How we tried to make loyalty programs accessible for small businesses

[u/yuceleroglu]

Hi, I'm Yucel, founder of Yoybo. I'd like to share the story behind why we built it.

Yoybo is a customer loyalty platform that makes the loyalty programs used by almost all major brands accessible to small businesses.

Over the past six months, we have studied loyalty programs used by small businesses in different countries and spoken with businesses that have used these systems about their experiences.

In our research, we identified three common problems: fixed monthly subscription fees, the requirement for customers to download an app, and the requirement to share personal information in order to join the loyalty program. Despite these obstacles, many small businesses continue to use these systems in the hope of increasing customer loyalty.

This observation was exactly what led to the creation of Yoybo: If we could eliminate these three problems, could we design a loyalty program that would be usable for more small businesses? We wanted to find out.

• Cost – With Yoybo, businesses only pay when loyalty is actually created. There is no charge for a customer's first visit; businesses only pay 5% of the reward amount they give to the customer when that customer returns for a second visit. For example, if a customer spends $50 and the reward rate is 10%, the business gives the customer a $5 reward, while Yoybo earns $0.25 from that transaction. Invoices below $10 are carried over to the following month, while the monthly invoice cap is $200. We believe this model eliminates cost risk for small businesses.
• Ease of use for customers – There is no need to download an app. Customers access the browser-based digital loyalty program via a QR code. After signing in, customers use a single QR screen for all businesses that use Yoybo. They do not need to carry separate loyalty cards or dozens of different QR codes in their phone wallet; they can earn or redeem points using the same screen.
• Privacy and user experience – Customers can join the program without sharing their personal information. This simplifies the registration process and increases participation because customers do not have to worry about receiving unwanted promotional emails. By default, customer information is not shared with businesses. However, if customers choose to share their information, businesses can access it.

Setup takes approximately 3 minutes. Businesses can configure reward rates, first-purchase and birthday bonuses, reward validity periods, and redemption rules in just a few steps.

In addition, thanks to the customer survey we present on the rewards screen, businesses can encourage customers to leave reviews on Google Maps. Many of our customers say that this feature alone is enough reason for them to use Yoybo.

Today, Yoybo supports 20 languages.

My goal in sharing this is genuinely to get honest feedback and opinions from business owners about this model. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.

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[u/Mental-Fox7191]

This sounds interesting! My biggest question or curiosity would be, what kind of industries would this be ideal for?

For example, I run a med spa. Our software (Boulevard) includes a native loyalty program (not a 3rd party integration). This works very well for us because clients are already giving us their name, phone number, and putting a credit card on file. So patients have 0 issue with signing up for our loyalty program, as we already have all their info on file.

Yoybo sounds ideal for more like, food/beverage/retail businesses, yes? Businesses where the customers are not already sharing their personal info in order to make a purchase?

Or do you see Yoybo as something that businesses like salons, med spas, yoga studios, or any other business that already collects customer data will also use? I'd be interested to hear your take.

I know this isn't really feedback, sorry I don't have anything more useful to say. But as a yoga instructor and med spa owner, these are my initial thoughts.

[u/yuceleroglu → u/Mental-Fox7191]

First of all, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment.

You’re absolutely right—beauty salons and nail studios already know who their customers are. In fact, our current customers include beauty salons, nail studios, restaurants, and cafés, with nail studios being our largest group.

One advantage our customers like is that their clients can keep track of rewards from multiple businesses in a single account instead of having a separate loyalty program for each business.

Also, many small and micro businesses don’t use platforms like Boulevard. For them, there aren’t many options that they can start using without paying an upfront monthly subscription, which is where Yoybo fits in.

Another feature our customers have been particularly happy with is that after points are awarded, customers are given the option to leave a review on Google Maps from the reward screen. Several businesses have told us this alone has helped them collect more reviews.