Noths & More

Launching and Scaling a Membership Program

NOTHS & More is a paid membership program designed to increase customer retention and frequency of purchase at Not On The High Street. The MVP laid the foundation for a broader membership strategy, starting with a simple 10% discount on every purchase for a year. The goal was to create a more rewarding experience that could evolve into a richer, more integrated offering across both web and app.

DEFINING SUCCESS

Developing a membership program had one clear objective: to drive more purchases across both web and native app platforms. This meant encouraging new customers to adopt more active shopping behaviour at NOTHS, while also rewarding our most loyal shoppers with meaningful benefits.

To measure success and drive future iterations, we focused on affecting a set of core metrics that reflected customer value, engagement, and adoption:

Due to technical constraints, we could only influence one part of the user journey for the MVP. Checkout was chosen strategically as the most effective point to introduce the membership callout.

At checkout, users are already committed to completing a purchase, making them more receptive to last-minute upsells. The membership offer was introduced as a simple, low-friction add-on: a checkbox with clear language and immediate impact.

Once selected, the membership line item was added to the order, and the 10% discount was applied instantly. The interaction was reversible—unchecking the box removed both the membership and the discount, giving users transparency and control.

This design gave the offer high visibility without interrupting the flow, and the real-time visual feedback of the applied discount helped encourage adoption.

To support discoverability outside of checkout, we designed a dedicated Membership page that clearly explained the program’s benefits and how it worked.

This page served multiple purposes:
• Educated users unfamiliar with the program
• Highlighted the 10% discount and how it applied
• Explained the one-time fee and 1-year duration
• Provided activation guidance for guest users

It was accessible from the main site navigation and featured across key touchpoints like CRM campaigns and app surfaces. This ensured membership could be discovered even by users who hadn’t yet reached checkout.

For account holders, membership was activated automatically. But for users who checked out as guests, creating an account was required for activation. So we designed a timely activation email that:

• Prompted account creation or sign-in
• Explained that activation was required to access benefits
• Reinforced value with a friendly tone and focused CTA

ACTIVATION EMAIL FOR GUEST USERS

ACTIVATION EMAIL FOR ACCOUNT HOLDERS

LAUNCH AND RESULTS

NOTHS & More launched on October 3, 2023, as a checkout-only MVP across Web and App. Within the first five months, it showed strong performance across all key metrics, with high adoption, solid activation rates, and increased purchasing behaviour among members. App membership share reached 21%, with guest checkout purchases accounting for 36% of sales.

By March 2024, the MVP had shown strong traction:

The success of the MVP proved there was a real appetite for a loyalty-driven membership model. However, by design, the initial implementation was limited to the checkout experience. This constraint made sense technically, but it also left value on the table.

Had the program evolved beyond MVP, the next step would have been to surface membership more broadly across the user journey to improve discoverability, making it feel like a core part of the NOTHS experience rather than a last-minute add-on.

Another idea for expanding the membership experience was introducing a dedicated Membership Hub within the user’s account area. This would give members a clear overview of their perks and current status.

While a web version could support the experience, the long-term goal was to prioritise a fully featured mobile-first implementation. The app offers a more controlled and engaging environment for incentivising loyalty and long-term retention.

To accommodate these changes, an overhaul of the account section would be recommended.

ACCOUNT SECTTION RE-DESIGN CONCEPT