Grundig E-bike Lowered CAC by 50% with a Gamified Loyalty Program

Business Profile

Grundig is a long-established German brand famous for consumer electronics. In 2023, it decided to enter the e-bike market with the launch of its sub-brand, Grundig E-bike. Grundig E-bike offers high-quality electronic bicycles with strict quality control.

Brand: Grundig E-bike

Industry: Sports & Outdoors

Platform: Shopify

Country: Germany

Year Founded: 2023

Employees: 201-500

Usage: Since September 2024

Aimed to Blaze a Trail in the Highly Competitive Market

As a newcomer to the e-bike market, Grundig E-bike is backed by the well-established parent company, Grundig, which is reputable for quality engineering, innovation, and design in the European market. Evidently, the new brand benefits from inherited trust, like a newborn baby with a silver spoon in its mouth.

However, Grundig E-bike’s initial growth was hindered by its low brand awareness (compared with well-established players like VanMoof and Cowboy) and insufficient marketing efforts.

Consider this: E-bikes are high-ticket, feature-rich items whose price tags often range from 500 to 4,000 euros. New brands need a while to educate consumers properly and expand their dealer network to make product consultation and maintenance services readily available.

This was not easy, and the Grundig E-bike team increasingly realized that to go viral, they needed to harness their loyal customers’ collective power and make them proud to be part of the brand story and stick around.

This brought forth to a gamified loyalty program, which hooked customers up, earning “G” points and spreading word-of-mouth on social media.

How Grundig E-bike Designed Its Loyalty Program

1. A Unique, Brand-Centric Currency: “G Points”

Grundig E-bike wanted to reinforce its brand through every customer interaction. The first thing they needed to do was make the abstract concept of loyalty points into something more realistic, engaging, and easy to accept.

With the help of Loloyal’s product team, a unique gold coin featuring the letter “G” with shiny metal texture and exquisite grooves was born.

To realize the gamification design, they introduced the “Piggy Bank” to highlight different ways to earn “G” points. In this way, the interaction with Grundig E-bike’s loyalty program seems like dropping coins in the Piggy Bank and saving for something big in the future.

What’s more, those whose posts are selected by Grundig can get their points doubled. This is really exciting, and it encourages customers to create better photos and videos and share them on different social media accounts.

How to use these points? There are “Grundig Rewards” in the form of discount coupons for future purchases, waiting for members to redeem.

Grundig E-bike includes all these on a loyalty page to tell every shopper, “How to Play” and “What’s in it for me?”

💡More to Know:

Beyond visuals, other brands also explored creative ways to name their points and align with their niches. For example, Starbucks calls points “Stars,” while Keep (a fitness app) uses “Calories.”

Besides, you can spice up membership tiers instead of using the standard Bronze/Silver/Gold. Say, if you’re a player in the e-bike market, you may consider using “First-Time Rider,” “Cycling Enthusiast,” and “King of the Hill” to resonate with customers and make moving up tiers fun.

2. Reinforcing Brand Values by Working on CSR

Nowadays, customers are more motivated to buy from brands actively engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Grundig E-bike is well aware of this, so its loyalty program includes two special redemption options:

Redeem 1,000 G points to donate €10 to Bärenherz Children’s Hospital in Leipzig, Germany;
Redeem 3,500 G points to get a Grundig E-bike Canvas Bag (with free shipping included).

The first is Grundig E-bike’s charitable giving initiative, and it tints the brand with warmth. To earn this reward, buying one Grundig e-bike is enough. This makes supporting the brand more purpose-driven. This proves to be far more effective than some ad campaigns.

Grundig E-bike provides the second option to target the growing number of eco-conscious consumers. As e-bikes are about promoting urban mobility and reducing carbon footprint, the move to offer reusable bags reflects their brand values. Plus, this also means being part of the Grundig E-bike community.

💡 Pro Tips:

Grundig E-bike shows us how a loyalty program can be used to demonstrate brand values and social responsibility.

Brands of daily necessities and supplements with collectible packaging can go further by making recycling initiatives part of their loyalty programs. An example is Saturnbird Coffee. The brand runs a recycling campaign where customers exchange empty cups for new coffee or souvenirs.

Brands can also issue digital certificates to participants, building a community of advocates.

3. Let Customers Be Part of the Brand Story

E-bikes are durable goods with a relatively long lifespan. Compared with standard bicycles, they are considered a bigger investment. This means low purchase frequency. So, to achieve growth in the long term, it’s essential to build a community and drive referrals.

How did Grundig E-bike achieve this purpose? The brand incentivizes customers to create content and become brand advocates:

Leave a review → 150 G Points;

Post Photos on Instagram → 200 G Points;

Share Photos on Twitter or Facebook Group → 200 G Points;

Publish a YouTube video (Over 2mins, at least 720P) → 1,000 G Points;

2x points for Grundig chosen posts.

In the meantime, Grundig maintains a set of standards for UGC content. For example, the brand asks customers to include hashtags in their social posts, and all YouTube videos must be HD (at least 720P) and last over 2 minutes. After all, high-quality UGC content is way more convincing and converts potential buyers better than tens of ads.

To drive referrals, Grundig launched a compelling referral program: Both the referrer and the new customer get a €35 OFF coupon. The offer is much more attractive than the common “Sign up and Get €10 OFF” offer.

Thanks to Loloyal, Grundig achieved a 30% conversion rate via referral while reducing customer acquisition costs by 50%. This is impressive in an industry where it often costs over $100 to acquire one new customer via paid ads.

💡 Pro Tips:

To create buzz and improve conversion rates, brands can actively encourage social proof through a loyalty program.

Referral incentives should be more attractive than any other reward and require the least effort. This can make existing customers feel “Wow, it’s worth sharing!”

Final Thoughts

Grundig E-bike’s success indicates that a loyalty program should go beyond points and become an always-on engine for brand building and customer interaction.

Here are the key takeaways:

Loyalty programs aren’t just about points and rewards. Done well, they’re vehicles for strengthening brand identity and relationships.

The way points look, what they’re called, and how they’re redeemed are all part of your brand experience. So, make these memorable and reflect your brand values.