Adore Beauty Introduces Loyalty Program, Adore Society

Adore Society, which launches on March 29, will reward its shoppers for every dollar they spend on the online platform.

The three-tier loyalty program is set to rival directly against its competitors, Mecca (Beauty Loop) and Sephora (Beauty Pass). In a similar vein to the competition, the retailer is offering three tiers of loyalty levels, with a minimum spend to achieve each rank.

The Power of Loyalty

The beauty industry itself is no stranger to loyalty programs such as these. According to Power Retail research, 44 percent of shoppers have chosen one retailer over another in favour of a loyalty program – this is a factor that drives customers to stay faithful to a single brand.

In a study from Loyalty & Reward Co Adore Beauty needed to introduce a loyalty program for five core reasons:

1. The ‘Nature of the Industry’
2. Adore Beauty’s Brand Ethos
3. Competition
4. Google’s Cookie Change
5. The Power of Loyalty Programs

As the beauty industry is led by brand loyalty, highly visual content and social awareness, the loyalty program was a no-brainer for Adore Beauty. Power Retail noted in its Talking Point report that three-quarters of shoppers have used a loyalty program in order to receive a benefit – any retailer that hasn’t introduced a loyalty program is missing out.

What Makes Adore Society Different?

While on the surface, Adore Beauty’s new loyalty program appears like any other beauty brand’s offering. However, unlike other retailers, Adore Beauty customers are not automatically members of the new program.

The three tiers of the program work in the same way as other retailers – shoppers will receive awards based on their spend over a 12-month period. For existing shoppers, the opening tier is determined by their spend over the last 12 months.

Its rewards are what one might expect from a beauty loyalty program – it offers the standard ‘Member-only’ promotions, birthday rewards and exclusive access to products. These are common across the beauty loyalty board, with the likes of Sephora, Mecca and Priceline all offering similar rewards in their own programs.

Adore Beauty has an already secure and loyal customer base – this program is the perfect starting point to further secure its customer base for future online orders.

According to Loyalty & Reward Co, Adore Beauty’s new program is a natural progression and extension of what the retailer calls its ‘beauty democracy’.

An interesting aspect of the program is its free delivery service. Adore Beauty will offer free express delivery for orders, with a varying minimum spend depending on the level the customer is placed. For Level One shoppers, they can receive free express shipping for orders over $50, the next tier offers the same service for orders over $35. The final tier requires no minimum spend to unlock the offer.

According to Power Retail’s Talking Point report, 65 percent of shoppers said their favourite reward from a loyalty program is free shipping.

While offering free express delivery is an obviously attractive offer to the majority of online shoppers, other retailers like Mecca offer free express shipping for orders over $75, even if you’re not a Mecca Beauty Loop member.

Perhaps this is something that Adore Beauty can address down the line, as free shipping remains the driving reason why a shopper will choose a particular membership program.

The Big Cookie Problem

Adore Beauty’s loyalty program isn’t just great for shoppers, it’s also a win for the brand. Digital marketing is set to change forever as Google removes the use of Third-Party Cookies from April 2022. These changes are expected to render “up to 85 percent of digital marketing as useless”, said Nick Barnett, the former Digital and Media Technology Director at Westpac.

The introduction of this loyalty program was done with perfect timing. It’s the ideal mechanism to capture, collect and utilise the data from customers to combat the loss from Third-Party Cookie data in the future.

Adore Beauty is a data-rich retailer and will have a competitive advantage by utilising its insights and data to drive customer loyalty. With an engaged customer base, deep insights into its shopper behaviour and valuable rewards, it will be well on its way to securing its spot as the leader in the online beauty space.

According to the company’s IPO prospectus, it will launch an App and work to deliver a ‘content-first focus’ with a highly personalised experience for its customers. The launch of the loyalty program is a crucial step for its long-term goals.

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