The UK Loyalty Landscape
£0-£1m annual operating budget for loyalty programmes was the most prevalent amongst our respondents.
Within these sectors, the predominant job function was in Loyalty/Customer Experience (Retention, CRM, Loyalty Management, etc).
The top three sectors companies operated in, each representing 30% of the total, were:
The Insurance sector accounted for 10% of the total.
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Retail
29
%
41
%
What do consumers love, loathe and want to change? Read on to find out and to discover how consumer desires compare and contrast with our earlier loyalty programme research amongst UK businesses.
Last year consumers had a lot on their collective plates. Contending with post-pandemic recovery and trying to establish their ‘new normal’, while coping with rising costs of living, didn’t make life any easier or anyone. Against this backdrop, we commissioned independent research to investigate their views on loalty programmes and their benefits.
Is the customer always right?
Engagement Drivers
Extracting customer value
63
%
Branding
51
%
Customer analysis
60
%
We asked ‘What makes you loyal to a business or brand’? Unsurprisingly, price/value for money emerged as the front-runner, with a whopping 86% citing this as their motivation. Could this be a response to to cost of living pressures, with value-seeking consumers looking to pocket what they can? Our research next year will reveal more. That said, service, convenience and the mere existence of a loyalty programme all inspire loyalty amongst over half of those surveyed too.
Interestingly, social responsibility (brands giving back) and companies’ attitudes to the environment scored lowest, with 20% or under saying these aspects have an influence. That’s not to say these consumers disregard the environment but it does indicate that consumers will be more loyal to brands offering tangible loyalty benefits.
Only 6% of respondents say they are a regular user of more than six loyalty schemes. Our analysis of respondents shows that the more programmes a consumer participates in, the more likely they are to pay for one or more of them. So it seems consumers are now selective about which programmes they use and those that are ‘loyalty savvy’ will pay where they see value – but more on this later.
reported that their companies have a loyalty programme with targeted marketing, offers and features
reported not yet achieving a positive ROI on their loyalty programme...
...of these, 50% had been active for less than a year with an operating budget of less than £1m
of our respondents’ loyalty programmes have been active for over three years...
...with 35% being at least five years old
Loyalty programme membership
This implies loyalty approaches are maturing into a ‘long game’ where long-term value creation is recognised together with shorter-term directly attributable transactions. The future points to loyalty programmes as a strategic asset, holistically serving the needs of the business.
Our take
64
%
Retail
45
%
Financial Services & Banking
56
%
Travel, Tourism & Hospitality
55
%
Insurance
Relative to other respondents, the Retail sector accounts for more free loyalty programmes with just 15% reporting a hybrid model – the lowest of all sectors.
Retail
Financial Services & Banking reported the highest levels of paid-for schemes. This is perhaps reflective of the different types of benefits on offer from each, with retailers offering discounts and rewards while financial services companies offer more added value experiences, tickets and other tangible benefits.
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality has the lowest relative level of paid for schemes in our survey as the value of a programme in this vertical is proven from the ‘air miles’ concept and Insurance follows this trend too, as brands seek to differentiate their largely homogenous offerings. There is also evidence of hybrid or ‘freemium’ schemes to greater or lesser degrees, across all sectors.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
The majority of schemes in the Insurance sector are free to join. However, use of hybrid models is growing, with 27% of our survey respondents stating that they run hybrid programmes.
Insurance
64% of respondents are active members of paid loyalty programmes – Amazon Prime of course being an early leader in the paid sector, proving that consumers will pay for programmes if they perceive sufficient benefit. 32% do not belong to a paid programme and don’t intend to join one either. So there’s a two thirds/one third split at present amongst consumers. Collinson projects that subscription schemes will continue to grow, now that the category is established and proving successfully for both businesses and their customer bases.
Unsurprisingly a majority of respondents said that they would consider paying for increased access to vouchers and discounts, as well as the ability to receive free delivery and returns; the fundamentals of the Tesco Clubcard Plus and Amazon paid-for programmes. The bottom line? People will pay as long as the value exchange is rich enough and when people pay, it is the convenience and value of elements like free delivery and returns as well as really good discounts that form the bedrock of motivation.
Brands beware though – our analysis of responses shows that those who pay to belong to a programme expect more from it. Over and above the more ‘standard’ rewards such as points, consumers splashing the cash are seeking extras like special events and partner rewards.
Consumers of today will pay
Retail
Makes the most use of their brand discounts
Financial Services & Banking
Tends to use brand discounts and rewards points/miles the most
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Utilises mainly its brand discounts and rewards points/miles
Insurance
The leading sector for its use of added value experiences
Retail schemes make the most use of their brand discounts (a substantial 73%), then next tend to deploy rewards points or miles (56%) with relatively low use of digital rewards such as cryptocurrency and digital content. So, the Retail sector is still showing a very traditional approach to value as a utility i.e. straight discounts.
Retail
Financial Services & Banking, like the Retail and Travel, Transport & Hospitality sectors, tend to use their brand discounts and rewards points or miles the most, but more interestingly lead the way in using digital rewards like cryptocurrency too. Perhaps this is not so surprising as it aligns with their core payments / financial products. Their use of sustainability-oriented rewards may be driven by the profitability of banks when compared to say the struggling retail sector.
Financial Services & Banking
The Travel, Transport & Hospitality sector utilises mainly its brand discounts and rewards points/miles (56% and 41% respectively) as a way of accessing highly aspirational travel rewards, however it makes the least use of digital content – which is perhaps surprising given that this sector is so rich in high interest, inspirational content. It seems they focus on the value of their rewards instead.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Insurance is the stand-out leader for its use of added value experiences such as special access and status recognition, unsurprising perhaps when there is such little opportunity to create value from within their core business operations. Its very high relative use of digital content and discounts off third-party partners shows that insurance companies are striving to differentiate in a competitive market.
Insurance
So what do consumers find frustrating, if anything? A third are content and love the loyalty programmes in their preferred sector, so hats off to the brands keeping customers happy here. However, one in four have noticed rewards value being diluted over time, one in five are frustrated by a paucity of redemption options and 15% resent a lack of personalisation which means they receive irrelevant and poorly targeted offers. Those belonging to multiple schemes are more inclined to have these niggles.
The main change consumers would make given the chance is to increase rewards based on their spend – they want the value they are bringing to be reciprocated. Amongst those who pay for their programme, there is increased interest in experiential and partner rewards and these consumers would like an element of ‘surprise and delight’ back in return for their financial commitment. This indicates that paid for schemes drive a deeper level of expectation and engagement, with transactions turning into a more of a reciprocal relationship.
What customers love and loathe
of Retail opted
for no change
of Travel, Transport & Hospitality
opted for no change
of Financial Services & Banking
opted for greater focus on
added value experiences
of Insurance opted for
more money-saving offers
with third parties
Those working in Retail were more content with the status quo, again perhaps given the inherent financial contribution of those programmes. Nearly 40% opted for no change, with 15% considering a paid-for option and the rest pretty evenly spread between third party money saving offers, surprise and delight rewards, additional tiered benefits and a new rewards currency, varying between 27% and 21%.
Retail
Travel, Transport & Hospitality respondents indicated a preference for keeping things as they are (the second highest at 34%). However an equal number (again 34%) would opt for a greater focus on value added experiences, followed by 25% desiring money saving offers with 3rd parties. Interestingly, the lowest recorded score across all sectors for this question falls to Travel, Transport & Hospitality with just 6% wanting additional tiered benefits for high value customers.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Financial Services & Banking respondents scored highest for wanting to provide a greater focus on added value experiences to deepen brand engagement, for a new type of rewards points currency aligned to core payment products and for additional tiered benefits for high-value customers, recognising the disparity in customer value related to net wealth as seen in this sector.
Financial Services & Banking
Like those in Financial Services, our Insurance respondents sought more change than status quo. Those in the highly competitive (and often price-comparison shopped Insurance space) made a powerful bid for more money-saving offers with third parties and the ability to surprise and delight with their brand – showing a need to be different and well ahead of others sectors in this regard.
Insurance
We asked our respondents (to test their loyalty to their own programmes) which main reward feature they would change given the opportunity. The results, especially in Insurance, are surprising.
Contentment (or apathy) looms large for some, others are up for change
Since the only constant in loyalty is the increasing rate of change, standing still is unlikely to be the best option for established programmes as customers’ needs shift and technology changes allow the entrance of new competitors. In a market saturated with loyalty offerings, strategies to renew, refresh and even re-imagine are needed to deliver on the profit, differentiation and customer engagement goals that brands are seeking to address with their loyalty propositions. There is appetite for change across the board and this is the correct inclination.
Our take
Keep it real to build appeal
The most appealing benefits are discounts off own (89%) and third party brands (85%) and points or miles (78%) – pointing to the importance of tangibility time and again. Consumers are not showing interest in crypto currency, NFT’s, digital content and sustainable rewards with under 10% finding these appealing. And non-tangible rewards such as recognition and thank you notes did not appeal to the majority of respondents either.
Consumers are showing a fairly conservative approach here, preferring traditional rewards. Perhaps it will take brands to innovate and relatively nascent digital assets to become more mainstream before consumers see their benefit.
Retailers are seen as offering the best rewards and benefits, by 64% of our respondents. Next come credit cards and hotel/accommodation providers but at much lower levels (below 12%). Respondents engage with retail programmes much more frequently and therefore have greater familiarity with these programmes and their benefits compared to other sectors.
Tesco Clubcard was the hands-down favourite loyalty programme, with 38% putting it at the top, followed by Boots Advantage card (16%) and Nectar (15%). This just goes to show that retail schemes really are most loved and reinforces the sector view above. What are the ‘magic’ components here? Consumers shop frequently so there is familiarity with the schemes, along with high utilisation opportunities and clearly defined, tangible benefits such as discounts.
of respondents report no relation between their loyalty programme and their overall brand proposition
of companies are somewhat, fairly or completely confident they can keep brand values aligned with evolving social sentiment and ethical trends
recognise partnerships will be important in offering a more personalised customer experience in future
Big retail names are much loved
Retail
Greatest relative spend on points and redemptions
Financial Services & Banking
Fairly meaty spend on technology & infrastructure
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Makes use of internal and external resources
Insurance
Higher relative spend on technology & infrastructure
The Retail sector reports the greatest relative spend on points and redemptions and the least on programme management resources, reflective of the scale at which these programmes operate. Compared to other sectors, the Travel, Transport & Hospitality sector says it spends most on programme management resources, perhaps linked to front-line customer experience enablement and staffing and least on supporting technology & infrastructure.
Retail
While Financial Services & Banking as a sector has fairly meaty spending on technology & infrastructure and rewards points issuance and redemption, its spending on service benefits provision stands out relative to others, again reflecting the relatively higher margins in this sector where spending on loyalty is key to capture and protect market share.
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality really make use of these internal and external resources, standing head and shoulders above the other industries at 16%, whilst coming in considerably lower for the technology and infrastructure costs – an indication perhaps that many programmes are based on external platforms.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Insurance outstrips others in its relative spending on technology & infrastructure but this is a big-ticket annual spend sector. Conversely, they claim to be most frugal in terms of rewards points issuance and redemption spend, possibly due to their heavy use of external offers and incentives as flagged above.
Insurance
Only 26% of respondents are fairly or completely confident that business can stay up to date with changing social and ethical issues such as sustainability, the environment and corporate responsibility. This is in stark contrast to businesses, where 75% felt this way. So consumers show little faith in brands’ moral compasses while companies believe in themselves. (Though consumers have little faith in brands here, we know as mentioned above that they themselves are not especially motivated by sustainable rewards).
Consumers and businesses are also at odds about partner rewards. Only 28% of respondents agreed that partnerships are important or very important to the success of loyalty programmes and their ability to offer a more personalised experience to members; this compares to 56% of business respondents. Partner rewards of course provide brands with affordable ways to reward customers and companies will perhaps be disappointed to realize that these are not compelling to more consumers. This said, when we look at paid for programmes, partner rewards grow in importance.
Mind the gap - consumers vs. businesses
12
Only
%
Retail
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Insurance
The Retail sector scores second highest (44%) for future investment in rewards points or miles but also scores highest for no additional investment, perhaps due to its current frailty with thin margins and challenging market conditions.
Retail
Financial Services & Banking companies are looking for ‘the edge’ by investing in analytics and innovation more than any other sector, as the ‘winner will take all’ in future by becoming the trusted partner for customers’ banking, payments and wallet needs, including money, points and even cryptocurrencies and rewards.
Financial Services & Banking
Those in Travel, Transport & Hospitality plan to make a greater relative investment in insourced programme management resources, consolidating their current position and pursuing a potential cost-cutting, rather than value-adding, strategy.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Insurance-based loyalty programmes report planning greater investment in both points/miles and technology infrastructure because they need to continue to differentiate against existing competition and new start-ups, as well as demonstrate value in the face of price comparison shopping.
Insurance
We asked if consumers have different expectations of rewards in the future – over the next five years - and responses indicate there is no radical departure from today. Consumers will still want discounts and rewards points or miles which really do appear to be the bedrock of loyalty. Consumers are expressing continued appetite for this reward ‘currency’ and brands know it is the biggest motivator. However 39% of brands say so compared with 68% of consumers. So are brands under-estimating just how much they need to put on the table in future here?
There is some interest from consumers in receiving real time rewards in future (offers sent to your phone when shopping for example) and also in being able to earn points across multiple brands. However, overall there’s no big change foreseen by our surveyed base. Perhaps this is a little like the infamous Henry Ford ‘quote’ when asked about consumer input to the development of the Ford Model T: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
Consumers are renowned for relying on known quantities in research but when brands begin to provide innovative experiences, like Starbucks’ scheme harnessing the metaverse, interest will increase. For now though, it’s fair enough that consumers can’t ‘vote’ for what they don’t yet really know, see or understand.
of respondents (overall) reported no plans for future investment
Discounts are not disappearing!
Collinson has long argued that loyalty programmes - especially those that work hand in hand with brand - are effective as a competitive differentiator. It seems that business and consumers ‘get’ this too and they both agree, with 85% of consumers and 82% of business respondents acknowledging that loyalty programmes can really make a brand stand out. Consumers and brands may have differing opinions on several aspects of loyalty but both are attesting, in unison, to the power of loyalty programmes in setting brands apart.
Loyalty programmes as a competitive differentiator
‘Customer Expectations’ was the trend most commonly ranked as the ‘Most Impactful’ with 64% of respondents rating it within their top three. According to our surveyed base then, changing customer expectations is the most pressing trend loyalty programmes will have to contend with and address within five years.
64
%
Collinson’s take – what does this mean for your loyalty programme?
Customer fatigue and their increased expectations are key challenges for loyalty leaders
Increased expectations for better rewards/customer experience
Competitive pressures on making loyalty rewards more generous diluting
29
%
Customer fatigue with loyalty programmes, market saturation
41
%
When asked their biggest challenges in the next three to five years, relating to customer engagement, loyalty and loyalty programmes, the top three concerns overall emerged as:
Drilling down further, 23% of respondents reported that sustainability in loyalty or providing green loyalty options sit in their top three challenges. So moving the eco agenda forward is seen as an issue. A similar number cited paid loyalty and folding the Metaverse into the customer experience as challenging areas. Conversely, cryptocurrency, NFTs and predictive technologies are not yet seen as top three challenges when all sectors are averaged - so they are generally not seen as something to contend with in any big way over the next three to five years. Whether this lacks foresight and ambition remains to be seen.
Looking more closely at the individual sectors though, we see some real differences emerge and this subject is one of them, with Financial Services & Banking gauging AI & predictive technologies to be their biggest challenge. (It’s relevant for some of the responses below though to note that our survey took place in May 2022, just before a large decline in the cryptocurrency and NFT markets).
To address these challenges and convert them into opportunities, Collinson advises:
• Focusing on ‘value creation’ (i.e. expertly using brand assets to construct a motivating and ‘high perceived value, lower cost’ proposition) – this remains core to creating ‘loyalty magic’
• Surfacing the benefits as a simple, easy, engaging and fun customer experience (taking learnings from innovations in other verticals like social media and gaming sectors)
• Being open and transparent about the benefits on offer and how to achieve them, ideally providing consumers with a level of choice and control
Taking a look at what each sector sees as their biggest challenges:
The Retail sector is concerned about customers’ increased expectations around better rewards or enhanced customer experiences
Travel, Transport & Hospitality ranks sustainability in loyalty / Green loyalty options and benefits as the biggest challenges
In Financial Services & Banking, AI & predictive technologies driving programme marketing decisions is proving a challenge
Insurance ranks sustainability in loyalty / Green loyalty options and benefits as the biggest challenges for their sector
Retail respondents are struggling with customer expectations for better rewards, the implementation of cryptocurrencies and sustainability (or green) options. Retailers need to look further than discounting with cashback or coupons and creatively use assets to create value for customers whilst also at the same time protecting retail price points. Cryptocurrencies are a ‘sexy’ new thing and likely to appeal to the early adopter/influencer set and fashion brands are increasingly aware of ESG impacts - including the circular economy and the level of natural resources consumed by fashionwear production.
Retail
Travel, Transport & Hospitality list an interesting mix of challenges, with sustainability and AI & predictive technologies bookending their top 3. Interestingly, and perhaps not unsurprisingly for the sector, their number two challenge is unique in this collection of industries: Compliance with privacy and security regulations. The systemic challenge to many travel companies is sustainability and many have made big increases to engage their customers around these topics, whether that is allowing them to carbon offset with points or help reduce single use plastics. This remains a key challenge and differentiation opportunity for travel brands. The breadth and depth of data that travel companies collect and hold (and the often deeply researched and informed nature of travel buyer behaviour) shows the importance of analytics and data driven personalisation. At the same time, the high profile (and expensive) data privacy breaches by some of the world’s leading travel brands show why this must remain a priority in the travel sector.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Financial Services & Banking ranked their top three challenges as AI & predictive technologies driving programme marketing decisions, consumers monetising their data via intermediaries and the implementation of cryptocurrencies and NFTs as consumer rewards, in that order. Post the implementation of PSD2 legislation and ‘Open banking’ it is not surprising to see data as a challenge for Banking and Financial Services, as they are required to reinvent their entire approach to customer data management. As financial institutions, they will already be considering cryptocurrencies as part of their asset management capabilities and extending this further to NFTs maybe indicates their interest in becoming Web3.0 compatible wallet partners that can store all these new asset classes for their customers.
Financial Services & Banking
Our Insurance businesses shared their concerns with regard to AI & predictive technologies (2nd place) but differed in their first and third choices; sustainability & green loyalty options and customer fatigue, respectively. Collecting and using customer data is of course core to the actuarial risk assessment for insurance as well as reflecting their need to present relevant content and information to customers, particularly to compete with the price comparison websites. The move towards ethical investing and aligning with a ‘purpose’ demonstrates the sector is keen to differentiate – tough to achieve with largely homogenous products but more possible with a clearly communicated purpose.
Looking back at our question ‘Which rewards would companies change?’ our Insurance respondents made a powerful bid for more money-saving offers with third parties and the ability to surprise and delight with their brand – showing a need to be different and well ahead of others sectors in this regard.
Insurance
Encouragingly, 40% of respondents believe they are future-proofed to deliver the next generation of customer experience and loyalty, with almost the same percentage again saying they are in the process of adapting. Perhaps companies are so invested in future-proofing because 82% agree that a loyalty programme provides stand-out, differentiating their brand from the competition. While companies may not have all the answers right now, the majority are confident in their ability to handle changes in the landscape of loyalty.
Our take
Retail
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Insurance
Retail respondents are very ‘middle of the road’ across all the options, not standing out in any particular direction. They are very well aligned with our Travel, Transport & Hospitality businesses, scoring exactly the same for decentralised programmes (only 2%), paid loyalty (27%) and emotional connectivity – joint highest at 22%.
Retail
Financial Services & Banking are, understandably, worried about increasing consumer concerns around data but have very little concern about being emotionally connected to those same consumers.
Financial Services & Banking
Travel, Transport & Hospitality are very much expecting greater integration with payment methods and have the fewest concerns about data issues. They do, however, just top the charts when it comes to increased consumer apathy to loyalty programmes but then it could be argued their schemes have been around the longest.
Travel, Transport & Hospitality
Our Insurances businesses believe the future is in paid loyalty (by a huge margin compared to the other sectors) but are also the most concerned about the increasingly crowded market. None of them, obviously, see any need for greater integration with payment methods.
Insurance
These findings demonstrate that there are strong shared themes across sectors around the future shape of loyalty and it is encouraging that so many brands share the vision of seamless, omnichannel experiences that are closely connected to brand values. However, it is also true that companies will forge their own diverse and distinct loyalty futures in a way which is right for their sectors and customers.
There is increasing appreciation that loyalty is a ‘long game’ which benefits the entire business; loyalty programmes have become a strategic asset rather than a transactional tool. Almost all but the most nascent and under-invested loyalty programmes realize ROI. However, companies will increasingly need to develop sophisticated loyalty strategies to equip their businesses with multiple benefits and to hold their own competitively.
Some of the more traditional sectors could look to the Insurance and Financial sectors for inspiration in terms of pace, ambition and innovation. Beware - those companies content with the loyalty status quo are likely to be overtaken by disruptors who are already investing in new technologies and models because one thing is for sure - nothing stays the same - in life, industry or loyalty.
Our final take
So, what does this all mean for our respondents? We asked one last question: ‘What is your view of the future direction of loyalty programmes?’ And some commonly shared views came back - a loyalty future with ‘more of the same’, at greater scale, in an increasingly crowded market. Some sectors though do have their own views on specific aspects of future programmes.
A massive, mature and crowded market in future will require break-through thinking
Click to find out more
Customer Expectations ranked most impactful
42
%
Click each sector to find out more
Introduction
Loyalty Membership
Programmes & Rewards
Paid Loyalty
Future of loyalty
72
%
7
%
50
%
57
%
35
%
40
%
34
%
39
%
45
%
5
%
95
%
87
%
Choose the best, leave the rest
The success of loyalty schemes in delivering ROI is recognised and it appears that where this is not yet achieved, the programme is in its infancy or arguably under-invested. The rewards are there for companies that can dedicate time and spend to their schemes. Those companies just covering the basics at present may be surprised at how their competitors streak ahead during this decade, due to the sophistication of their timely and personalised approaches, driven by advances in technology.
Our take
Tangibility over sustainability
Popular programmes and rewards
Benefits driving loyalty
The prevalence of paid loyalty
What needs to change?
Which rewards would companies change if they could?
Social, ethical & partner trends
Loyalty does make brands stand out
Plans and predictions for the future of loyalty
Are we nearly there, yet?
Research Demographics
Acquiring customer data and sustaining customer loyalty for long periods is a never-ending challenge that every business faces. While most consumers are members of more than 12 customer loyalty programmes, they are active in less than 50% of those programmes. What makes some programmes more successful than others and how do you make your customer loyalty programme one of those that people use, share and talk about?
At Collinson we work tirelessly with customers to unlock the magic within their business, to design build and deliver the best loyalty programmes that set them apart from their competition and drive desired change – more mindshare, wallet share, advocacy, and Loyalty.
To learn what we’ve done for businesses like yours and how we can leverage Salesforce loyalty management technology across Customer 360 to help you achieve your customer vision and bring your loyalty strategy to life, please get in touch.
Collinson
About Us
Stephen Gilbert
Vice President Salesforce Loyalty
Contact me
This article has a reading time of 10 minutes. Afterwards, you’ll have the latest info about the current and future loyalty landscape in the UK.
Discounts on own brands, rewards points and discounts on third party brands are the most appealing reward features of loyalty programmes – tangibility is key and this is not set to change.
Respondents express a dislike for loyalty programmes that offer irrelevant rewards, rewards di-lution and a lack of redemption options. They are demanding a variety of properly targeted re-wards so brands need to be on their mettle with personalisation, reward range and value to-gether with extras for greater spend.
Consumers are relatively dismissive of anything ‘new-fangled’ but new loyalty models are ap-pearing and in time, we will see consumer adoption of these. It will be up to brands to lead the way.
Paid loyalty is a good example of innovation in the sector and this is growing in popularity, with plenty of benefits for both brands and consumers. Financial contribution drives higher
expectations but the good news with subscription schemes is that they build deep levels of engagement from consumers who are looking to interact beyond functional basics.
Consumers and businesses may differ in their opinions and predictions about social and ethical trends and even the importance of partners but both are aligned on the ability of loyalty programmes to provide brand differentiation - music to the marketer’s ear.
The consumer view
6
%
of respondents say they are a regular user of more than six loyalty schemes
UK consumers are choosy, with most of our respondents being active members of between just one and four programmes. Perhaps customers have become wise to the over-crowded wallets of old – stuffed full of uninspiring and unloved schemes.
Price/value for money
86
%
Social responsibility (brands giving back)
20
%
What makes you loyal to a business or brand?
reported that they like discounts off own brand
89
%
reported that they want discounts off third brands
85
%
say they like to earn points or miles
78
%
say they would choose crypto currency, NFT’s, digital content and sustainable rewards
10
%
Which benefits appeal to customers?
Rewards in the future
People will pay as long as the value exchange is rich enough
say they resent lack of personalisation
15
%
have noticed rewards value being diluted over time
1
4
/
are frustrated
by a paucity of redemption options
1
/
5
What do consumers find frustrating?
Consumers
26
%
Businesses
75
%
How confident are you that businesses can stay up to date with changing social and ethical issues such as sustainability, the environment and corporate responsibility?
Consumers
28
%
Businesses
56
%
Do you agree that partnerships are important or very important to the success of loyalty programmes and their ability to offer a more personalised experience to members?
Areas where consumers and businesses are at odds
