I’ve been thinking about innovative ways to leverage the rewards network to supercharge user experience and catapult Neo to new heights.
Currently, Neo has the following assets that can be leveraged:
- A standalone database of rewards in the rewards section.
- A standalone referral link (“refer and earn”) that users can send to bring people to Neo.
- A standalone mechanism (cards) to pay for things that is outside the app.
Currently, users can find what the rewards are in the app, close the app and go to places that have rewards to pay outside the app to get rewards. The referral mechanism doesn’t seem to be linked to partner network rewards (or anything) in any way. Similarly, there is no option to gift experiences to friends and colleagues like in the Starbucks app (e.g. pay $10 to buy a virtual gift card in the app and send the link to a friend).
After choosing a reward, there is not much to do with it in the app. One can leave the app and go to website or physical location, but what’s the point? This doesn’t help acquire new customers. The only people who can see that rewards exist are current Neo users or people who happened to see a Neo sticker at the door (which means that they are already there). The sticker likely has a very low conversion rate and doesn’t really turn them into Neo users, and if it does, there is no way to track what works and how well.
Consider what an 11-star experience could look like instead:
• You are a Neo user and want to have a coffee or a meal. People rarely eat alone, so you want to invite a friend or a business colleague. Either of you has to pick where you are going and agree on a time and place.
• You know that your favourite coffee shop has Neo rewards because you go there all the time. Instead of going back and forth with your friend to tell them where and when to go using messages and google maps links, you go to the Neo app to use their new feature that simplifies the process.
• In the app, you choose the specific location where you want to invite your friend. There would be a convenient, easy-to-spot button to invite a friend to the location where you want to go. You don’t have to search hard for it because the app proactively prompts you to do it and does a great walkthrough to help discover the sequence and all the right buttons the first time you use it.
• When you pick a coffee shop and “invite a friend”, you can choose time and enter email. Your friend would get an email with a highly effective UX copy designed to delight, e.g. "John is inviting you for a coffee! Where: Second Cup, 110st. When: 9AM. The invite will also feature a referral link to join Neo and get $$ and a RSVP button to accept, maybe or decline. When clicked, that would create a calendar entry with all the right info including location, time and all the necessary info. The calendar invite would produce an autoreminder as set by users to make sure you don’t miss the unforgettable experience.
• Don’t have an email? No problem! Just click that share button and send the invite link using your favourite messenger.
• Don’t have time for a coffee? No problem! Choose any reward and click “send as a gift”, choose or enter a dollar amount to generate a virtual gift card to send via link or email to your friends, family, colleagues and loved ones.