New Research: Online Brands Must Work to Get a Piece of Consumers’ Loyal Hearts

Online shopping is easy – consumers can peruse at their leisure throughout the day, and make purchase decisions after comparing price points and features.

According to a recent study by Emarsys, a leading provider of cloud-based marketing solutions, UK consumers can’t get enough of online shopping. One quarter of adults visit brands online every day, and two-thirds doing so several times a week. Consumers like the flexibility of shopping anywhere and at any time (71%), the value of online reviews (34%) and the wide range of products available (32%).  And two-thirds (64%) of those surveyed have bought something online in the previous three months.

Unfortunately, this easy experience for the consumer doesn’t translate well to brand loyalty. This is a primary challenge facing online consumer brands today, the study confirmed. According to the results, consumers dedicate themselves to just three brands, and 79% prefer that the brands have physical store.

While online brands may not always have a physical store to help foster loyalty, the study also showed that personalization is important in building trust for online brands. To keep them coming back, 42% of customers say that customized offers incentivize return.

In addition, consumers surveyed indicated that a physical store is the best place to experience the style and personality of a brand, and to get the best advice and recommendations, all factors that drive loyalty. However, brands can work to achieve this same level of personalization and personality online with strategic communications and offerings.

“Consumers want a relationship with their favourite brands, and to be valued and understood. The key to achieving this for brands is personalization,” said Steven Ledgerwood, UK managing director of Emarsys. “They need to make better use of the data customers share with them to target offers and ideas that are truly relevant. As well as offering the usual loyalty points and discounts, our survey found customers want preferential services for their loyalty (29%) and offers tailored around birthdays and anniversaries (33%).”

“The business benefits of this are tangible,” Ledgerwood continued. “Two-thirds (65%) of those surveyed say they buy regularly from brands they trust, a quarter (27%) open all the communications received and one in 10 (11%) act on brand recommendations.” 

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