2015 was named ‘Year of the Millennial Consumer’ by Forbes magazine, and certainly with good reason. As the largest generation in world history they are soon predicted to have the largest purchasing power in the consumer market – more than the boomers! These are the consumers businesses need to be appealing to, so knowing a thing or two about them is worth your while.

So you’ve got a loyalty scheme – that’s great. But what type of loyalty scheme will appeal to this new generation of millennial consumers? It’s important to lock them into brand loyalty early on so your business can see financial profits later. Here are a few tips from the Trezoro team that’ll help your business do just that:

Go paperless. The Millennial consumers are mobile obsessed. They grew up with technology, so naturally they are mobile experts. Ease of use and convenience is not only desired – it’s expected. You can’t rely on this generation to go fishing through their wallet to find that flimsy stamp card they got two weeks ago – because they just won’t. With the introduction of new technology like Google Wallet and Apple Pay, the mobile will act as a wallet entirely and eventually defeat their purpose. Your loyalty scheme should most definitely be digital to avoid extinction.

Make it fun. This may sounds silly, but its true. Millennial consumers are drawn to loyalty schemes that feature a competitive aspect. Take this statistic for example: 27% of millennials continue using a loyalty program because it features elements like leaderboards, badges or levels. Only 7% of baby boomers feel the same. This is a serious gap and just goes to show how drastically consumer preferences are changing among generations. Consider adding to your loyalty scheme features that let consumers track their progress and give rewards to acknowledge achievement as they reach certain levels.

Add a social element: Millennials are a generation that seeks approval from others, especially their friends. Socializing and consuming are done simultaneously so a friend’s opinion is likely to influence their own. Consider linking your loyalty scheme to different social media platforms so these consumers can share their progress with their followers on applications like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. This option will satisfy the millennials desire for social approval, while spreading brand awareness for your business. Everyone wins!

Photo from: vicimediainc