Card-linked Offers: The What and Why

What are CLOs?

Card-linked Offers (CLOs) are rewards that consumers receive, typically in the form of cash back or points, for making purchases at a specific retailer using a participating credit or debit card.

How do CLOs work?

CLOs are unique because they seamlessly connect online advertising campaigns with in-store and online purchases. With traditional inbound marketing campaigns, merchants pay for impressions or clicks. But this advertising model fails to accurately track how their online ads drive store visits and, most importantly, sales. With CLOs, merchants gain complete visibility on the direct impact of their digital marketing efforts because every dollar spent is attributable back to the consumer purchase.

CLOs are the fastest-growing portion of digital advertising budgets because there is no upfront cost - merchants do not have to pay for advertising impressions and clicks. Merchants only pay a targeted reward each time someone makes a purchase. They are seamless, frictionless for the consumer, and very effective.

Increase Sales & Customer Retention

CLOs are proven to drive incremental sales, increase average order size, and increase purchase frequency leading to improved customer retention. According to a study, 77% of consumers say that rewards influence where they shop. With Kard’s CLO technology, merchants can easily track customer behavior by seeing the average order value and the number and frequency of purchases.

• CLOs are Gaining Popularity - CLOs are the second most popular digital marketing tool, ranking just slightly behind social media. Over 21% of merchants use card-linking to drive loyalty and sales growth.
• CLOs and Mobile Wallets - CLOs are widely being integrated into mobile wallets, which have gained significant momentum in 2021 to create a completely frictionless way for merchants to drive and measure incremental sales from their advertising.  
• CLOs More Prevalent for Online-First Merchants - E-Commerce-driven merchants have embraced the usage of CLOs to drive accountable sales volume for their brands as they replace the traditional spend on last-click affiliate advertising models.
  

How Can I Launch a CLO campaign?

Contact us today and learn how Kard can help increase incremental sales with no hardware, software, or employee training required.