Why Retailers Should Acknowledge EVERY Customer's Birthday

March 11, 2015 11:15 am Published by Customer's Birthday

Don’t you just love when it’s your birthday? Gifts galore from friends, family and of course the lovely well-wishers on Facebook you rarely (if ever) talk to, all just make you feel that little bit special don’t they?

As self-indulgence is flying high on these special occasions, it’s important that every retailer who values having lifetime customers should have their own personal input. A lot of retailers wrongly assume that acknowledging every customer’s birthday takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money. And even if you do take the time to acknowledge it, will you even see results?

The answer, and not just in my opinion, is yes. In celebrating my own birthday recently, I found that my own favourite brands’ birthday benefits swooned me over big time. However, knowing that my own personal experience isn’t exactly off the scale in terms of credibility, I also took to researching hundreds of other shoppers’ birthday experiences to back me up.

Retailers That Impressed The Most

Fashion retailers in particular nailed it when it came to thought, personalization and the birthday offer itself, all of which were sent through their own email loyalty club. Every retailer, fashion or otherwise, should take some inspiration from these brands’ impressively considerate birthday messages.

ASOS, River Island and Miss Guided are three particular brands that added a sweet, personal touch with their call-to-action subject lines as well as offering reasonably good birthday discounts of 10%-15% (although 20% might have been that little bit more convincing!).

Customer's Birthday

Go The Extra Mile

What really impresses customers are brands who build up to the big day with pre-birthday special offers. All three brands mentioned above email up to two weeks before the customer’s birthday, wishing them a “happy (almost) birthday” and reminding them to start planning their all-important party outfit. With an enticing discount thrown in, of course!

Customer's Birthday

Thoughtful? Yes. Did it work? Very much so. And so I kitted myself out in River Island’s finest for the celebrations (no offence to the lovely retailers above whose offers were also very hard to turn down).

Every Sector Can Take Advantage

Restaurants and bars in particular can also benefit from sending birthday greetings and special offers. Not only can they promote themselves as the party-location, but inviting them in for a birthday meal or drink on the house would be very difficult for anyone to turn down, and there’s the added chance it will draw in the whole birthday group!

The same can be said for salons, hotels, fitness groups and almost any other sector that wish to take advantage of the self-indulgence surrounding a customer’s birthday. Whether it’s sending out a personalized email, birthday card, text message or mobile coupon offer, showing a little consideration to increase loyalty is a no-brainer.

Your lasting impression puts you firmly in the customer’s thought process for splashing the birthday cash; win-win!

What Studies Said

A survey conducted on hundreds of consumers by analytics and marketing technology provider, Fulcrum, found that 88% of positive reactions from birthday messages translated to increased brand loyalty. Consumers responded most positively to birthday greetings from food and beverage retailers, such as Baskin Robbins, Ruby Tuesdays or Starbucks, with 96% reporting an increase in loyalty.

Although it might seem quite obvious, research showed greetings that included some type of discount or gift were 24% more effective in positively impacting consumer opinion than simple birthday greetings.

Need I even ask if you need more convincing?

If you’re looking to build life-long relationships with your customers, make them feel great and boost your sales all at the same time, start your own personalised birthday loyalty program today.

For tips and suggestions on birthday loyalty programs suited to your type of business, keep an eye out for our next blog!

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