POP Club is setting new benchmarks in the retail and loyalty sectors. Rajat Mittal, a founding team member and the business lead at POP Club, is at the forefront of this transformation. POP Club is a dynamic shopping and marketing platform connecting D2C brands directly with a similarly spirited consumer base. But what’s driving this success? Let’s dive into the innovative strategies and incredible growth that are making POP Club a game-changer.
Explosive Growth of POP Club
In just a couple of quarters, POP Club has expanded its brand roster from a modest 50 to an impressive 150. This growth hasn’t been by chance. The platform’s innovative approach to loyalty has played a critical role. Loyalty, as Mittal explains, isn’t just about return customers as Shopify might suggest. Instead, it’s about fostering a deeper connection between the brand and the consumer, something that POP Club has excelled at.
“Loyalty, something which does not happen overnight, takes time to fester,” Rajat explains. POP Club’s approach to loyalty goes beyond conventional metrics.
Redefining Loyalty in the Retail Sector
POP Club has also introduced new metrics that more accurately reflect true loyalty, by comparing customer engagement within cohorts, the platform has found that customers engaged with loyalty programs are significantly more likely to return for subsequent transactions.
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Mittal elaborates, “If you and I are part of the same cohort and you engage with the program while I don’t, your likelihood of making subsequent purchases is significantly higher.” This insight has been particularly impactful in the food sector, where engaged customers are 10 times more likely to return for multiple transactions.
“We’ve seen that customers engaging with our program show a 2.5 to 6 times higher probability of returning for subsequent transactions,” Mittal highlights.
“This engagement leads to not only more frequent purchases, but also more profitable ones. Engaged customers tend to use fewer discount codes, increasing their lifetime value (CLTV) while reducing the cost of customer retention,” he adds.
This nuanced understanding of loyalty is what sets POP Club apart and drives its success.
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Innovative Marketing and Customer Engagement
POP Club’s marketing strategy also diverges from the norm. Rather than competing on who can offer the deepest discounts, POP Club focuses on integrating value into everyday transactions. For instance, leveraging the ubiquitous UPI payment system in India, POP Club plans to offer consistent rewards for all transactions, big or small. This approach not only incentivizes regular purchases but also builds a habit of using the platform, further increasing customer loyalty.
“We are looking to provide rewards for every single transaction through UPI, making everyday spending more rewarding and engaging.” He informs. With UPI payments, POP Club ensures that rewards are predictable and integrated into every transaction.
“Everyone is using UPI. This payment behavior has transformed over the last few years. It started with cashback offers through scratch cards from payment platforms. But now, those cashback offers have mostly disappeared, replaced by coupons that people don’t value or appreciate. But we’re build is a system that offers predictable rewards with every transaction. And on every transaction, I will give you popcoin,” Rajat says, hinting at a rewards system that spans everyday purchases, from buying a burger to smoking a cigarette at a stall.
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This broad applicability helps customers accumulate points effortlessly, driving continuous engagement. These points from daily transactions can be redeemed across a wide network of brands, promises to make everyday spending more rewarding and engaging. Additionally, customers can use these points on its B2C app, which currently features close to 500 brands on the marketplace.
Looking ahead, POP Club is not slowing down. The platform aims to onboard 2,000 brands and from 150 to 500 on its marketplace and engage with a million consumers daily within the next six months. The goal is to generate substantial demand for its DTC brands, leveraging its unique loyalty and marketing strategies. Additionally, the introduction of a credit card targeted at power users is set to enhance customer engagement even further.
“We are aiming to bring 2,000 brands onto the platform and engage with a million consumers daily within the next six months. So, the next month is going to be incredibly exciting, as we’re at the launch phase. As for our milestones, we aim to have 500 brands on our loyalty network and 1,000 brands working with us on the marketplace side. We also want to achieve a million transactions on UPI. Imagine having a million consumers interacting with us daily. The demand we can generate for our DTC brands would be immense. Even if just 2% of those users make transactions on our marketplace each day, we’re talking about a significant number of orders daily,” he says.
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