In 2020 Global Reviews surveyed almost 3,000 participants across industries such as energy, superannuation, credit cards and home loans in our Digital Marketing Effectiveness and Fruition studies.
Brand factors such as, an existing relationship with the brand and trust were on average, one of the top three drivers when choosing a brand. We know that acquiring new customers is far more expensive than retaining existing ones. It costs less to sell to existing customers and one way to encourage retention is through loyalty and reward programs.
Reward programs are an established mechanism that have been around for decades, however, their maturity varies greatly within and between industries, and even more so within the digital environment. Even the big brand names don’t always get it right. When high street retailer Marks and Spencer launched their loyalty scheme ‘Sparks’ in 2015, customer feedback said it was confusing and hard to use. However, a more recent, digital-first, relaunch saw customer brand satisfaction grow 15.7 points in the week following the launch, while brand recommendation scores also grew 16.5 points1.
What M&S sought to do was understand their customer base. In turn, they were able to identify the types of rewards that would encourage high frequency and high reach, both with those already engaged with their rewards program and those who were customers but were not signed-up.
In Q2 of 2020 Global Reviews conducted a Rewards benchmark which measured 146 individual experience criteria across 10 reward programs in four countries: Australia, UK, Ireland and US.
These experience criteria were subsequently weighted by over 500 customers in an online interview. This research helps brands understand:
- Their performance in rewards program digital service maturity in comparison to competitors
- Where they should focus future digital feature innovation for rewards program?
- What digital propositions achieve the greatest impact in driving engagement, retention and ultimately consumer acquisition
In our webinar Global Reviews revealed consumer priorities and preferences from rewards programs and highlight the digital maturity of leading Australian, UK, Irish and US brands. We answer key questions such as:
- What features do consumers rate highly when it comes to rewards programs?
- What types of rewards encourage consumers to participate in a reward program?
- Which brands are digitally more mature when it comes to the types of reward programs they are offering?
What are Energia and SuperValu doing to outperform the competition?
How are Three Plus providing the most successful personalisation experience?
What features are SuperValu offering around products and rewards?
This webinar highlighted:
- How brands can gain advantage by prioritising more intelligently and promoting features and rewards that matter to consumers
- The attitudes of prospective consumers including light and heavy reward users
- Best practice examples of those brands that are delivering the right experience and outperforming the competition
Some of brands we shared results on include:
- Three Plus (telecoms)
- Energia (energy)
- Supervalu (grocery)
- DSW (retail)
- Toms (retail)
- Lumo (energy)
Now more than ever, thanks to COVID-19, digital channels play a vital role in maintaining and nurturing not only your existing customer base but enticing new customers. Understanding the types of rewards that will encourage participation and sign-up is vital to ensure that you achieve the greatest impact.
Missed our webinar? Get access to the recording by clicking the link above.
Source: https://yougov.co.uk/
