Swapi, the new app determined to revolutionize loyalty memberships
We take a look at the new membership loyalty app Swapi.
Everyone is guilty of having a wallet filled with loyalty cards which often have unclaimed rewards attached to them. Loyalty points help companies gain new members and create a loyalty bond between the business and the customer. In surveys, 79% of consumers said loyalty programs make them continue doing business with brands.
In the past, there has been reported a shocking US$100bn worth of unclaimed rewards on loyalties accounts. The UK alone holds £6 billion in unspent loyalty, which amounts to £47 per person. To battle this issue, in a modern world where things are moving increasingly towards being entirely digital, a new app has been released to help people see all their reward accounts in one space.
Swapi, the new loyalty app, offers customers total freedom to spend and redeem their loyalty points across hundreds of retailers, including over 250 brands such as Sky, eBay, Tui Deliveroo, Selfridges, Hotels.com, and more. There are even Morrisons payment cards available to those who just want to cut down the cost of their weekly food shop.
Interestingly and what makes them unique, Swapi offers a way for customers to claim their expired points back, which can then be spent within their marketplace on one of the many stores available in the form of ‘Swapi points.’ The simple process of converting the old membership points into Swapi Points means customers who have spent years accruing points, only for them to be lost due to expiration or not hitting a redemption threshold, can still gain something back.
This is a welcome change to help customers save whilst strengthening business loyalty connections between companies and the public. Dan Gingiss explains how expiring rewards affect a company’s public image by stating that “From a customer’s point of view, this doesn’t make any sense. They earned the rewards, and now the company [is] taking them away? That is not the basis for a positive customer experience.”
Pete Howroyd, CEO at Swapi, commented on the launch “I am extremely proud of the product we have created as a team, and I am sure we will see customers and retailers soon reaping the rewards following the much-anticipated launch of our app. We already have so many great partners working with us and are excited to continue to work with exciting, innovative household name brands and retailers to provide the best possible loyalty program solution for all.”
The team at Swapi is hoping to revolutionize how the public gains loyalty points or, in this case, ‘Swapi points’ and expand this to be a global service following their next seed-stage taking place this December. Their initial pre-seed funding managed £860k in funding, and they hope that the next stage following this release will raise a further £2mn so they can build out the app and capitalize on international interests in the project.
The most exciting part of the app is the ability to swap points between different retailers giving the power back to the customer in how they wish to be rewarded for their spending habits while simultaneously removing the liability of each business. It’s a strong possibility that more brands will join the app as it becomes more popular.
Some may argue that they are already signed up to so many loyalty programs that they do not wish to add another to the ever-growing list; this is understandable as every company out there asks you to join their club or membership program. However, the idea of this app is to take those away so you can access them in one place and not need a separate app for each company. For a business, this could drastically lower costs and time spent implementing a loyalty scheme privately whilst still directly rewarding customers.
Most businesses already know the rewards of having a loyalty program, such as attracting new customers while retaining the ones already and building brand awareness. Looking at Swapi, some businesses would lose incoming data, such as capturing email addresses for newsletters but gain visibility to other companies’ loyal customers.
Read More:
- Swapi closes pre-seed round at £860K ahead of launch
- Why community based marketing (CBM) is important for B2B
In creating an account presently, the early Users who sign up early are awarded 250 Swapi Points. These can be used immediately within the app on gift cards, discounts, products, etc. You can scan and upload all your old membership cards so you can use them via the app in the appropriate stores and free up some space in that overcrowded wallet.
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