New ECEC loyalty program could be the secret ingredient to retaining enrolled families

With so many families familiar with the concept of rewards programs, it makes sense that this popular initiative could find a space in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. After all, families are spending large portions of their income securing optimal education and care experiences for their children… What if there was a way to ensure that they were rewarded for their choices? 

Enter Nurch, a new ECEC specific loyalty rewards platform, which sees families earning points which are then redeemable at over 85 leading Australian retailers. Points are linked with the amount of gap fees paid by enrolled families, in a sector first which not only rewards loyalty, but also becomes a point of difference for approved providers. 

“With over 15 years of experience in ECEC, we were tired of the same old promotional strategies or discounts childcare centres used to increase enrolments,” Kara Smyth, Cofounder at Nurch explained.

While the “tried and tested” promotional strategies are sometimes useful for building enrolments, they rarely benefit those loyal families who remain with a service throughout their child’s learning journey. It was here where the Nurch team saw the greatest opportunity to affect real change. 

Nurch not only helps to bring new families in, but also retains those who have chosen to stick with the service, recognising their efforts with well earnt rewards. 

Nurch rewards existing families with redeemable points to spend 

For every dollar a family spends on gap fees, Nurch points accumulate. These points can then be redeemed for digital gift cards issued by Prezee which can be used at over 85 leading Australian retailers.

A seamless integration between Nurch’s loyalty platform and a service’s child care management system (CCMS) facilitates the calculation and allocation of points for each family with the corresponding adjustment automatically made to their Nurch account, making the process high value and low stress for busy service operators. 

Nurch has quickly become an essential part of the offering provided to families by Imagine Education Group, one which Nadine Ross, National Operations Manager says is “a special point of difference which shows families our care doesn’t stop in the centre, we care about their family life at home too.” 

“It’s now an essential part of our marketing and operations,” she added. “We find it tremendous to be able to provide our families with rewards they value.” 

Service managers are also able to create special promotions with Nurch points to incentivise families to book in on days where vacancies exist, or to reward those families who choose to book in for four days a week or more. 

Nurch’s innovative product recognised with Gold Stevie at the 2021 Stevie Awards

Nurch’s innovation has been recognised internationally, with the team recently being recognised in the 2021 Stevie Awards – Women in Business where they received a Gold Stevie, reiterating the young startup’s success in finding a solution that supports both families and providers as well as empowering women.

Ms Smyth has recently been nominated for Brisbane’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year for her work with the company. 

“The importance of valuing loyalty, consistency of care and your staff has never been so pivotal to the success of any childcare centres,” she added, “and we are thrilled that our hard work and vision is being recognised.”

To learn more about Nurch please see here.