How three merchants use Clover Customer Engagement to boost business

Recent industry research offers some really interesting insights about engaged customers. Take these 3 stats, for instance: 

1. 82% of companies agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition
2. Increasing customer retention by just 5% boosts profits by 25% to 95%
3. 75% of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards

Setting up a loyalty program, running promos, and communicating with customers can be overwhelming for small businesses. 

But, as three Clover merchants found, Clover Customer Engagement takes the chore out of nurturing customer relationships. It offers a suite of 4 apps–Promos, Rewards, Feedback, and Customers–and a downloadable mobile app to help customers earn rewards, order ahead, and more. What’s more, it’s free with your Clover system.

See how these three merchants are using Clover Customer Engagement to build loyalty, show appreciation, and boost business.

Walrus Ice Cream

Located in Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado, the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street USA, Walrus Ice Cream features 29 flavors of ice cream daily. Owner, Lisa Paugh, and General Manager, Jake Anderson, see the shop’s mission as more than serving the best ice cream around: it’s keeping customers happy. 

“People come in happy. It’s our job to make sure they leave happy–and we love doing it,” Jake Anderson says. 

Before Clover, they didn’t have a rewards program, but, as Anderson explains, word of mouth, “a really good product, and a fun, funky store” kept business steady.

Rolling out Clover Customer Engagement took their business to the next level. In fact, Paugh noticed a strong uptick in repeat customers. 

She explains: “Rewards are really popular. We see a lot of the same people. The Rewards program is just really a great way to say thanks for supporting us, and people use those rewards all the time to redeem $5 off after earning 50 points.” Paugh adds, “I think we have something close to three thousand people in that rewards program, and we really haven’t been doing it long.”

They’ve also found Clover Promos to be a great way to drive sales and roll out new products and flavors.

“We just recently invested in an espresso machine, and we wanted the community to know that we upped our coffee game,” Paugh recounts. “So we sent out an email to everyone in our Clover Customer Engagement database offering a discount on a coffee to entice them to come check it out. 60% of people opened the coupon and 15% redeemed. It just goes to show that it really does work, communicating with our customers through Clover.”

Aliska’s Amazing Pickles

If there’s one thing Aliska Walker knows, it’s pickles. What began as a first-day-of-school icebreaker activity for her first grade students became a unique business.

“At that time, we were just making Kool-Aid pickles, it was an experiment. I bought the kids their own mason jars, pickles, and different Kool-Aid flavors, and they had to choose the flavor that they wanted to create, as well as create a marketing plan,” Walker recalled. “From there, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love pickles,’ and I started writing all these [pickle] recipes.”

Since 2018, Walker has operated Aliska’s Amazing Pickles, “tasty pickles with an attitude.” Her first location was simply meant for producing her pickles. After renovating it, she opened a cafe for pickle enthusiasts.

Clover’s loyalty rewards program has helped Walker keep customers coming back to enjoy her pickles. 

“A majority of people come back in—90 percent of them come back to purchase pickles. After they purchase 10 jars of pickles, they get a free jar,” Walker shared. “I like the fact that [Clover] gives them the option to choose as they’re checking out [and] it gives them the opportunity to give me a tip as well.”

Your Toy Link

Ben Gloria turned his collectibles hobby into a booming business. Your Toy Link, located in Meridian, Idaho, is a one-stop-shop for collectibles and memorabilia.

After transitioning his online business to a brick-and-mortar, Gloria rolled out an expansive print ad campaign, but the ROI just wasn’t there. So he decided to market to his existing customer base. 

Gloria started with Clover Rewards, offering a points system to loyal customers. 

“Right away, we had shoppers saying, ‘I already saw it at Target, but I’m going to wait till you get it in, so I can get my points,’” Gloria remembers.

Clover Rewards worked so well for Your Toy Link that Gloria decided to upgrade to Clover Customer Engagement Plus. Now he can customize the value of the points his customers earn.

“Right now, 100 points is $5 off, 200 points is $10 off, and it just keeps going up in those increments,” Gloria outlined. “We don’t allow points to expire, and our customers can stack as many points as they like. Some like to use their $5 and $10 credit right away, and others will save up their points to get that one special item for free.”

Gloria’s best customers even earn VIP status in the Rewards program. “If you visit the store 30 times, or make 30 purchases, you become a VIP and Clover Rewards are 10 times faster.”

What’s more, Gloria discovered that new customers are more likely to participate in the Clover Rewards program if he asks them to download the Clover app at checkout on their first visit.

“I encourage them, ‘Hey, let’s get you the Clover app right now, it’s super quick: just press download. Even if it doesn’t finish, you can finish at home, but we don’t want you to miss out on your points,’” Gloria explains. “As an added bonus, we’ll send you a 15% off coupon just for signing up. If you complete your profile with your birthdate, we’ll send you a 20 percent off coupon on your birthday.”

Now, when Gloria sees regular customers in line, they’re usually checking the Clover app for their points balance. 

“Sometimes if they’re just a little short,” he notes, “they’ll add another item just so they can earn those points.”

Learn how your business can leverage Clover Customer Engagement to nurture customer relationships and keep customers coming back. 

Editorial Team

Loyalty, Meet the Merchant

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