Black Friday to Supercharge Drop Loyalty App

The free app targets the not-so-brand-loyal millennial shopper (only 6.5% consider themselves brand loyal – SmarterHQ 2017). It lets users link their debit/credit cards to automatically earn points for purchases, in addition to gaining points on their existing loyalty programmes.

In-app, users select five favourite retailers they shop with regularly from a list of partnering brands – currently including Amazon, Nike, Starbucks, Sephora, Zara and Walmart – to receive points on an ongoing basis. Additionally, they'll receive weekly offers tailored to individual users based on dynamic time-based data gathered by Drop (see also Reflexive Retail, part of our Liquid Retail Industry Trend). These data points include past purchases, location and social media interactions, where visible.

There is also a machine-learning component: the same data underpins a member's profile and predicts what brands they'll be interested in – presenting users with retailers they may not have considered before. The Drop intends to use the Black Friday spending surge (specifically the data that comes with it) to amplify its personalisation power.

Points can be redeemed for gift vouchers to be spent at the partner brands' stores (online or in-store), accessed via the Reward section of the app. For example, if the points are exchanged for an Amazon gift card, users will receive a redemption code by email, which they can add to their Amazon account.

For more loyalty initiatives, see Supercharged Loyalty Schemes, Rebooting Loyalty Programmes and Thrifty Millennials Turn to Refund Apps. Look out for our new analysis of the loyalty landscape, publishing in January 2019.