecca’s program, which gifts members Beauty Loop boxes. However, customers don’t know what’s inside the boxes until they redeem their rewards online or in-store.
“We all love a freebie, but we also know our customers don’t like getting a free product that isn’t right for them,” Eaton explained.
“We’ve designed our product offer with choice in mind – including full-size options – working with our network of incredible brands to offer genuine value and variety for our customers.”
Adore Beauty will work with its stable of stocked brands to offer its loyalty members the ability to select their preferred full-sized product quarterly.
The new program is part of Adore Beauty’s three-year strategy to promote loyalty among its existing customers and future customers.
“At the heart of Adore Beauty’s DNA is recognising that beauty is best when it’s personal and authentic to each individual,” said Adore Beauty’s CEO, Sacha Laing.
“This program captures that philosophy by directly giving our customers the power to spend their Rewards how they choose,” he added.
The launch of Adore Rewards comes four months after the previously pureplay retailer opened the doors to its first two bricks-and-mortar stores in Melbourne. Adore Beauty are set to open two more stores in Perth very soon and have plans to expand its footprint to 25 stores across Australia.
“The program is designed to grow and adapt for our many customers who shop between online, app or at one of our stores,” Eaton said.
“The UX improvements around Adore Rewards for app users mean customers can easily access their rewards balance, making it easy to know how much they have to redeem, no matter where they are checking out.”