U.K. consumers’ expectations from their loyalty programs have evolved along with the technology that supports such programs, according to a survey from The Logic Group, Hampshire, U.K.
Consumers today still trust e-mail more than social media for loyalty programs, but the use of the latter is growing, according to the research of more than 2,000 U.K. consumers. Though Facebook has more users, projected Twitter usage for brand loyalty exceeds current usage overall, unlike Facebook.
In the last six months, over a fifth (22 percent) of Brits have visited the Facebook site of a company they are loyal to. In comparison, only 8 percent have followed a company they feel loyal to on Twitter. Nine percent of adults in Britain 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. Nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of British adults said they will use their phones to check product details/product reviews in store within the next year.
“From a customer point of view, social media is changing the way customers interact with companies. For businesses, using social media platforms such as Facebook adds another channel to customer interactions and greater business opportunity to influence and engage with customers along their purchasing journey; whether that’s greater availability of information, a more relevant and customer-friendly tone to communications, responding quickly to an enquiry, or offering a targeted loyalty deals to followers,” said Antony Jones, The Logic Group CEO, upon release of the findings.
The technological changes also extend to how customers want to get and access their rewards, according to The Logic Group.
“The technological changes we are seeing in society today are bringing real benefits to customers’ interactions with loyalty programs,” Jones said. “As such, consumers are no longer only interested in reaping the benefits from traditional card-based programs, but are looking to alternatives such as social media and real-time discounting to stay loyal.”
Seventy percent of respondents said they prefer loyalty programs where they can earn better products and services for being more loyal. Other popular benefits consumers want for participating in loyalty programs are: The ability to use a debit/credit card as a loyalty card (48 percent of respondents); getting better service than those not in the loyalty program (48 percent); safety of personal information (46 percent).
In the past six months, 13 percent of adults have received loyalty scheme offers via their mobile phones, with a further 7 percent extra expecting to receive offers via their mobile phones in the next 12 months. To date, Britain has had a slow uptake in mobile payments use, with only 7 percent of adults having used their mobile phones for payment in the past six months. However, looking forward there are high expectations amongst customers with 17 percent expecting to have paid for goods using their mobile in a year’s time. This same number also expects to use their phone in place of a loyalty card in the same period.
The most important driver of customer loyalty, according to the survey is honesty and integrity, cited by 35 percent of respondents, followed by customer service (29 percent) and quality of products/services (18 percent).
Age is an important differentiator for the types of businesses to which consumers are loyal. Nearly eight in 10 (79 percent) of 55-64 year-olds are loyal to financial institutions and nearly as many (71 percent to mobile networks, while 15-24 year-olds are much more likely to switch allegiances. Fifty-five percent of this age group said they felt they were loyal customers of their financial institutions and 51 percent said they were loyal customers of their mobile networks.
“This year’s results are a reminder that, in the eyes of customers, loyalty is about more than just emotional attachment,” added Simon Atkinson, assistant chief executive of Ipsos MORI, which conducted the survey on behalf of The Logic Group. “Customers don’t necessarily expect something for nothing. But they expect recognition for showing loyalty to services, products or brands.”