NFT loyalty programs are on the rise, as Starbucks became one of the first major companies to announce its own NFT rewards program, Starbucks Odyssey, in September. The program is expected to launch later this year.
These types of loyalty programs are yet another practical use case for NFTs and blockchain technology, and this is only the beginning as organizations and consumers continue to adopt these new systems. In accordance with this growing trend, NFT brand experience platform PicoNFT recently announced new NFT loyalty capabilities that brands will be able to leverage to engage younger consumer demographics.
These capabilities function like traditional loyalty programs, only rewards such as discounts, free products, and other perks are assigned and linked to tokens held by customers. With this new feature, companies will be able to assign benefits to NFTs without using code and without requiring customers to download an additional app.
Instead, customers’ NFTs are verified through a QR code. Companies can then mark the benefit as redeemed, and they will also be able to add new benefits or rewards to the token over time. Of course, the process still requires that consumers have digital wallets in which to store their NFTs, which many people still don’t have or know how to use, so it will be important for brands to provide education around this and make it as easy and user friendly as possible.
“The powerful new loyalty capabilities in PicoNFT help companies drive forward their strategies to acquire and engage Gen Z and Millennial customers,” said PicoNFT founder Dave Dickson. “Easy-to-use NFT reward and redemption features eliminate the complexity of delivering loyalty benefits in high-impact NFT programs, and let brands instead focus on building their businesses.”
Utility NFTs are increasingly being used to provide fans and customers with tangible value beyond simply digital collectibles. In a recent survey of online US consumers conducted by PicoNFT, most indicated that they would be more likely to engage with brands if their utility NFTs include a way to collect loyalty rewards. We can expect more companies to experiment with this in the near future.