How do you measure the effectiveness of your loyalty management system? The Forrester Wave Loyalty Technology Solutions, Q1 2023 report is here with an answer. Gathering the industry’s most significant loyalty technology solution vendors, this report shows us which providers matter most. What are the main criteria that Forrester evaluated its participants on? And what can this report teach us about the characteristics of the top loyalty software providers? Let’s dive into it.

What is a Forrester Wave Loyalty Technology Solutions, Q1 2023 report?

The Forrester Wave Loyalty Technology Solutions, Q1 2023 is a thorough, 28-criterion evaluation of the most significant loyalty technology solution providers on the market. It provides insight into the most successful initiatives and critical features that enable their capability, evaluating the 12 most significant players and dividing them into leaders, strong performers, contenders, and challengers. It’s a guide for B2C marketing decision-makers looking for loyalty program software tailored to their brand’s needs.

Top loyalty management software providers – Key features

Based on the criteria in Forrester’s assessment, here’s a rundown of Comarch’s loyalty program features that we believe are shown to turn a loyalty solution into a success:

Zero-party data

Data obtained directly from users is the most valuable type of information about customers (due to the trustworthiness of its source). And without knowing your members, creating an effective loyalty program has a low chance of working. That’s why the best customer loyalty software focuses on gathering this information via member attributes, pop-up quizzes, questionnaires, contests, and online polls.

Also important is having a plethora of methods to collect zero-party data and the ability to adapt the customer data model and data sources at any point in time by business users – no IT knowledge  required. These tools enable assembling any data point to target members with more personalized promotions.

Rewards/benefits management

The best loyalty program software uses personalized incentives to boost customer engagement – but the rewards themselves are not enough to stand out from the competition. A high-quality solution is also about the complete customer experience and the ability to recognize their special status or engage them through non-financial benefits such as gamification. Supporting every possible rewarding mechanism, from cashback through points and rewards programs with a large variety of rewards and burn functionalities for members (cashback, vouchers, lotteries, auctions, charity donations, or gifts), gamified engagement to tiers and statuses.

Emotional loyalty measurement

Behavioral loyalty metrics are not enough to fully understand customers’ behavior. Loyalty program platforms need to combine them with the measurement of emotional loyalty to understand the “why” behind the numbers. – as Comarch Loyalty Management does. CLM uses multiple metrics for stipulating the levels of customer satisfaction.

Referral program management

Key loyalty software features include strong customer referral program management that capitalizes on existing members’ positive experiences. This functionality lets you create a customer referral program that stands out – allowing segmentation of referrals, incentivization of both new and existing users, as well as fake account prevention. It’s characteristics like those that make Comarch’s solution the 4th best on the market, according to Forrester.

Community engagement

The strength of a vendor’s customer community translates to the strength of their solution. Comarch focuses on fully digitalizing our growing client base by implementing a Learning Management System backbone structured around three main pillars:

1. Loyalty Marketing Academy: An e-learning course for marketing practitioners focused on gaining knowledge as well as designing and running loyalty marketing programs.

2. Customer community: An online space exclusive for Comarch customers that features 50+ product and strategy-related channels (discussion groups), recognition for most active contributors, and industry-oriented sessions moderated by Comarch and industry experts.

3. Partner community: A closed community and portal dedicated to different types of official partners.

“As Head of R&D of our loyalty products, I’m thrilled with Comarch’s recognition in Forrester Wave. Loyalty is becoming mainstream and growing fast. We need new business models and simplified delivery/integration in martech ecosystems. In these difficult times of financial instability, it’s essential to focus on customer loyalty through great experience, personalization, and providing significant value to loyal consumers. Our AI-based marketing platform and wide range of business services makes it much easier for marketers. We’re here to support you at every step of the journey, from building strategy to day-to-day operations.”

– says Łukasz Słoniewski, Head of R&D – Loyalty & Marketing Solutions at Comarch.

The Future of loyalty marketing

The Forrester Wave: Loyalty Technology Solutions Q1 2023 report gives us insight into the direction the loyalty landscape is headed. Considering the challenges and needs faced by B2C marketing decision-makers, this evaluation shows the most critical pain points of customers looking for the best loyalty management software for their business. Forrester sets the bar high – its conditions for being included among its top loyalty vendors list are extensive and often, in our opinion, difficult to meet, but that’s what makes this profile so worthwhile. With the features, functionalities, and offerings mentioned above, Comarch is constantly pushing to not only fulfill but also exceed those expectations.

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