Brands must act like daters to avoid loyalty break-ups

Brand owners are being urged to study the precarious world of online dating by taking a closer look at their own customer relationships, with 49% of consumers admitting they have pretended to leave a provider just to see whether a better deal or perk suddenly appears.

New research from global travel and lifestyle benefits platform Dragonpass suggests millions of consumers are being “breadcrumbed” by loyalty schemes, kept interested with the occasional offer or handful of points, without receiving the useful perks, recognition or commitment they actually want.

And some customers are already threatening to stray. Some 45% say loyalty rewards often fail to fit their needs or lifestyle; 82% get annoyed when providers make it difficult to understand what they actually offer; 44% want to understand a brand’s personality before committing their loyalty to it; and 51% say that, despite using several brands, they mostly stick with one.

The research exposes Brits’ biggest loyalty icks:

– Breadcrumbing you with pointless perks. A discount you never wanted. Points you cannot work out how to spend. An “exclusive” offer available to practically everyone. Almost half (45%) of consumers say loyalty rewards regularly fail to fit their actual needs or lifestyle, suggesting plenty of schemes are keeping customers dangling without giving them much reason to stick around.

– Only getting interested when you threaten to leave. Nothing reignites the spark quite like saying it is over and nearly half (49%) of people admit they have pretended to leave a service provider just to see whether a better offer suddenly appears and among 25- to 34-year-olds, that rises to 58%. It means some brands may be teaching their customers an unfortunate lesson: loyalty gets you the standard deal, while threatening a break-up gets you the good stuff.

– Making you work too hard for it. Mixed signals are irritating in dating and they are apparently even less attractive when money is involved. A huge 82% of consumers say it annoys them when providers make it difficult to see what they genuinely offer. Dragonpass’ wider Comfort Index research tells a similar story. Some 69% say reducing stress and friction helps win their loyalty, while 63% are most loyal to organisations that make their lives easier.

–  Still not knowing what you like after years together. Consumers increasingly expect a relationship with a brand to involve more than having their name at the top of an email.

Some 44% say they would happily share data in exchange for better rewards, perks or more personalised communication, yet 71% dislike brands repeatedly asking for personal information. In other words: people may be willing to tell brands what they like, but they expect them to actually remember it.

– From situationship to something serious. Despite all the flirting with competitors, consumers are not necessarily commitment-phobes. More than half (51%) say that even when they use different brands, they mostly stick with one, while 37% describe trust as their primary “loyalty language”. A further 31% are driven by tangible rewards such as discounts, points, cashback and transferable perks.

Dragonpass’ Comfort Index also found that 31% rank recognition of long-term loyalty as their single biggest priority. The problem may therefore be less about consumers refusing to settle down, and more about brands assuming the relationship will survive without putting much effort into it.

With 50% saying traditional loyalty schemes now feel outdated and 48% more likely to consider switching providers, the report warns that businesses risk spending heavily chasing their next customer while leaving the one they already have wondering whether there is something better out there.

The lesson is fairly simple, the report concludes: stop breadcrumbing, lose the loyalty icks and give customers something worth committing to.

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