this last year was a big one at fivestars.

as a company, we doubled in size, opened an office in denver, co, and announced our most recent fundraising.

but more importantly, we helped more than 10k amazing small businesses grow, establish deeper relationships with customers, and increase repeat business through the use of an effective loyalty program.

download our free retail customer loyalty success guide to learn how to drive customers back 2x more.

we’re excited about what’s to come in 2016. but before we’re well into the new year, we wanted to take a look back on the highlights, accomplishments, and impact customer loyalty efforts had on small businesses in 2015:

• more than 10k small businesses now use fivestars – in 2015, the number of businesses using fivestars grew to 10k. this means more small businesses have access to a robust customer retention marketing system than ever before, helping the little guys successfully compete with big box businesses.

• autopilot drove 3.1 million visits to small businesses + we added 2 more behavior triggers – autopilot, the fivestars automated messaging feature, which sends offers to customers based on their behavior, drove 3.1 million visits to small businesses that may not have happened otherwise. we also added two more behavior triggers (a total of 7) to autopilot in 2015. these triggers allow small businesses to automatically send messages and drive visits from “lost” customers, (those who haven’t visited in 180+ days) and “network” members, people who have the fivestars app, and show interest in a local business, but have never visited before.

• 1.3 million customers were “saved” or “won back”  – of the 3.1 million visits that autopilot drove, 1.3 million of those visits were what we call “win backs,” meaning, these were customers who hadn’t visited in quite some time, and were at risk of never visiting again.

• new promotions tool drove over 1.7 million visits to small businesses + additional full-price repeat business  – in february of 2015, we introduced promotions, the newest fivestars messaging tool. it’s used to send a variety of promotions on an individual basis via email, text message, or mobile app notifications. promotions alone drove more than 1.7 million visits to small businesses. even better, 79% of people who visited as a result of a promotion, also visited that same business again at a later date and paid full price.

• loyalty program signs ups, checkins, and visits increased by 50-200 percent with the new customer touchscreen – in may of 2015, we launched and introduced our latest product, the fivestars customer touchscreen. it’s a customer-facing tablet that allows customers to sign up or check in to fivestars themselves by typing in their phone number. it increases visibility, creates less work for cashiers, increases messaging opt-ins, and creates a card-free experience. it’s also increased checkins, signups, and visits by 50-200 percent!

• added suggested promotions & enabled promotion scheduling  – in addition to introducing promotions, we later added a scheduling feature, allowing you to write promotions when it’s convenient, then send them at prime times. we also analyzed successful promotions, and used this data to create and add suggested promotions directly inside the online fivestars dashboard.

• the fivestars network doubled to 10 million members – what exactly is the fivestars network? it’s the total number of people who have signed up for fivestars at any participating business, or through our mobile app. the number of people who joined the network grew, and not just by a little – our network doubled in 2015 to more than 10 million members and growing.

• updated and improved the fivestars app – throughout 2015, we updated and improved the fivestars app, which allows members to discover new, local businesses, monitor points and rewards, and receive messages from small businesses. we’re making some pretty exciting updates, improvements, and additions to the fivestars app in the next year, so stay tuned.

• launched fivestars merchant resource center – although it’s still in the process of being filled with even more helpful content, we launched a fivestars merchant resource center, “succeed with fivestars.” on this site, we’ll often share our latest findings, small business marketing and customer loyalty advice, as well as fivestars tips and best practices. be sure to bookmark it!

this next year, the good times will only continue, our product will become even stronger, and our mission to help small businesses thrive will remain in full force. your great ideas and feedback helped us make fivestars what it is today, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together in 2016.