CX in the wild: ASICS Loyalty
Hello. Welcome to ‘CX in the wild’. A relentless pursuit of customer experience insights and analysis. This is our first edition. I hope you enjoy. Let’s get into it.
I signed up to One ASICS Loyalty Programme on the weekend as I was in the market for a new pair of winter / casual trainers. Something that has an element of Goretex but is not 100% Gorpcore. As much as I want to be in that crowd, Salomon’s just don’t fit me. And I had a pair of Goretex ASICS a few winters ago. They were excellent. So they’re back in rotation.
As I signed up, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to break down the loyalty programme from a CX and UX perspective. My two cents:
Image from Asics.com
Initial Thoughts.
First off, I was curious by the fact they call it a loyalty programme in the first bit of copy but then refer to it as a membership later on. I wonder why this is? Typo? Or trying to figure out what works? My gut feeling is this is a membership programme, not a loyalty programme and they should lean into it. Which is something I’ve seen a lot of. The association and usage of the word ‘loyalty’ has fallen out of favour. I presume this is the discount nature of most loyalty programmes. Membership has a much deeper community feel to it. A sense of belonging.
Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised by the sign on benefits. For just enrolling (for free), I get exclusive offers, free 90-day gear trial, Access to exclusive events and raffles, Free access to ASICS Runkeeper Go™, free shipping and Birthday rewards. That’s quite a lot. Although, I do get free shipping on orders above £50 which, given the cost of their shoes, is going to be most orders. Begs the question - what’s the loyalty free shipping threshold? Is it lower? If so, that is nice a benefit but it’s not communicated.
Image from Asics.com
ASICS Runkeeper Go™ App
No matter which tier you’re on, you get access to ASICS Runkeeper Go™; a fitness/running tracker app. As you move up the tiers, you get more free access to it. However, it doesn’t tell me how much the app is. Thus, I don’t really know what sort of saving I’m getting for joining the programme. I think it’s free and you just lose access to it. But it’s not clear.
Image from Asics.com
The app is cool. But I already have Strava, which I pay for. I appreciate the desire for 1st party data by getting me to download an app. By I’d be curious about the stats of the app. I suspect lots of downloads but little usage. What’s more, the data they’re collecting is quite technical and not traditionally commerce. As in, they’ll know how many miles I run (or lack thereof) and be able to recommend some new running shoes, but they won’t really understand my buying habits like they would if this was a traditional app that housed products. Which begs the question. If one isn’t going to get that much data, why not partner with Strava or Runna? Alternatively, why not just develop a mobile app and push customers to use it (just like Levi’s down with their app).
Side note: I do really rate the way they’re attempting to bring a level of community predicated on exercise into their brand.
What about the UX? No where near as elegant as Strava. Lots of white space and feels like a poorly designed Notion page. Back to my point about the commercial nature of the app - if I do need to start paying for it, will that happen automatically? As in. They have my details saved, so will I automatically be billed after my initial 3 months? Or do I simply loose access to the app after three months? Broadly speaking, I appreciate it’s hard to compare this to Strava as they’re a product company and ASICS are a sportswear brand. But all the more reason to forgo the 1st party data and partner with Strava.
Side by side comparison of the ASICS Runkeeper Go™ app versus Strava
Other Observations.
UX aside, they have incentivised the ASICS Runkeeper Go™ app. If you use it to log activity and add a wearable, you get points. And you can use those points to buy more stuff. I think? Again, the communication around the benefits is not immediately clear. If one can use points, it would be good to understand how many points = “x”. I find the same issue with Amex. I feel like I’ve accrued shit loads of points only to realise that 30,000 points = £25 off my next Waitrose order.
There was no QR code to download the ASICS Runkeeper Go™ app on the loyalty benefits page. Seems like an easy CX win. Add the QR code and then give me the option to move to the dedicated ASICS Runkeeper Go™ landing page to learn more.
As you move up the loyalty tiers, you unlock more benefits like priority access to customer services. I like this benefit but two things; (1) there is no indication of what additional CS support I get. How is it any different to standard CS support? (2) what sort of complex CS requests, and therefore an additional tier of CS support, would one need? Surely the CS team are simply dealing with sizing questions and standard order issues. I think there was an opportunity here to add some sort of personalised service. For the more style conscious customer that primarily buys their sportstyle products it could be a personal stylist session. And for their traditional sports persona customer, it could be a session (through the app) with a running coach.
I didn’t immediately get an email confirming I’m in the programme. Misstep here. I had to go back to the programme landing page to review the benefits again.
Off topic.
Slightly off topic, but still CX/UX related. ASICS use InMoment to gather customer feedback once a purchase has been made. I’m not entirely sure how much of InMoment’s product suite they’re using but the UX and questions were good - although they could probably have gone a little deeper and more personalised. Ultimately though, it’s what you do with this data. Much of our experience at Factory is brands often have many ways to collect data and are sitting on a mountain of it. But it’s the interpretation and application of that data that’s missing.
Image from Asics.com
Also off topic but also not off topic. When I actually made the order, the Shipping method options were very confusing. I can pay an extra £7.95 for express shipping and the estimated arrival is the same as the free shipping?
Image from Asics.com
Conclusion.
Is this the best loyalty (or membership) programme I’ve ever seen? No. Will I be using the ASICS Runkeeper Go™? No. Is the overall customer (including user) experience amazing? Not really. Am I bullish on carefully crafted membership programmes that are routed in community build? Yes. Will I be stoked to be walking around London in a pair of GEL-VENTURE 6 GTX’s? Yes. Do I recommend ASICS as a brand. Hell yes!
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