Rewards fulfillment is a critical component of a successful loyalty and incentive program. Program participants have four simple but important requirements -- large selection of available merchandise, the right rewards mix, easy ordering process, and quick shipments.
First, successful programs provide a wide variety of reward options for their programs. Vanson and its fulfillment partners provide access to as many as 60,000+ product SKUs representing several thousand brands. Rewards can span merchandise, gift cards, travel, logo-branded merchandise, cash back, spiffs, experience, and more.
Second, the right rewards mix is also critical, and must align with the program objectives and budget. Offering a series of 'reward plateaus' means participants can achieve rewards with varying levels of program involvement, and can choose from multiple items at each reward plateau or price point.
Third, participants demand an easy ordering process. Rewards catalogs should be easy to access, with an intuitive user interface. Participants should be able to use a robust search engine with many filters to identify an exact item at the right price point. Both a participant's point balance and the point cost for each reward should be readily viewable. Participants should be able to see additional product detail information for each reward. Additional program rules, if appropriate, should be readily available and easily understood. The shopping cart should let participants provide delivery instructions, and should display an expected delivery data.
Fourth, participants really dislike having to wait for their rewards. Controlling back orders is important, as is deleting discontinued merchandise. Speed of order processing is critical. One of Vanson's rewards fulfillment partners. RepLink, has developed a solution to this need. It's called ShipQuick which maintains all fulfillment transaction activity in one central system. ShipQuick has two important components. First, RepLink keeps a special collection of web-ready incentive products available that can be shipped within 10 days. Second, RepLink supports automated order processing, confirmation, and tracking, with enables an order to be forwarded immediately to the right supplier, who confirms the order and provides a tracking number.
