In this episode of Add To Cart, we are joined by Martin Filz from Pureprofile and Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis from Retail Doctor Group
Experts in research and retail, Martin and Anastasia collected data from 1000 people across all demographics to generate ‘How To Grow Consumer Loyalty’ and they join us to share the findings. In this chat, Martin and Anastasia share what customers want from a loyalty programme, they discuss the attention economy and the Gen Z customer and critical issues of safety and privacy. Plus, we also get insights into the surprising thing that happens to loyalty as consumers get older.
“They want more than collecting points, they want an experience.”
Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis
Brand connection
(Anastasia) “As people, as humans, customers are naturally loyal. It’s in our nature to be naturally loyal. But we’re also humans, so we want to engage. We’re driven by emotions. Up to 95 % of all decisions that consumers make in regards to retail and purchase is driven by their emotions. So this concept of loyalty is actually based on how they connect emotionally with somebody or something.
So you’re loyal to your friends because you’ve got an emotional connection with them. It works in the same way with brands. What the research actually highlighted was that customers are very much loyal to the brand. And it’s this natural urge to connect with something emotional and to have this human connection with a brand. And that’s what this research really did put together. So when we talk brand, it was almost the humanisation of the brand.”
Why do loyalty schemes fail?
(Martin) “Bear in mind that your loyalty scheme can actually create disloyalty. So a high percentage, I think something like 77% of loyalty schemes actually fail. And they fail because the audience is disengaged, it’s over complicated. It’s ignoring tech opportunities, the ease of use, it’s not relevant.
And guess what happens if I’ve turned away from a loyalty scheme? I might actually turn towards another brand full stop. And so you’ve got to be really, really cautious, don’t run before you can walk, test the water. Do you have the bandwidth to do it? Is it truly adding value? Or is it just a cost to my business?”
The future of loyalty
(Anastasia) “The gamification that’s coming about through loyalty is phenomenal. Some of the apps that are coming up where as a customer you know you can engage on the app. I saw one coming out of Europe, it was a fashion brand. You could collect loyalty by checking in on social, by taking pictures in store, by a whole heap of different engagements. And it became a game and it became a game that you collected points. And every time you engage with that brand across a variety of platforms, you got points.
And it was aimed at a Gen Z consumer, obviously, but it was also aimed at this consumer that’s really driven by fun, excitement, difference and winning. They want you to win. And therefore it was who can collect the most points.
And I think that concept, if that is your target segment who are really driven by gamification, excitement, and winning status as an issue to them, I think some of the concepts we’re seeing come out are just fantastic.”
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