Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/virtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43/ --- description: The historical guidance emphasises attainable rewards, mobile access, clear rules and recipient support, with a separate outlook for 2019. title: Virtual Incentives Guides Digital Gift Card Redemption and Customer Loyalty image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/virtual-incentives-guides-digital-gift-card-redemption-customer-loyalty-ded90e1b44365590072ee045145e26e1.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) # Virtual Incentives Guides Digital Gift Card Redemption and Customer Loyalty The historical guidance emphasises attainable rewards, mobile access, clear rules and recipient support, with a separate outlook for 2019. By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) October 29, 2018 1 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Guides%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Redemption%20and%20Customer%20Loyalty "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Guides%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Redemption%20and%20Customer%20Loyalty%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Customer Rewards Program](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/virtual-incentives-guides-digital-gift-card-redemption-customer-loyalty-rewards-program-w600.webp) Photo: Source: virtualincentives.com [Virtual Incentives](https://giftcard.news/company/virtual-incentives/) advised businesses to align customer rewards with their own brand and customer preferences in guidance published on October 29, 2018\. The company argued that copying another retailer’s programme does not establish whether the same approach fits a different business. The design priorities included clear rules, rewards customers can realistically earn and a straightforward redemption process. The company suggested smaller, more frequent incentives, including gift cards, as an alternative to relying only on a distant high-value prize. Digital and mobile access were prominent in the recommendations. Virtual Incentives described virtual cards and recipient-selected rewards as options that could reduce the time between earning and using an incentive. The guide also discussed branded messages and support for recipients who have questions. It argued that the service surrounding redemption forms part of the sponsoring business’s customer experience. A separate section forecast developments for 2019, including paid loyalty programmes, personalisation, location-based offers and financial rewards. Those were predictions made in the October 2018 article, rather than a report of subsequent market outcomes. The piece offered provider guidance and referenced other businesses as examples. It did not present a newly measured result for a Virtual Incentives client or establish that one reward design suits every programme. ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [How to Build Customer Rewards Programs that Foster Brand Loyalty](https://www.virtualincentives.com/customer-rewards-program-ideas/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — virtualincentives.com ## In this article ### Companies * [Virtual Incentives](https://giftcard.news/company/virtual-incentives/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Guides%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Redemption%20and%20Customer%20Loyalty "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Guides%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Redemption%20and%20Customer%20Loyalty%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fvirtual-incentives-provides-guidance-on-building-customer-rewards-progra-7caf44309f43%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Giftbit’s Research Incentive Guide Puts Unclaimed Gift Cards and Privacy in Focus](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/giftbit-research-incentives-unclaimed-gift-cards-privacy/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 17, 2026 2 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Yoyo Reports Platō Loyalty Results a Year After Card-Linked Launch](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/yoyo-plato-card-linked-loyalty-first-year-results/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 16, 2026 2 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Prezzee sets out employee gift card options for work anniversaries](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/prezzee-employee-gift-card-options-work-anniversaries/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 15, 2026 2 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person","name":"Suzie Elis","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/","description":"Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Suzie Elis editorial 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