Innovating the customer loyalty program with social media

Abstract

Purpose Few academic studies specifically investigate how businesses can use social media to innovate customer loyalty programs. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth case study of the Shop Your Way (SYW) program, which is regarded as one of the most successful customer loyalty programs with social media. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses case study research as the methodology to uncover innovative features associated with the SYW customer loyalty program. The authors collected the data from SYW’s social media forums and tweets. The data set was analyzed using social media analytics tools including the R package and Lexicon. Findings Based on the research results, the authors summarize innovative social media features identified from SYW. The authors also provide insights and recommendations for businesses that are seeking to innovate their customer loyalty programs using social media technologies. Originality/value The results of this case study set a good example for businesses which want to innovate and improve their customer loyalty programs using social media technologies. This is the first in-depth case study on the SYW program, one of the most successful customer loyalty programs with social media. The results shed light on how social media can innovate customer loyalty programs in both theory and practice.