Amazon's Prime program is one of the most successful loyalty programs ever, with over 150 million members worldwide. For ecommerce businesses looking to expand and grow their customer base, membership programs can be a huge channel for growth. In this post, we’ll cover the benefits of membership programs, how to set them up, and tips for optimizing your membership program to keep customers signed up.

What is a membership program? 

A membership program is a way for an organization to offer its services or products to individuals or businesses on a recurring basis. Members typically pay a monthly or yearly fee, and in return, they receive access to exclusive content, discounts, and other benefits. 

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Membership programs can be found in various industries, from fitness and wellness to entertainment and education. In recent years, membership programs have become increasingly popular as businesses seek ways to build loyalty and generate recurring revenue.

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Programs like Amazon Prime can offer several benefits for businesses. Perhaps most importantly, it can help to build customer loyalty by providing free shipping and other perks. This can lead to increased sales as customers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers convenient shipping options. 

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In addition, a membership program can also help to generate repeat business. Customers who have access to free shipping and other benefits are more likely to make multiple purchases from the same company over time. 

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Furthermore, a membership program can also help businesses to save money on shipping costs. By negotiating bulk discounts with shipping companies, businesses can pass on these savings to their customers in the form of lower prices. Ultimately, a membership program like Amazon Prime can provide several advantages for businesses large and small.

How can you set up an Amazon Prime-like membership program for your business?

Amazon Prime has been a huge success for the online retailer, providing customers with free shipping and exclusive access to TV shows, movies, and other content. The program has been so successful that other businesses are now looking to set up their own membership programs. 

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While this can be a great way to boost customer loyalty, there are a few things you need to keep in mind when setting up your own program. 

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First, you need to make sure that your program offers value that is comparable to Amazon Prime. Otherwise, customers will simply cancel their membership once they realize they're not getting a good deal. 

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Second, you must ensure that your program is easy to use and navigate. Customers should be able to understand what benefits they're entitled to and how to access them without any hassle. 

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Finally, you need to make sure that your customer service is top-notch. If customers have any problems with their membership, they should be able to get help from a knowledgeable and friendly customer service representative. By following these guidelines, you can set up a membership program that will be successful for both you and your customers.

What are the costs associated with setting up and running a membership program?

When considering launching a membership program for your ecommerce business, it is important to weigh the potential costs against the expected benefits. 

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First, you will need to invest in the infrastructure needed to support the program, including a website or app where members can sign up and manage their account, as well as a payment gateway to process payments. 

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You will also need to create and promote marketing materials to inform potential members about the program and encourage sign-ups. Additionally, you may need to hire staff to manage the program and handle customer inquiries. 

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Once the program is up and running, you will also need to cover the costs of shipping items to members and providing customer support. However, if successful, a membership program can provide a consistent source of revenue for your business and help you build long-term relationships with your customers.

How to market your membership program to potential members

When marketing a membership program, it is important to focus on the benefits that the program offers. Potential members will be interested in knowing what they will get for their investment, so be sure to highlight the key features of the program.

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 It is also important to make it clear how the program will help them achieve their goals. For example, if the membership program offers discounts on products, be sure to mention this in your marketing materials. Finally, be sure to include information about how easy it is to sign up for the program. By making it simple and straightforward to join, you can encourage potential members to take the plunge and become part of your community.

Tips for ensuring the success of your membership program

Define your goals

Before creating a Prime-like membership program, you need to decide what goals you want the program to achieve. Do you want to increase customer loyalty? Drive more sales? Boost brand awareness? Once you've decided on your goals, you can start to create a program that will help you achieve them.

Offer exclusive benefits

To make your membership program successful, you need to offer benefits that will appeal to your target customers.Think about what your customers want and need, and then design your benefits accordingly. For example, if you're targeting busy parents, offer benefits like free shipping and faster delivery times. 

Make it easy to join and cancel

Another important element of a successful membership program is ease of use. You need to make it easy for customers to sign up for the program and cancel if they decide they no longer want to be members. This way, there's no barrier to entry or exit, and customers can join and leave the program as their needs change. 

Provide excellent customer service

Finally, don't forget that excellent customer service is essential for any successful loyalty program. If customers have questions or problems with their membership, they should be able to get in touch with someone who can help them easily. Make sure your customer service team is prepared to handle questions about the program so that potential issues don't deter people from joining. 

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A Prime-like membership program can be a great way to boost loyalty among your customer base and drive more sales for your business. By offering exclusive benefits, making it easy to join and cancel, and providing excellent customer service, you can create a program that will be successful and sustainable in the long run.

How Cross-Store Selling grows your Shopify store

Want to know the open secret to growing your Shopify store? It’s Cross-Store Selling. With Cross-Store Selling, your brand can sell products from other stores and vice versa.

Sell your products on other brands’ websites

With Carro, we have a directory of the biggest brands for you to partner with. This means they’ll sell and market your products to their customers. But if you can’t decide which brands are the best fit, we have a tailored recommendation service where we introduce you to brands so you can begin working together.

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The best part is you don’t have to pay for products like you would with traditional wholesaling. This allows you to choose different SKUs to see what complements your existing product catalog.

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"Take my word for it, if you install Carro, you are going to see what I’ve seen. Which is a dramatic increase to average order value, especially on orders that contain Carro products, which for us is over 80% increase to AOV." 

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Ryan Pamplin, Founder & CEO of Blendjet

Virtual inventory makes fulfillment easy

Brand partnerships are not like wholesaling. With Carro, you don’t have to buy products from your partners. Instead, orders are automatically sent to your partner brands so they can handle fulfillment themselves. 

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“Before we joined Carro, we had put our company on the market. We thought we needed capital to expand our traditional wholesaling. Now, we’re able to meet our goals without having any cash come out of pocket. We’re tripling and quadrupling the numbers of units that we move because we have access to so much more inventory.”

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Amy Richardson-Golia, June & January

Find new bundling & upsell opportunities to increase AOV

Perhaps the most exciting reason to leverage Cross-Store Selling is that it’s the best way to grow your Shopify store in the long run. By working collaboratively with other brands, your brand will set itself up for success. Your Shopify store will become THE destination for your niche. 

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One of the best reasons to shop on Amazon is convenience. Being able to buy everything you need in one place is a powerful motivator. Wouldn’t you love it if your Shopify store was the go-to place for your customers’ needs?

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"In addition to a nice contribution to the bottom line, it was also one of the most highly-engaged social posts for the year." 

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David Krimper, Director of Shopify, Manduka

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To learn more about how Carro can help your Shopify store grow, check us out on the Shopify App Store.

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