A regular customer at a garden centre has been collecting loyalty points for a year. She wants to use them for a new set of garden furniture but is unsure how: Can I use points online? Do they expire? Can I combine them with the summer sale? She cannot find the answers on the website and feels annoyed that a scheme meant to reward her is so confusing.
Loyalty and voucher questions come from a shop's best customers. Answering them well keeps them loyal.
Why these questions matter
Loyalty members are usually a retailer's most frequent shoppers. When they cannot understand the scheme, frustration builds. A confusing scheme can do more harm than no scheme at all. Store vouchers raise similar questions, as restaurants know from voucher and gift card questions from restaurant guests.
What shoppers ask about loyalty
- How do I join?
- How do I earn points?
- How do I use them?
- Do points expire?
- Can I use points online and in store?
- Can I combine points with sale prices?
- How do I check my balance?
What shoppers ask about vouchers
- Can I use my voucher online?
- Can I combine it with an offer?
- How long is it valid?
- What if I lose it?
- Can I use it at any branch?
Branch-specific questions are covered in multi-store retailers and branch-specific questions.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a retailer might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Shopper: Can I use my loyalty points in the summer sale? Assistant: The loyalty page explains that points can be used on sale items as well as full-price items, both in store and online.
Shopper: Do my points expire? Assistant: Points expire if your account has no activity for 12 months, as the loyalty terms explain. Any purchase keeps them active.
Shopper: How many points do I have? Assistant: I'm not able to see accounts, but you can check your balance on your receipt, in your online account or by asking at the till.
Seasonal peaks
Loyalty and voucher questions spike during seasonal rushes, when shoppers are spending more. Preparing clear answers before those periods helps, as described in seasonal rushes and the questions that come with them.
Stock and points together
Shoppers often ask about points and stock in the same breath: "Can I use my points on this, and do you have it?" Stock questions are covered in is it in stock, the question retail websites fumble.
Answering at any hour
SpideyChat for retail stores answers loyalty and voucher questions from your own pages at any hour and passes account questions to staff.
Joining at the till and online
Shoppers often ask how to join, especially if they have been offered the scheme at the till and did not have time to sign up. Explaining both routes, and whether past purchases can be added, helps them join later. New members who understand how to earn and spend points from the start are more likely to use the scheme and keep coming back.
Problems with points
Sometimes points do not appear or a voucher will not scan. Those need a person. The assistant should capture the shopper's details and the problem, and pass it to staff to sort out quickly, because a loyal customer with a points problem is a loyal customer at risk.
A loyalty page in plain English
Rewrite your loyalty and voucher pages in plain language, covering earning, redeeming, expiry, online use and how to check a balance. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.