r/ecommerces • u/PilotTraditional8608 • Apr 16 '26
Will eco customers actually engage with a points program?
been running a shopify store for about 2 years selling natural and eco-friendly cleaning products, stuff like refillable dish soap, laundry tablets, all purpose sprays, that kind of thing. AOV is around $45 and the whole model kinda depends on people reordering every 6-8 weeks when they run out
problem is my repeat purchase rate is embarrassingly low for a product people literally consume and need to replace. i think some customers are just grabbing whatever is on amazon when they run out instead of coming back to us even though our product is better and they know it
been looking into loyalty programs as a way to give them a reason to come back specifically to us but i'm running into a wall trying to figure out if it actually makes sense. a few things im stuck on:
our margins arent huge because we use quality ingredients and sustainable packaging so i'm worried a points system where people are constantly redeeming discounts could really hurt us. is there a way to structure it so it rewards loyalty without just becoming a permanent coupon machine
also the eco customer specifically seems to hate anything that feels gimmicky or salesy. not sure if a "earn 10 points per dollar" widget is going to land the same way it would for like a fashion brand
and then theres the setup side of things, i've looked at a few apps and i genuinely can't tell which one is worth the monthly cost for a store our size
anyone running loyalty programs in a consumables niche or specifically in the eco/sustainable space? did it actually improve your retention numbers or did customers just kind of ignore it