Casey’s General Stores unveiled its upgraded loyalty app Wednesday, which the company had said was in the works since late last year. The new features are meant to increase the ease of use and convenience of the app, and include an improved user interface.

One of the updates is a lifetime savings tracker, which makes it easier for members to see their points in real time. This feature can go a long way, since letting customers see how much money they’ve saved over time can help reinforce why they've chosen to join a specific loyalty program in the first place, Matt Sargent, director of strategy analytics for Sargent Up North and a former director of loyalty analytics for CPG consultancy Big Chalk, said in an interview.

“I think it's important that Casey's — or any rewards program for that matter — really displays that and pushes that front and center,” said Sargent.

While working for Big Chalk, Sargent helped lead the strategy and innovation for Casey’s rewards program, with a focus on using customer behavior to drive program strategy. Sargent only commented on the information about the app that Casey's made public.

Sargent said he also likes Casey’s new quick-redeem option within the app, since customers often complain about the complexity of a brand’s redeem process. That matched survey data from PayByCar, showing that more than 20% of the respondents said they didn’t bother using a loyalty app because redeeming rewards was too complicated.

Beyond that, Sargent noted that Casey’s shareable referral codes will be something other retailers can lean into moving forward as they look to gain new loyalty members.

“One of the things I’ve often suggested to retailers is [a feature to] give your points to your friends,” he said. “The retailer would do that because they're bringing in a new customer, particularly at a loyalty level, and that's a great way to get things started.”

Besides Casey’s, Circle K, Arko Corp. and Parker’s have also relaunched their loyalty apps in recent months. And as loyalty participation continues to trail industries such as grocery and restaurants, more retailers are likely to keep investing into their programs in effort to bring in more customers.

“If you have a slight incentive to go here versus [another store], that can really steer a lot of dollars,” Sargent said. 

That incentive often includes members-only discounts. Since consumers are price conscious by nature, those promotions can entice potential new members, Sargent said.

“You can do it in a way that you're actually going out to the customer and engaging them digitally versus having to wait for them to go and store,” he said “And that's kind of a big play.”

But beyond the dollars and promotions, retailers can benefit from upgrading their loyalty programs to build better connections with their customers, Sargent said. A quality loyalty program can give customers a sense of familiarity, which can reinforce their relationship to the entire brand moving forward.

“Retailers are realizing the importance of truly investing in their own brand,” Sargent said.