CrowdTwist, an industry-leading provider of omnichannel loyalty and engagement solutions, today released a report titled “The Marketer’s Guide to Loyalty,” a consumer-focused research report gauging affinity and proclivity to loyalty programs.
Recently, CrowdTwist conducted research into what makes customers loyal, how loyalty programs can help drive better customer experiences, how to create the shopping experiences that consumers want, and how to engage customers beyond their purchases.
This report, the first in a two-part series, provides recommendations for brands based on the general findings from our research and reveals the brands that consumers are most loyal to and insight into what features make up the most popular loyalty programs in market today.
Key findings include:
- 87% of consumers are willing to recommend their favorite brand to their friends and family. Loyal customers help drive new customer acquisition.
- 71% of people are active in at least one loyalty program. Reward redemption is also comparatively high. 68% of people redeem rewards at least once a quarter, and 25% of those redeem at least once a month.
- 62% of consumers could be persuaded to choose one brand over another due to the presence of a loyalty program. 40% of respondents said their favorite brand has a loyalty program and they are a member. 20% said their favorite brand doesn’t have a loyalty program but they would join if they did.
- 39% of consumers want free delivery and 29% want special member prices and perks as a loyalty program member. Consumers understand the value of loyalty programs and are willing to pay for them. 59% of people are willing to pay for a loyalty program with valuable perks.
- 82% of consumers are willing to complete a survey as part of a loyalty program. This engagement activity helps drive better personalization by enabling the collection of unique and actionable first-party data. In addition, consumers wanted to be rewarded for engagement activities; 50% wanted to be rewarded for visiting a company’s website, 47% for playing a game, and 47% for writing a review.
- 55% of consumers want personalized experiences from brands, but only 12% think their favorite brand executes personalization successfully. This indicates that brands are not effectively collecting or using data to successfully personalize experiences for customers.
- While the majority (64%) of consumers prefer to shop online, 48% of consumers also enjoy shopping in-store. Brands need to invest in omnichannel marketing and seamless brand experiences across all channels. Loyalty membership is an ideal persistent identifier should brands be able to activate and execute across all consumer touchpoints.
Emily Rudin, Chief Customer Officer at CrowdTwist, remarks “This survey affirms the value loyalty programs provide, not only for brands but for consumers. The power of loyalty cannot be underestimated, loyal customers spend more, engage more, and help drive customer acquisition. Having a loyalty program isn’t enough to earn the hearts and wallet share of consumers, brands must ensure their program is designed to add value to the customer relationship. Consumers also expect brands to adopt an omnichannel approach and invest in the tools and technology to capture and apply data and analytics to power meaningful personalization.”
For a snapshot of the findings, view our infographic, or download “The Marketer’s Guide to Loyalty” to learn more about the survey findings and for guidance on how to tailor your loyalty strategy to meet the expectations of your customers.