Hard-up consumers are looking for instant rewards for their loyalty while still shopping – rather than redeeming points they have collected – with a new study showing the rise of smartphone vouchers is proving a major boon.
The survey, conducted by The Logic Group and Ipsos MORI, looks into the current customer loyalty landscape, focusing on understanding what motivates customers to be loyal, which sectors consumers feel loyal to and how best loyalty should be rewarded in today’s tough economic environment.
And, with 47% of British adults claiming their current financial situation is ‘weak’ and 26% expecting it to be weaker in six months’ time, instant rewards are highly attractive.
Customers’ attitudes toward the use of technology in driving loyalty are changing. To combat the financial struggle, the report says consumers now prefer receiving offers or rewards while out shopping, rather than later (42% agree) and many are searching online for discount vouchers. More than 13% have received loyalty scheme offers via their mobile phone in the past six months, with a further 7% extra expecting to receive offers this way in the next 12 months.
Logic Group chief executive Antony Jones said: “The technological changes we are seeing in society today are bringing real benefits to customers’ interactions with loyalty programmes. As such, consumers are no longer only interested in reaping the benefits from traditional card-based programmes, but are looking to alternatives such as social media and real-time discounting to stay loyal.”
The research also shows the growing importance of social media as a medium to drive loyalty through “increased customer interactions”. While Facebook looks set to remain the dominant social media channel in the coming year, it’s Twitter that will experience the largest growth in people using it to show their loyalty.
In the last six months, over a fifth (22%) of Brits have visited the Facebook site of a company they are loyal to. In comparison, only 8% have followed a company they feel loyal to on Twitter. Some 9% of adults have received a loyalty offer via a social networking site in the same period.
However, in the next 12 months, the projected number of customers following companies they feel loyal to on Twitter could double – in a year’s time, more people say they will be following a company on Twitter that they feel loyal to than there are currently British Twitter users.
With 24% saying they will use their phones to check product details/product reviews in store also in a year’s time, social media use on mobile will be a key medium to help drive customer loyalty.
Six out of ten (62%) consumers in Britain agree that they are more concerned with the cost of the shopping than they are social and environmental issues; and over two fifths (44%) believe the economy will worsen in the next 12 months.
Jones added: “At a time when businesses are feeling the economic pressures, understanding what consumers demand in return for their loyalty and the role new technologies can play, is going to be vital for developing successful in-store strategies. Over the next one to two years we expect the use of mobile interactions in-store to grow as more contactless payment-enabled handsets hit the market.”
