• 40% of workers report high levels of turnover and increased workloads at their companies;
• These issues have led to increased stress levels and burnout for 78% of workers overall and 82% of retail workers; and
• 45% of all surveyed workers are actively seeking a new job or plan to within the next year. In retail specifically, the figure is 46%, but the sector with the highest proportion of active job seekers is technology, at 53%
• ​Among all workers, 49% said they felt they could make more money today simply by changing jobs. 

 

• Berkey: When we looked specifically at retail, 82% said they felt increased levels of stress and burnout, with 40% saying there was high turnover in their organization — and I would be willing to bet that the actual turnover number is higher. Among all surveyed frontline and essential workers [a group that includes grocery and general merchandise cashiers], 58% say they have worked more in the past year due to employee turnover.

 

• Berkey: Compensation is certainly a big driver; 53% of job seekers said compensation is the No. 1 factor in deciding to reject or accept an opportunity.

• Brands are among friends on the Following. 92% of Americans who use Instagram follow a business, with most following 6–10 business accounts.
• Are Instagram businesses unrivaled? Instagram has led to 93% of shoppers choosing a company they're connected with over a competitor.
• No to wordy content. 89% of Instagramers prefer short-form content (<1,000 words) over long-form content (1,000+) when it comes to text posts from brands specifically.
• Be where clients are looking for you. 85% of people in the US have used Instagram to discover new products or services.
• Consumerism on steroids. Replying to the question - did Instagram ever inspire you to shop from businesses even when you weren’t looking to do so? - 79% said “Yes.”
• Facebook defeated. 71% of users will pick Instagram over other social networking sites when shopping—for Gen Zers, that number jumps to 82%.

• 66% of Americans are likely to abandon a brand after a poor customer service experience, a significant jump from 42% in our 2021 survey

• 50% of Americans have posted an online review about a poor customer service experience with a company, an increase from 42% in 2021

• Brands are doing more with less. Even with less staffing, half of Americans believe the coronavirus pandemic has positively impacted customer service. When asked how they think the pandemic impacted customer service in general, 50% responded  that it made it significantly or slightly better, and only 25% believe it has gotten worse. 25% stated that they saw no effect.

First of all, a big shout out to all the brands that took part in the survey. The responses provided a variety of quality insights that truly helped up us understand and explore the loyalty scene in greater depth! Our ‘2022 Loyalty Trends Report’ was created in an effort to better understand brand: • Pain points • Loyalty programs • Loyalty investments in 2022 • Technology investments in 2022 By analysing over 100 loyalty programs in 5 different regions, we intended to provide our readers the most relevant and transformative insights. Find out today what loyalty programs around the world are doing to succeed in the 2022 loyalty scene, with over 80 different aspects of loyalty observed, there is an insight for every reader! We are extremely excited about our discoveries, so if you enjoy the content, make sure to share your favorite brand insight on social media and mention us (@qiibee) with the hashtag #qiibee2022LTR. We will be resharing all mentions

Consumer Attitudes and Trends in Personalization, Privacy, Messaging, Advertising, and Brand Loyalty in the U.S.

For generations the path to purchase for U.S. consumers has been relatively linear. Digital marketers would fling resources on various advertising formats, and as long as the sales funnel was laden with email addresses, eyeballs were reported to have seen creative, and the bottom-line was hit, few questioned the status-quo. Then came a raft of data scandals, CCPA legislation and a global pandemic that irrevocably changed the commerce landscape. U.S. consumer behaviors, coupled with digital transformations that traditionally changed over several years, began to shift in a matter of days. As a direct consequence, the path to purchase we see today is anything but linear. U.S consumers interact with a brand on multiple channels, oftentimes unpredictably, with over half (55%) using a mobile phone while in a store to research a purchase, and a sizable 45% claiming to have browsed for products in a physical store only to purchase later online. It’s clear that if you are not listening to these multiple touchpoints across various channels, have them connected, and are able to activate in real-time, your customers will be purchasing elsewhere. Marketers that have relied on third-party cookies and the retargeting ads they fuel are in a quandary. Not only is Google et al. cementing plans to comprehensively curtail third-party cookie tracking within the next year, but 56% of U.S. consumers think retargeting ads are creepy, and a mere 15% will miss cookies. These sweeping changes to the martech and adtech industries reinforce the need for marketers to shift to a first- and zero-party data strategy to power their advertising and marketing initiatives. The good news is that U.S. consumers are quite happy to trade personal and preference data if you offer the right value exchange. Whether it be a discount or loyalty points, or something more holistic like unlocking content, exclusive access or being part of a brand’s community, in every instance U.S. consumers find these things valuable, and will share data for these services. While this is a time of great flux for marketers, it’s comforting that U.S. consumers continue to love loyalty programs, and more than ever before intend to take part in them this year. Three quarters of U.S consumers not only have a favorite brand, but are prepared to pay more to purchase from it. Points-for-prizes is merely one of the many different tactics one can use to help engender loyalty. Of course U.S. consumers love a discount for their loyalty (62%), however there have been huge increases in those consumers who love engaging interactive experiences like contests and sweepstakes, personalized product recommendations based on their self-reported preferences, and those that would like brand recognition in return for their loyalty. The data you are about to read in this report has the ability to significantly impact your revenue goals in both the short and long term, but it may require a willingness to adopt a new marketing mentality. Relationship marketing requires listening to the right consumer signals intently and activating them in realtime in any channel a consumer prefers. This is an extraordinary opportunity to assess your organization’s ability to execute on that level and deliver against consumers’ growing demand for more personalization, more privacy and a deeper relationship with the brands they know and trust

75% of brands report greater difficulty building and maintaining trust with their customers post-pandemic, although online shopping is up 63%

This year’s report revealed 71% of consumers surveyed support federal data privacy legislation, yet 30% were unaware that Apple and Google made data privacy changes at all, indicating there’s a huge opportunity for brands to better educate consumers. In fact, 49% of consumers polled stated that data transparency communications, cookie consent banners, and privacy emails make them trust a brand more.
 

• This CDTI edition’s rankings reflect the largest shifts in brand trust rankings to date - Google fell from #4 most trusted brand to #89, Apple fell from #17 to #43, and Netflix went from #8 to #43, indicating there’s room for brands to improve the education (and communication tactics) that they provide to their users regarding data privacy changes.
• Brands must be thoughtful and strategic with the data points they seek to capture as 30% of consumers said ‘asking for too much information,’ again ranked as the #1 factor that results in brand mistrust.
• Pandemic trends are here to stay with 63% of consumers surveyed saying their online shopping usage has increased since the start of the pandemic, and 40% say they’re seeing more irrelevant online ads than ever before - 46% agreed that irrelevant online ads from a business based on past purchase data decreased trust in that brand.
• D2C brand Bonobos jumped to #9 from #90, indicating that legacy brand awareness doesn’t guarantee a high trust index ranking - 43% trust brands in both D2C and traditional brand categories the same

75 percent of consumers say consistent customer experiences and customer service improve their likelihood to do business with a brand.
 

The report highlights four key takeaways that marketers need to ramp up customer loyalty efforts in 2022 and beyond:

• Leverage loyalty to build trust across the entire customer experience, as 79 percent of consumers are more likely to do business with a brand because of its loyalty program.
• Provide expanded financial utility while also delivering emotional benefits, since 73 percent of millennials say a consistent customer experience makes it more likely they will continue to do business with their favorite brand.
• Ditch data and personalization strategies that lack sophistication, as almost 60 percent of consumers said current personalization efforts (via website and marketing communications) have no impact on their likelihood to continue to do business with a brand.
• Create a new dimension of engagement with promotion-based loyalty campaigns, as almost 50 percent of consumers want chance-to-win rewards included within the loyalty experience (up from about 35 percent in 2019).

• 20% of restaurant consumers are familiar with the metaverse.
• 34% of Millennials and 27% of Gen Z have already participated in the metaverse.
• 38% of consumers who already participate in the metaverse would be willing to integrate restaurant purchases into this environment.
• 33% of grab-and-go customers are very or extremely familiar with the metaverse, more than double the share of either dine-in or either-or customers.
• 40% of Gen Z respondents said they are very familiar with the metaverse, although they do not lead all generations in actual metaverse participation.
• 34% of Millennials have participated in a metaverse environment. This may have to do with the generation’s superior spending power, as consumers who earn over $100,000 annually are more likely than those of other income brackets to have participated in a metaverse environment.
• 38% of consumers who already participate in the metaverse or are interested in it would be willing to integrate restaurant purchases into this environment, including a majority of grab-and-go customers.
• 21% of consumers who say they are not interested in buying food in the metaverse are not interested because they are either unfamiliar with it or believe the metaverse is complicated.

To start, the researchers first determined how participants might categorize the privacy level for several pieces of data. Placed on a 6-point scale, with 1 equaling extremely unlikely to share and 6 equaling extremely likely to share, the data items were sorted as follows:

Privacy Level	Data Items	Average Willingness
Low	Gender	5.24
	Name	5.09
	Age	5.09
	Email Address	4.76
	Date of Birth	4.59
	Phone Number	4.04
Medium	Shopping Preference	3.40
	Shopping History	3.36
	Biometrics	3.31
	Expected Monthly Expense	3.03
	Income	2.91
	Social Media Account	2.78
High	GPS Location	1.95
	SSN	1.74
	Medical Record	1.71

Taking a closer look at the data, in offering Gen Zers a $15 reward, their willingness to share data increases across the three privacy categories:

• 11% more likely to share low-privacy data
• 27% like to share medium-privacy information
• High-privacy data is more likely to be shared 24%

Additionally, the research revealed preferences in terms of the rewards offered for sharing information as well:

• Participants prefer cash discount to loyalty points (at 69% and 31% respectively)
• They are likely to choose loyalty points if that value is 20x greater than cash discount value
• For those Gen Zers who prefer loyalty points, food & beverage was the most preferred category (at 44)
• The least popular options include debit cards, gas, grocery stores, and the hospitality industry
• Other participants were equally likely to choose food & beverage and retailers equally

78% of consumers said they are willing to pay for a premium loyalty program. When consumers were asked what amount they’d be willing to pay for a loyalty program with their favorite brand, less than $50 per year remained the most popular answer in 2022 (46%). The percentage of consumers who chose that option increased 8% year over year, up from 38% in 2021. Additionally, nearly a quarter of respondents (22%) said they would be willing to pay at least $51-$100 for a loyalty program with their favorite brand.

72% of consumers belong to a premium loyalty program.

77% of consumers that don’t belong to any premium loyalty programs would join one if their favorite brand offered one and the benefits were valuable to them

83% of consumers said they were likely to invest in a brand’s premium loyalty program if they already belong to that brand’s traditional loyalty program.

91% of premium loyalty members said they’re likely to choose a brand over a competitor offering a lower price if they’re satisfied with the special benefits offered by the brand’s premium loyalty program

91% of premium loyalty members said they were likely to recommend a brand to friends or family when the brand offers a program with benefits they find valuable.

71% of premium loyalty members shop with brands whose programs they participate in at least once a week.

The percentage of consumers who don’t want to wait to accumulate points in loyalty programs and think loyalty programs should provide immediate benefits to maintain their loyalty held steady year over year at 78% in 2022. And the percentage of premium loyalty members who expected immediate benefits also remained firm at 38%.
The percentage of respondents overall who said they’d be willing to pay for a premium loyalty program for gas and groceries increased by 16% and 7% respectively year over year. And after a 10% decline from 2020 to 2021, willingness to pay for an entertainment-based premium loyalty program increased by 6% in 2022.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of respondents said they belong to traditional loyalty programs, the highest rate since 2019 and a 7% increase from last year.

A little more than two-thirds of 2022 respondents (69%) belong to 1-4 programs, similar to 2021 (68%). The same trend also goes for monthly usage of traditional loyalty programs: Almost three-quarters (73%) of 2021 respondents used 50% or less of their traditional loyalty program memberships on a monthly basis, while 70% did the same in 2022.

Forty-two percent of respondents said they’ve followed a brand on their social media page in exchange for an incentive — the most common incentivized action consumers took. However, nearly as many (39%) said they have never engaged with a brand on social media in any way in exchange for incentives

Relatively few consumers have taken other actions in exchange for incentives, like commenting on brands’ social media posts (26%), resharing brands’ posts (23%) and tagging friends in comments on brands’ posts (22%)

Only 23% of consumers have reshared a brand’s social media post in exchange for an incentive.

How consumers have engaged with a brand on social media in exchange for an incentive
Followed the brand on their social media pages 42%
I have not engaged with a brand on social media in exchange for incentives 39%
Commented on the brand’s social media post 26%
Reshared a post from the brand 23%
Tagged friends in a comment on a brand’s social post 22%
Used a brand’s hashtag or @mentioned them in a post to boost the post’s visibility 15%
Direct/private messaged with the brand on social media 13%
Used a brand’s hashtag or @mentioned them in a post in order to participate in a promotion, sweepstakes or contest 12%

Which of the following pieces of personal data have you shared with a brand in exchange for an incentive
1 Email 73%
2 Name 62%
3 Birthday 57%
4 Phone number 44%
5 Gender 39%
6 Home address 30%
7 Race/ethnicity 29%
8 Marital status 26%
9 Social media handle 20%
10 Income level 19%
11 Buying preferences (e.g., “I’m interested in athletic apparel”) 19%
12 I have never shared any data with a brand in exchange for an incentive 14%
13 Health data (steps, heart rate, etc.) 8%
14 Browser history 8%

Nearly half of consumers (45%) say they’re willing to share their data in exchange for an enhanced customer experience.

56% of consumers correctly identified the metaverse as a set of virtual reality worlds
44% of consumers said they didn’t know what the metaverse was, or incorrectly identified it as a video game or wellness app
After being presented with the correct definition of the metaverse, a healthy majority (65%) indicated an interest in engaging with a brand in the metaverse to unlock an exclusive offer from the brand, with more than a quarter of respondents (27%) saying they were “very interested.”

Which of the following best describes your interest level in engaging with a brand in the metaverse to unlock an exclusive offer from the brand?
1 Gen Z 83%
2 Millennials 79%
3 Gen X 66%
4 Baby boomers 40%
5 Silent Generation 12%

Which of the following best describes your interest level in NFTs (non-fungible tokens)?
1 Gen Z 74%
2 Millennials 73%
3 Gen X 59%
4 Baby boomers 27%
5 Silent Generation 10%

Although NFTs have seen sales as high as $91.8 million, just over half of respondents (57%) indicated an interest in the digital assets, while 43% said they were not interested at all.

According to market research report "Customer Data Platform Market by Component, Application (Customer Retention and Engagement and Personalized Recommendation), Deployment Mode, Organization Size, Vertical, Capability, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets™, the Customer Data Platform Market size to grow from USD 3.5 billion in 2021 to USD 15.3 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 34.6% during the forecast period.

By 2030, 69% of decisions made during customer engagement will be completed by smart machines.
 

A new Juniper Research study has found that the value of global consumer credit card rewards will exceed $108 billion by 2026; rising from $92 billion in 2022. This 15% growth will be driven by an increase in adoption of co-branded credit cards by retailers to boost repeat user engagement.

The new research, Digital Loyalty Programmes: Emerging Trends, Regional Analysis & Market Forecasts 2022‑2026, predicts that the global value of credit card rewards will increase, as consumers prefer a single loyalty record, instead of multiple apps or physical cards. The research recommends that merchants collaborate with loyalty platforms to access this omnichannel approach, or risk losing market share to better-connected competitors.

For more insights, download the free whitepaper: Omnichannel Loyalty ~ The Future of the Digital Loyalty Market

China – Evolving Market in Digital Loyalty Space

The research found that the value of consumer credit card rewards in China will grow by 18% between 2022 & 2026; as consumer awareness of loyalty programmes rises in the digitally savvy Chinese population. Recently, Ascenda and Visa partnered to roll out a customer loyalty solution for cross-border transactions in China, which the research predicts will fuel user engagement with loyalty programmes, driving growth. Given its digital leadership, the research recommends China as a favourable market to offer coalition-based loyalty programmes via credit cards.

Personal Credit Cards Ahead of Corporate Credit Cards

The report found that the total value of personal credit card rewards will be triple that of corporate credit cards in 2026. While corporate cards are often used for travel, this significantly reduced during the pandemic, with steady growth anticipated as the situation normalises. The research identified personal credit card reward programmes as being high value due to the extremely competitive nature of the market, which has forced reward values upwards. The research recommends that payment providers enter into strategic partnerships with desirable retailers or brands to exploit the full potential of credit card reward schemes, or they will fall behind more appealing alternatives.

• FICO today released a new report examining consumers’ shifting financial behavior and priorities.
• 56% of U.S. banks and 69% of credit unions claim they are implementing digital transformation.
• Banks must continue to evolve to match five specific areas to meet customers' new expectations: overdraft; saving and investing; buy now, pay later (BNPL); niche neobanks and open banking.

Leading applied analytics company FICO today released a new report examining consumers’ shifting financial behavior and priorities. While most consumers are happy with traditional banks and credit unions, the percentage of Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X consumers in the United States that consider a digital bank to be their primary checking account provider has more than doubled, at 12% of customers since 2020. In fact, only 25% of Gen Z consumers use a megabank as the source for their primary checking account.

The research noted that 56% of U.S. banks and 69% of credit unions claimed that they had launched a digital transformation strategy, and 55% of those institutions claimed they were at least 50% of the way through their implementation of that strategy. However, seven in 10 banks and approximately three quarters (76%) of credit unions said they don’t plan to replace their core systems as part of their digital transformation.
 

• Regarding overdrafts, U.S. neobanks have made fee-free overdraft protection a central and highly visible product feature, with Chime as a neobank that offers a feature called SpotMe, which covers up to $200 overdraws on debit card purchases and/or cash withdrawals for eligible customers.
• Regarding saving and investing, the two most popular fintech apps that consumers use to automate savings or encourage them to save more money as well as invest are Acorns and Stash, as they combine automated savings capabilities with portfolio and fractional stock investing that emphasizes diversification and encourages long-term investing over day trading.
• Regarding the explosive popularity of buy now, pay later (BPNL), the percentage of Gen Zers making purchases with BNPL plans grew six-fold between 2019 and 2021 – from 6% to 36%.
• Regarding niche neobanks, the next generation of consumer-facing fintech companies is focused on a specific segment of consumers that share a common set of functional and emotional needs when it comes to money.
• Regarding open banking, or the ability for consumers to share data from their financial accounts and providers to enable other products or experiences, 76% of consumers consider being able to connect their accounts to apps as a top priority, and 69% would switch banks to do so.

A new report from ecommerce delivery technology leader Metapack uncovers the effect of negative delivery experience on consumer shopping behaviours. Amid the shift to online shopping, the research dives into consumer delivery experience across the UK, France and Germany and reveals that over two-thirds of consumers are less inclined to shop with a retailer after hearing of a negative delivery experience.

Word travels fast

Metapack’s new Post Purchase Experience Report underlines how bad delivery experiences can spread exponentially. Specifically, Metapack’s research finds that over 60% of UK consumers have shared negative delivery experiences with friends and family. Alongside this, the impact of social networks is also highlighted with almost 15% of UK consumers declaring they have posted on social media and 22% of UK consumers stating they have posted an online review, following a negative delivery experience.

Delivery experience the differentiator

The research also reveals why it’s important for retailers to invest in their delivery ecosystem, with over 35% of consumers in the UK stating that they have stopped shopping with a retailer completely following one negative delivery experience. Alongside this, 40.6% of shoppers state to have bad-post purchases experiences with some degree of regularity. Across the different geographical markets surveyed, the frequency of bad experiences is consistent. However, when examining shoppers’ age, it’s clear that younger shoppers are reporting more frequent bad experiences.

This research is consistent with Metapack’s finding in the Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark Report 2022, which found that digital native shoppers are more than three times as likely to face negative delivery experiences compared to those aged 65+. Diving deeper, experiences were consistent across different retail categories, apart from ‘DIY & gardening’ and ‘furniture & flooring, where negative experiences were slightly more prevalent.
 

Carrier choice matters

Another notable highlight from Metapack’s new research is the growing importance of the delivery proposition as part of the overall experience, with 87% of UK shoppers stating that the range of delivery options presented to them is an important factor. Alongside this, almost 70% of UK consumers state that the carrier assigned to deliver their order also impacts on their overall delivery experience.

Nationally representative consumer panels were undertaken across the UK, France and Germany. The sample comprised of more than 3,000 consumers, with survey data collected in March 2022.

A new study from Juniper Research has predicted the global spend using QR code payments will reach over $3 trillion by 2025; rising from $2.4 trillion in 2022. This growth of 25% will be driven by the increasing focus on improving the level of financial inclusion in developing regions and providing alternatives to established payment methods in developed regions.

The new research, QR Code Payments: Key Opportunities, Competitor Leaderboard & Marketing Forecasts 2022-2026, identified combined loyalty and payment services via a single QR code as a key strategy for increasing adoption. It predicts loyalty schemes will encourage repeat use and foster consumer trust in QR codes for payments.

 

Alipay Tops Juniper Research Competitor Leaderboard

The research reviewed the top 15 QR code payments vendors in the market and evaluated key factors that led to their respective success. The top 5 vendors were ranked as below:

1. Alipay
2. PayPal
3. WeChat Pay
4. Google Pay
5. UnionPay International

Juniper Research has ranked Alipay as the leader in QR code payments, having built upon its early‑mover advantage to create a portfolio of strong features, including loyalty schemes, online payments, and a food delivery service in the QR space. The report suggests competitors emulate Alipay’s strategy to create a valuable ecosystem that revolves around QR code payments capabilities, such as loyalty schemes.

The report found that the prospects for adoption and growth are stronger in markets with national schemes in place, due to incentives that promote ease of use for consumers; with increased interoperability being a major enabling factor. In particular, the research found that in India, the transaction value of QR code payments will increase from $62 billion in 2022, to $125 billion in 2026, driven by its national QR code standard and reduced cash usage. Accordingly, we recommend that vendors looking to expand internationally focus on markets with established national schemes.

A recent study from e-commerce platform Yotpo found that 90% of U.K. consumers were loyal to brands that shared their values. But personalization is a key driver too: Accenture research has shown 48% of global consumers expect special treatment for being loyal to a  brand.

While direct mail might seem an antiquated way to reach consumers amid the digital noise, when it comes to driving behavior to encourage brand loyalty there is a unique power in putting pen to paper. 81% of Americans told note-writing service Bond that they considered receiving these to be more meaningful than an email or text.

In the U.K., Sweaty Betty’s IWD campaign illuminated this trend and drove a 15% sales uplift. In total, 54% of people who received the letter also made a purchase within three weeks.

John Lewis’ head of loyalty, India Watson, responsible for a team delivering monthly targeted rewards and incentives for the ‘My John Lewis’ scheme members, explained how customers took to social media to express their joy at receiving something so personal following its “Give a Little Love” campaign—saying the brand had “never seen a reaction like it” from any previous work.

John Lewis also saw commercial uplift; customers who received the campaign went on to shop 11% more frequently than those in a control group—and retention rates were also 4.5% higher

73% of CEOs acknowledge the need for products, services and experiences that are more meaningful to their customers.

Accenture Strategy research shows, for example, that 48 percent of consumers expect specialized treatment for being a good customer.2 Intelligent personalization also makes good business sense.

Thirty-three percent of customers who abandoned a business relationship last year did so because personalization was lacking.3 Retaining those customers with personalized experiences would generate a significant revenue boost. Companies have a tremendous opportunity to distinguish themselves with a more personal touch. Today, only 22 percent of global customers acknowledge that the companies with which they do business tailor their experiences based on a deep understanding of their needs, preferences and past interactions.4 Leaders of forward-thinking companies are making their move. They know that as customer expectations evolve, so must the experiences that their companies deliver. In fact, 73 percent of CEOs acknowledge the need for products, services and experiences that are more meaningful to their customers.5 Some of them are already preparing for nextgeneration personalization. We call it hyper-relevance.

The good news is that customers are no longer surprised by companies’ interest in their lives. Nearly one third of consumers expect the companies with which they engage to know more about them.6 And two-thirds are willing to share personal information with companies. But there’s a catch. They will only do so in exchange for some perceived value.7 If that value exchange—or the trust upon which it is based—is broken, customers will walk.

Consumers have taken notice, too:
87% believe it is important for companies to safeguard the privacy of their information.
73%find not being able to trust a company with the personal information that’s been provided to be a top source of frustration.
58% would switch half or more of their spending to a provider that excels at personalizing experiences without comprimising trust.

Digital orders have risen to one-third of total restaurant and convenience store food orders, up from just 12% pre-pandemic. While in-store sales remain down by nearly half, digital orders have remained elevated at 113% of pre-pandemic levels. 

Report findings include:
 

• Rise in Takeout Orders – While delivery was king before and during the height of the pandemic, more recent data indicates that takeout orders now dominate digital orders, with numbers even higher than they were pre-pandemic. Takeout jumped from approximately 35% of orders in January 2020 to a majority in March of 2022, a trend that appears to be increasing.

 

• Third-Party Delivery Is Here to Stay – Third-party services will continue to play an important role in a customer acquisition strategy. To achieve success in today’s New Normal, restaurants and c-stores need to embrace new technology and third-party options and explore how to successfully integrate them into existing operations.

 

• Delivery Customers are Different – For much of 2021, the average delivery tip was 12.5% of the subtotal, more than double takeout order tips. And 2021 takeout orders included a tip just 37% of the time compared to nearly 73% of delivery orders. Delivery customers are also more loyal, with 31% of orders coming from repeat customers.

 

• Customer Feedback – Saving a guest relationship pays off. Paytronix data shows that issuing a coupon costs a restaurant $2.30 on average, but results in a $9.20 lift in that customer's lifetime value. That 4x ROI means a timely guest recovery strategy is a must-have.

 

• AI Is Key to Gauging Customer Sentiment – Fifteen percent of reviews with a rating of 4.5 or better actually have a negative sentiment and could benefit from action, while 3-star reviews most frequently contain negative sentiment.

As consumer shopping habits evolve, convenience stores (c-stores) continue to fill the needs of busy shopper lifestyles. According to a research report from EnsembleIQ’s Convenience Store News, the leading source for c-store industry business intelligence, 67% of shoppers visit a c-store once a week or more, a two-point increase from last year.

“This year’s findings highlight how important the concept of convenience is to consumers. Convenience stores remain far ahead of almost every other store type when it comes to retaining frequent shoppers,” said Don Longo, Editorial Director of Convenience Store News. “While convenience store shoppers tend to be creatures of habit, it’s more important than ever for convenience stores to meet the evolving needs of shoppers.”

Key highlights:

Consumers show strong loyalty to their favorite c-store brand. Seven-in-ten shop at the same c-store brand and location with 93% of this group doing so most of the time.

Today’s c-store shoppers find the price of products (53%), products they need being in stock (41%) and variety of products offered (30%) important.

Sixty-four percent of shoppers spent less than $15 (excluding gas) on their visit and most used cash or a debit card to make a purchase.

C-stores are consumers preferred choice of store for a wide range of products including dispensed beverages, candy/gum, cigarettes, other tobacco products and beer/malt beverages.

C-stores are the preferred location for consumers to fill up their gas tanks. When deciding where to stop for gasoline, price and a convenient location drive purchase decisions for 85% of shoppers.

The top services tried at c-stores are mobile-related with 73% of consumers using mobile pay. Drive-thru also ranks at the top of services most likely to use if it was available at a c-store.

Only 10% of c-store shoppers own an electric vehicle, but of those that do, they believe c-stores should provide charging stations. Among this group, 70% consider it important for c-stores to have a charging station.

CBD product sales are growing at c-stores. Twenty-nine percent of shoppers purchased CBD products in the past month and 15% bought them at a c-store. Sweet formulations are most popular with more than four-in-ten buying CBD gummies, followed by 26% purchasing chocolate.

The 2022 Convenience Store News Realities of the Aisle Study was fielded in January 2022. Responses were gathered from 1,510 convenience store shoppers. In order to qualify, respondents were required to be aged 18 and older, reside in the United States, and shop at convenience stores at least once a month.

82% of businesses have a consumer recognition strategy in place.

56% of consumers are more likely to share their contact information if it improves their experience.

42% of consumers will share personal information if it improves their experience.

Over 54% of consumers expect a heightened and frictionless digital experience

62% of business owners can identify three or more major inefficiencies in their business processes that could be resolved with automation

49% of U.S. consumers have increased concern for their online activities and transactions

82% of consumers rank security as their top priority for their online experience

The February 2022 survey, which polled mostly women (58%) and focused on respondents between the ages of 18 and 59, found that almost half of those surveyed (48%) hadn’t yet heard the term “metaverse” and that only 5% considered themselves enthusiastic users of it, while 47% were only vaguely familiar with the term and still in the dark on how to use it.

Only 18% of all consumers surveyed said that they engaged with virtual worlds at all. Of the 100 consumers surveyed who do engage with virtual worlds, 76% play games and 39% socialize in them. While only 30% of the group shops in metaverse environments, these respondents reported interest in activities such as shopping in virtual malls and trying on clothing and accessories virtually when they were asked about potential shopping-related activities in future metaverse visits. 

“Restaurants are built on personalized experiences and understanding guest preferences by region is a key part of building strong affinity between a guest and a restaurant brand,” said Michelle Tempesta, Chief Marketing Officer, Paytronix Systems. “Local and regional managers need the ability to tailor messages, offers, pricing, and menu language nuances to appeal to their audiences.”
 
QSRs – Consumers in the South strongly prefer Quick Service Restaurants, with 68% of consumers surveyed in this region saying they regularly order from these restaurants. Northeastern consumers are the least likely to order from QSRs, with 59% having ordered from one in the past month. This compares to the national average of 63% of consumers who order from QSRs regularly.
 
Table Service – Table-service restaurants are more popular in the Pacific region than they are in the rest of the country, with 85% of consumers in this region saying they regularly order from such restaurants.
 
Promotions and Sales – Consumers in the Midwest are most drawn to restaurants that offer promotions and sales. QSR customers in the Midwest find promotions and sales particularly enticing, with 34% of consumers surveyed saying they are a deciding factor in selecting a restaurant.
 
Third-Party Aggregators – Consumers in the Northeast use restaurant aggregators like Grubhub and Uber Eats the most, while Midwesterners and Southerners use aggregators the least.
 
Discounts – Everyone loves discounts, no matter where in the U.S. they live. Both complimentary food and customized discounts are the two greatest draws for consumers at both table-service restaurants and QSRs. 55% of table service cand 58% of QSR customers say customized discounts are a favorite perk.
 

A vast majority of consumers, 85%, will do more in-store shopping in 2022 than last year, up from the 79% reporting increased visits in 2021. Factors driving this return to physical locations include having the simple ability to choose products in person, seeing what’s new, and taking advantage of the store staff’s expertise. At the same time, online ordering volumes and services like BOPIS are slipping from their 2021 highs, further bolstering the importance of a vibrant retail offering.
 

Other key findings from the ChaseDesign Shopper Sentiment survey include:

• Shoppers see 2022 as the tipping point for self-checkout, with shoppers citing it as the most used technology tool at physical retail. This means merchandising practices for retailers must change and adapt in order to sustain lucrative impulse purchases.
• Self-checkout joins QR codes and retailer shopping apps as the technologies that best help improve the shopping experience. More than two-thirds of shoppers use self-checkout at least occasionally, while 44% use the retailer’s shopping app and 29% use QR codes—all of which representing increases from previous years.

Findings from the ChaseDesign 2022 Shopper Sentiment survey validate the importance of aligning new merchandising offers with changing customer behaviors. For instance, the increased usage of self-checkouts requires a rethinking of marketing at the store’s front-end to replace impulse buy opportunities.

72.5% of Americans feel more inclined to shop at brands that make their loyalty experience fun and rewarding. 
  
79% said that if a company invests in making their loyalty programs more fun, they value their customers more.
  
And millennials and gen z are leading the charge. 
  
80% of millennials and 78% of gen z-ers frequently make extra purchases just to advance their status in a loyalty program.
  
But the loyalty goals need to be clearly defined…
  
65% of Americans said they are more likely to spend an amount to reach goals in a loyalty program ONLY if it’s clearly laid out for them.

Blue Yonder today released findings from its 2022 Consumer Sustainability Survey, which revealed retail consumer preferences related to sustainable shopping habits. The survey found that more than three-quarters (86%) of consumers are willing to delay e-commerce deliveries for the sake of improving sustainability if given an incentive to do so. Of those respondents, 29% are willing to delay deliveries up to five days and 28% are willing to delay a week or more.

The data also showed the COVID-19 pandemic had a noticeable impact on consumer sustainability habits. Nearly half (44%) of consumers said their interest in shopping sustainably increased since the start of the pandemic.
 

Consumers Willing to Do Their Part

Retail e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 50% over the next four years. To help limit the environmental impact of their online shopping, the survey found that consumers are willing to do their part by recycling, spending more on sustainable packaging or even setting minimum spending requirements on deliveries:

• 81% of consumers recycle boxes/bags from in-store and online shopping at least half the time and more than half (53%) recycle the packaging 75-100% of the time
• 64% are willing to spend more on sustainable packaging, with 44% willing to spend up to 5% more
• 40% agree there should be a minimum amount a consumer must spend to qualify for expedited shipping or shipping in general

Social Media Influences Shopping Frequency at Sustainable Retailers

The survey also revealed that social media has influenced over half (52%) of consumers’ sustainable shopping frequency. Nearly half (45%) said they were slightly-to-moderately influenced and 7% said they were moderately-to-significantly influenced.

For those influenced by social media, Facebook and Instagram had the biggest influence with 31% and 28%, respectively. Facebook is the most popular platform for ages 45 and older and Instagram for ages 18-44. Surprisingly, TikTok (16%) and Snapchat (5%) were not as large of an influence with consumers overall. However, these platforms had a larger appeal for respondents ages 18-29, with TikTok at 28%.

A recent survey found that nearly 60% of consumers said they would rather sit in a traffic jam than have a poor customer experience.

The survey also revealed that nearly half (49%) of all respondents said that if they could only receive customer support in one way for the rest of their lives, their preference would be speaking with a human on the phone. The distant second preference was ‘in person’ (19%). Further highlighting the importance of employing authentic and empathetic individuals to represent your brand, “kind/kindness” was the most popular write-in answer from consumers when asked what customer experience should look like in 2022.

“Nearly 48% of consumers believe that customer experiences should get significantly faster, followed by 43% saying interactions should become more personalized and 36% saying there should be more self-serve or automated options,” said Maria Pardee, chief commercial officer at TELUS International.
 

Other findings from the survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers included:

• More than a third (44%) of respondents said that nothing - not even price, convenience, or if it’s a brand they truly like - excuses a poor customer experience
• Respondents preferred a more personalized customer experience (64%) over ones that saved them time (36%)
• Long wait times were the top pet peeve (32%), followed by not having the option to speak with a human (25%) and numerous transfers to different individuals (25%)

The report reflects findings from a survey of 3,450 business leaders and 4,500 consumers across 12 countries. The research demonstrates 72% of UK businesses increased investment in digital customer engagement in 2021, many are reaping the rewards. In fact, those that did invest in customer engagement technology increased revenues by 58%.

The rewards for businesses don’t stop at direct financial benefits. Many businesses reported that these technologies also positively impact customer retention and trust, 40% said that investing would increase loyalty. 42% said it would increase trust.

The research indicates 39% of global businesses cited “lack of in-house talent” as a roadblock to digital customer engagement strategy. In the UK, 47% said that they lack the in-house talent to run digital customer engagement programmes. This is a barrier to resilience in the long run. This is significantly higher than in the US, where one third (33%) said they had a talent gap.

By 2025, businesses expect that digital customer engagement will increase 47% from pre-pandemic levels globally.

Yet at the same time, strong customer engagement has never been more important. In fact, consumer opinions demonstrate that a failure to engage effectively with your customers could significantly affect the bottom line. 89% of UK consumers would stop doing business with a company after a frustrating customer experience. One fifth (21%) said they’d cut ties if they could not connect to someone from customer support. Furthermore,16% would cut ties if they knew they could get a better customer experience from a different company.

Concurrently, organisations that have successfully invested in their customer engagement strategy have reaped the benefits. UK businesses that did so saw revenue increase by 58%, but other markets saw even greater returns. France saw a 70% raise, the US 79%, Colombia 95%, Brazil 95%, and Mexico 91%.
 

Other key findings

• Globally, utilities, professional services and retail industries saw the greatest digital acceleration as a result of the pandemic. Utilities and energy companies reported that it sped up their organisations’ digital transformation strategies by 7.9 years. 7.6 years for professional and technical services and 7 years for retail and eCommerce businesses.
• Split globally by industry, construction companies reported the greatest ROI from digital customer engagement strategies with an 88% revenue increase. Telecoms saw an 83% lift and tech 82%.

Report Methodology

The report is based on two surveys conducted by Lawless Research in December 2021 and January 2022. The B2C company survey collected responses from 3,450 business leaders, while the consumer survey collected responses for 4,500 consumers. Both surveys included respondents from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, UK and US. There were 200-1,000 responses from each country. The report also included analysis of anonymized, aggregated data from over 1.6 trillion interactions that have occurred on Twilio’s platform. This includes Twilio Segment, over the past several years.

Enterprise Times: What this means for business

The rapid increase of digital customer engagement in the post-pandemic world shows no sign of slowing down. Twilio’s research is interesting and reveals how organisations can adjust strategies to capitalise on these growth trends. The State of Customer Engagement Report 2022 suggests that digital customer engagement has made a significant impact — increasing revenue by 70% on average for companies that invested in it. Unsurprisingly, these same companies expect to almost double their investment by 2025. However, the fast pace of change also means that businesses will need to quickly adapt. Personalization is now essential for customer retention and data protection has taken on greater importance amongst consumers.

Another major shift to pay attention to is the move towards “cookieless.” Firefox and Safari have already blocked access to third-party cookies, and Google Chrome will do the same in 2023. In the coming “cookieless” world, creating personalised experiences will require embracing first-party data. Going forward, embracing first-party data is not just the right thing to do, it’s no longer a choice. The report suggests customer engagement will become an even more important component for any successful business strategy over the coming years. The companies that embrace these lessons. The importance of personalisation, data ownership, and trust will continue to reap the rewards of this new digital age. Consumers will enjoy better, more trustworthy experiences online.

Today, about 4 in 10 consumers use loyalty programs when purchasing food for dine-in, delivery and pickup, according to “The Digital Divide,” a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration based on a survey of 2,207 U.S. adults who regularly purchase food from restaurants.
 

In fact, 44% of table-service restaurant customers use loyalty programs, as do 39% of quick-service restaurant (QSR) customers.

Loyalty programs are especially likely to be used by high-tech consumers — the 10% of survey respondents who own 11.8 devices on average. Among this group, 75% of table-service restaurant customers use loyalty programs, as do 60% of QSR customers.

The share of consumers who use loyalty programs is smaller but still significant among two other personas identified by PYMNTS: the mainstream consumers who own 6.5 devices, and the low-tech consumers who own 2.8 devices.

The most common way in which consumers interact with restaurant loyalty programs is with mobile apps. The survey found that 56% of table-service restaurant customers use a mobile app, as do 64% of QSR customers.

Among the eight methods identified in the survey — five of which are digital and three non-digital — even the least popular ones were used by 14% of QSR customers and 18% of table-service restaurant customers.

Customer perspective:  Simplification of payment and tracking via mobile payments will make it easier for customers to purchase.  Deeper customer relationships because of the increased volume of customer information that can be safely shared across platforms that can be transformed into greater customer knowledge and used to build bespoke customer experiences whether that is in terms of buying, selling or bartering.

• Mobile payment will be a leader. This is in  contrast to China/Japan/Korea, where  a mobile and digital first architecture is already in place.  For example, in China, the digital Yuan will compete with WePay architecture. In North America, Google Pay/Apple Pay mobile phone payments are becoming more prevalent. How these new technologies are integrated into E-commerce functionality will define the customer experience for payments in the future.
• It seems that blockchain adoption has highlighted how some customers are looking for new, different offerings.
  • Cryptocurrencies and blockchain adoption have the opportunity to reach out to customers and engage with them in a new way, on new mediums/platforms and offer new types of assets/purchases.
  • People involved in crypto are ready to make 'different' transactions online than customers not engaged in Blockchain.
  • The complete lack of physicality likely means that emotion takes an even larger role in decision making.

Organization/Brand:
Improved organizational efficiency from the standpoint of making it easier to transport and integrate data which will simplify adhering to industry regulation and improve supply chain management.

• Industry Regulation will be innovated through the movement towards putting customer data on a blockchain and will likely start out in highly regulated industries such as Healthcare, where there are strict customer data regulations and a need to share sensitive data. 
  • Essentially, consumer data on a blockchain provides full transparency of its use.
  • With data being a primary area of value generation, the consequences of mandates of this manner could be far reaching and really shift the online ecosystem.
• Data transparency becomes even more important as Blockchain has the potential to create visibility for customers and the use of their own data. Depending on further legislation and regulation, we may potentially see blockchain used to empower the individual to control their data.
  • Product information transparency – more information for the end customer. Potential exists for companies to highlight the true origin or source of materials, which can be used to help customers authenticate their purchase (thinking ESG – sourcing materials sustainably, etc.)
• Consumer loyalty for consumers juggling an  array of loyalty programs, blockchain could provide instant redemption and exchange for multiple loyalty point currencies on a single platform. 
• General supply chain benefit towards tracking inventory: B2B supplier transactions moving to smart contracts and private blockchains in their supply chain, which provides an entryway / transparency into the rest of the organization.

OneScreen.ai, a SaaS-enabled B2B marketplace provider for out-of-home (OOH) advertising, released new research that cites 92% of marketers plan to boost their OOH budget in 2022. While 98% of survey respondents said they invest in digital advertising, 97% are looking to alternative channels with 67% saying digital returns have diminished even after scaling up programs. In this largest study of its kind, Kickstand Communications surveyed more than 600 marketing professionals across 45 states in the U.S. on the future of OOH and the current state of digital advertising.

 

“Over the past decade, digital marketing channels like paid social and paid search have become the most popular way to advertise, yet in recent years, brands are struggling to stand out among the noise,” said Jeanne Hopkins, CRO at OneScreen.ai. “Unlike internet ads, real-world marketing doesn’t appear, then quickly disappear. It is a medium centered on being in the right place at the right time, and it is replete with opportunities to creatively showcase messages in memorable ways while being highly measurable. This study confirms it’s an exciting time to be utilizing OOH.”

 

Marketers who responded to the survey agree that OOH placements are essential for reinforcing brand message (93%) and standing apart from competitors (76%). They also say OOH delights and surprises consumers who are increasingly difficult to impress online.

 

Sixty-one percent of survey respondents say the challenges of competing with massive brands for search position are partly to blame for declining digital ad returns, while 60% say growing consumer digital fatigue and distrust of digital ads are factors. Increased online focus during the COVID-19 pandemic made SEO competition even tougher, cited by 77%. As a result, approximately one-third of marketers are testing OOH placements as an alternative channel to bolster lackluster digital ROI.

 

Traditionally, the effectiveness of OOH campaigns has been difficult to measure. However, with technological advances, this is no longer the case. Nearly 92% of survey respondents report using a variety of trustworthy methods to reliably measure the effectiveness of OOH campaigns, including digital integration, promo codes, QR codes, and unique landing pages.

 

The possibilities with OOH advertising are endless, including mobile billboards on LED trucks, wall murals, TVs in public facilities and arenas, transportation signs, and billboards of all kinds that can be digitally enhanced. Today’s OOH is delivering more engagement with 84% of marketers predicting a rise in interactive OOH ads in 2022.

• High-Tech Customers:  see mobile apps (56%) and the ability to pay online (57%) as factors that would lead them to increase their spending.
• Loyalty And Rewards Programs motivate a far greater share of high-tech consumers (51%) than average consumers (37%) to spend more. Such programs are more likely to entice millennial consumers and those with high incomes.
• QSR and Table Service loyalty programs are critical builders of restaurant affinity among high-tech consumers. While 60% and 75% of high-tech consumers use loyalty programs at QSRs and table-service restaurants, respectively, just 39% of consumers on average use them at QSRs and 44% do so at table-service restaurants.
• Mobile Apps are the most popular way all consumers connect with loyalty programs. Many high-tech consumers use mobile apps to connect with QSR (72%) and table-service restaurant (79%) loyalty programs, and 67% and 55% of mainstream technology consumers do the same, respectively.
• Subscriptions – 34% of high-tech consumers already are enrolled in a subscription program, and 27% of high-tech nonsubscribers are “very” or “extremely” interested in restaurant subscriptions. High-tech consumers interested in subscription services also are much more likely to enroll in subscription services at both QSRs and table-service restaurants (61%) than the sample average (50%).

According to a recent study conducted by Advertiser Perceptions for DPAA:

• 77% of brands and agencies increased their awareness and learning about OOH and DOOH in the last 18 months.
• 66% of brands activated a new DOOH campaign in the past 18 months, and 81% plan to recommend DOOH in their media plans in the next year. 

 Consumers are also paying more attention to DOOH. DPAA’s recent consumer study conducted by research firm Mfour looked at consumer sentiment around DOOH screens:

• 71% of consumers said they pay more attention to ads on DOOH screens over TV when watching ads. 
• 50% of consumers said digital screens outside the home are a good way to learn about brands, products and services. 
• About 35% of consumers reported that they are likely to research more, purchase and tell others about products they see advertised on DOOH screens. 
• 55% of consumers agreed digital screens enhance the look of indoor locations making them look and feel more modern.
• Approximately 35% of consumers trust ads on DOOH compared with just 18% for social media and 22% for internet ads. 
• 88% of consumers agree that digital screens in doctor’s offices and pharmacies are a good source of health information. 
• 81% find these screens helpful when they include customized content when at retail.

As an industry leader for the last 20 years, Paytronix has compiled one of the largest databases of guest behavior in the hospitality industry – and it’s growing every day. Our data scientists have developed scoring algorithms by analyzing billions of data points across service types, regions, and decades. These algorithms, which can be applied to any individual brand’s unique data set, are smarter and more accurate because they’re informed by the immense Paytronix database. The AI to IA solution is applied across the Paytronix platform to boost performance in every KPI, including sales, guest engagement, brand loyalty, and more

Another way to achieve AI-driven segmentation is through clustering. Also known as k-means clustering, it involves one of the most popular machine-learning algorithms. Simply put, the AI identifies points in a data set and then creates clusters of the nearest ones while keeping each cluster as small as possible. In other words, it’s a method of grouping data points together to identify similarities that aren’t immediately apparent. Clustering enables marketers to determine which items are commonly bought together. A prominent example is the correlation between fuel and coffee purchases at a convenience store. Guests can also be segmented based on their frequent purchases via the process of menu clustering. This tactic enables marketers to choose an item or category they’d like to grow – say, a new burger or a high-margin offering like alcohol – and find what purchases motivate the guests who are buying it. Those guests can then be clustered into groups and sent offers that are relevant to their specific buying habits.

At its core, AI-driven marketing aims to communicate with guests on such a personal level that it’s as if each campaign were crafted specifically for them. When advanced segmentation and predictive analytics work together, that result can be achieved via a one-to-one campaign. AI is leveraged to reach guests based on their individual behavioral patterns, like their unique visit cadence or purchase history.

For a traditional missed-visit campaign, marketers would need to make an educated guess on what constituted a missed visit. They might decide to send a message to every guest who hadn’t visited in 90 days, but there are several shortcomings to this approach. In addition to ignoring those who haven’t visited in 89 days, it doesn’t take into account that a lapse is defined differently for each guest. Dedicated regulars who visit weekly could justifiably be sent a missed-visit message after their seventh consecutive day without a visit. Conversely, messaging once-a-month guests who just visited two weeks prior would be inappropriate. Using the Missed Visit Score, a marketer could send a message to all guests who had missed a visit according to their personal visit cadence. The AI would identify weekly guests who hadn’t visited in more than seven days, monthly regulars who hadn’t been in for more than 30 days, and everything in between. With the Missed Visit Score, creating this dynamic group would be as simple as clicking a button.

The same approach can be used when preparing a visit challenge. An ideal one will feature attainable goals that incentivize guests to visit more than they typically would. Since any traditional visit challenge could only be sent to a portion of guests, marketers need to make decisions based on what’s expected to provide the greatest ROI. AI helps identify the optimal guest segments to receive a given challenge and makes it simpler to design multiple challenges, enabling all guests to be targeted by the campaign. The AI can optimize for the right number of visits and a promotion timeframe that will challenge each guest appropriately, and machine learning can be used to determine, over time, which rewards are best at driving guest behavior. For example, some guests might prefer to visit five times in a month to get a free coffee, while others are more apt to strive for six visits in two weeks to earn 100 bonus points. It’s at the marketer’s discretion whether the AI provides a static set of challenges or continually optimizes the challenges and rewards as it learns.

A new study from Juniper Research has found the value of transactions made over prepaid cards will exceed $4.1 trillion globally in 2026; up from $2.3 trillion in 2021 - a substantial growth of 75%. By 2026, prepaid card transaction value will be just over 50% higher than that forecast for contactless payment transactions; illustrating the importance of this market. The growth in prepaid cards will be driven by the ongoing replacement of cash, as economies move increasingly towards digital payments.

The new research, Prepaid Cards: Trends, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts 2022-2026, found that the growth of the prepaid market will present a significant revenue opportunity for prepaid card platforms, with fee revenue reaching over $32 billion globally in 2026, from $22 billion in 2021. The report recommends that focusing on critical capabilities, such as restricted authorisation, which enables issuers to specify where funds can be spent, will pay dividends in the longer term.

The research found that while the US will account for over 43% of global transaction values in 2026, there are other significant opportunities emerging. China is seeing increasing prepaid use, and as international tourism recovers, prepaid cards for travel money can benefit. The report also highlighted emerging markets as a key area of interest and recommended that platforms form partnerships now in order to best exploit future opportunities.

Nearly two years of unpredictable consumer behavior, mass digital migration, and wobbly growth left businesses ready for a 2021 Black Friday weekend that would top the charts in both traffic flow and transaction values. But despite merchants’ expectations for a standout seasonal sales kickoff, global reports revealed a 1.4% drop across e-commerce on Cyber Monday—a difference worth millions of dollars, and the first Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) downturn recorded in history.

In fact, research found that consumers spent  $4.5 billion online on Saturday, November 27th, down 4.3% from 2020, and $4.7 billion online the following day, down 0.5% from the same period last year. And while these dips in BFCM sales were a surprise, this holiday shopping season is still ramping up to dominate previous years’ Q4 profits by a landslide: Adobe points out that, given the high levels of holiday spending that have already happened, sales for the entire holiday shopping season (November 1-December 31) are expected to reach $207 billion, up 10% from the previous year. 
 

Seasonal surges in consumer spending are a beacon to fraudsters, who showed up in droves during BFCM weekend, driving payment fraud, account takeover, and the likelihood of future chargebacks to new altitudes across multiple industries. According to Sift’s global network, attempted account takeover fraud (ATO) more than tripled in digital wallets this year, with significant increases in payment services (PSPs) and buy now, pay later (BNPL)—notable, given that fintech order volumes rose by 126% over the BFCM weekend. Food delivery was also hit with rising ATO attempts, a problem exacerbated by the demand for zero friction and near-real-time verification.

However, no industry got bombarded by attempted ATO like omnichannel retail: account takeover fraud rates rose by a gut-wrenching 2950% during BFCM, on top of a 62% increase in attempted payment fraud. Sift’s Trust and Safety Architects reason that these ballooning attacks will only continue throughout the remainder of the season, and are precursors to an avalanche of post-holiday chargebacks likely to arrive just after the new year.

The pandemic transformed online business suddenly and permanently. For two holiday shopping seasons, unpredictable traffic and transaction volumes exposed merchants to digital fraud at a speed and scale that that was impossible to prepare for. In April of 2020, average daily order volumes across e-commerce were equal to ~88% of the transactions that occurred during just Black Friday weekend 2019.

This year, predominantly digital purchases were expected over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend, as consumers and providers alike settle in for a ubiquitously online shopping experience. But while global online sales reportedly dropped across the board for the first time in history, Sift's BFCM data* showed growth throughout the global network, with notable jumps in marketplaces and fintech.

Four verticals were hit with alarming increases in the average value of attempted fraudulent purchases over BFCM weekend, with fraudulent marketplace transactions nearly 4.3x the value of unauthorized purchases in 2020, at an average of $5023.23 per transaction.

Nearly all customers now do some or all banking digitally while interaction with bankers is reserved for advice, complex transactions

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Nearly all consumers and businesses now do at least some of their banking via digital channels and plan to do so permanently, further accelerating a trend that emerged last year as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to unfold, according to new research released by Citizens. But while the results highlight a sweeping change in banking habits, they also ratified the enduring importance of human interaction in more complex matters. 

 

According to Citizens’ newly published second annual Banking Experience Survey, nine out of 10 consumers (90 percent) and businesses (86 percent) use digital banking channels, up from 85 percent and 71 percent respectively in July 2020. The nationwide survey of consumers and business leaders found not only that widespread digital adoption is here to stay, with at least 70 percent of consumers and business leaders saying it is permanent, but that customers are increasingly comfortable in sharing their personal data with their banks. 

 

However, the survey also found that human interaction – provided either in person or via virtual channels – remains essential when it comes to getting financial advice and for executing more complex transactions, two-thirds of both consumers and businesses still prefer to tap human expertise when getting any financial advice. 

“This year’s survey shows that while the convenience of digital banking continues to attract consumers and businesses, there remains a need to provide a personal touch for advice and more complex transactions,” said Beth Johnson, Chief Experience Officer at Citizens.  “These results highlight the ongoing need for banks to provide a seamless experience across all of their channels, even as digital channels evolve rapidly.” 

 

Banks Must Continue Evolving Digital Offerings to Serve Customers Across All Channels

 

While personal interaction retains an important place in banking relationships, digital offerings are increasingly key in terms of initial consideration.  Most consumers now choose their banking partner based on mobile and online banking capabilities, with 40 percent of consumers saying it was the most important factor, while only 27 percent cite the convenience of physical branch locations as the most important factor. 

 

This year’s survey also showed a confidence in new banking channels, especially among business leaders. Seventy-eight percent of business leaders said their experiences during the past year have made them much more comfortable with doing their company’s banking online. Eighty-six percent of business leaders feel confident using video conferencing tools to speak with their banker or banking team and 70 percent said they feel confident performing banking activities via a text chat function with a live banker on the other end.

 

Additionally, the survey results showed an increased expectation among consumers that banks will use artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to anticipate their financial needs moving forward. Fifty-three percent of consumers felt that technological advances will allow banks to leverage data and AI to help better anticipate their future needs, up from 49 percent in 2020. 

 

Customers See Banks as Partners as They Navigate Their Financial Journey   

 

Both consumers and business leaders are increasingly viewing their banks as trusted partners, showing that a bank’s ability to provide a seamless omnichannel experience while continuing to offer sophisticated advice will enable it to build on and deepen relationships with its customers.

 

More than 80 percent of business leaders said their bank supported them through the COVID-19 crisis and nearly as many view their bankers as strategic and financial partners. Nearly seven in 10 consumers trust their bank to do the right thing by them when making financial decisions, while 60 percent are comfortable sharing their financial goals with their bank, suggesting they view banks as financial partners.

 

Sixty-five percent of consumers and 82 percent of businesses are at least somewhat comfortable sharing information with banks as long as it leads to more tailored solutions and a better experience. Those percentages increased year over year from 60 percent and 71 percent, respectively, demonstrating increased confidence that banks are using digital tools to enhance the banking experiences of their customers and meet their needs. 

 

Added Johnson: “Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen how customers depend on their banks to be there for them and provide strategic advice. Listening to our customers’ needs in order to provide innovative solutions, services, and experiences with personalized insights is key as we continue to move forward together.”

 

Methodology 

The Banking Experience survey was conducted by Mintel/Comperemedia (www.mintel.com) among 1,028 consumers and 260 business leaders, between October 22 and November 4, 2021 for both the consumer survey and the business survey, using an email invitation and an online survey.

Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in the consumer sample of this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

Key Finding 1: Businesses that were adapting slowly now have other priorities
94 percent of agents will continue working from home.
With agents working from home, security has become a top priority.

Key Finding 2: The perception gap remains as the challenges mount
While 61 percent of businesses felt their digital channels delivered consistent customer experiences, 50 percent of the time, their automated channels failed.
When switching support channels, 89 percent of customers were asked to repeat information.
84% indicate they will invest in data security solutions to protect customer data.

Key Finding 3: The best-laid plans fall through
In 2021, more companies are relying on multiple support channels, which is making the delivery of a consistent CX more complicated.
As companies rapidly expanded agent workforces during call volume peaks, they were overstaffed when call volumes stabilized.
Today, 34 percent of companies feel that voice agents still provide the best customer experience, up from 29 percent in 2020.
A majority of companies (54 percent) plan to invest in a consolidated view across voice and digital channels.

Key Finding 4: A new possibility emerges
CX as-a-service, which combines talent, services, and technology, is emerging as a new way for companies to close the perception gap.
Using a managed services approach that combines people, processes, and technology can overcome the many CX challenges while decreasing overall costs.
 

• Spending online increased by 42% from 2019 to 2020 and that online spend continues to grow yearover-year in 2021.
• 2020 saw a total of $844B spend online and a continuing +42% YOY growth
• Online spend in January and February 2021 also grew at 34% YOY
• 78% of consumers plan to shop more in-store as they’re eager to get out of the house and want to interact with store associates and physically interact with products.
• 59% of respondents shop at secondhand stores for apparel
• Sustainable fashion is expected to GROW 2x the size of fast fashion by 2029
• 59% of U.S. adults aged 18-34 have started or stopped using a new brand because of its response to racism/racial injustice.
• What factors are influencing brand conversion among online shoppers under 40? 43% like an introduction to new products 42% want products recommended 41% look for a distinctive look and feel
• 44% of U.S. consumers plan to splurge or treat themselves by traveling or going on vacation and 46% by attending restaurants, bars or dining out. Channel, content, and experience strategies drive differentiation among retailers hoping to make the most of the post-pandemic “revenge spending.”

• 66% of consumers feel ads based on tracking behavior are creepy
• 78% of marketers say that since cookies have been fairly effective in the past, they see no reason to discontinue their use
• 50% of consumers are comfortable sharing data with a brand in exchange for a better service
• 79% of consumers will trade personal and preference data for the chance to win a prize
• 92% of respondents moderately or very much agree that one-to-one personalization capabilities will be essential to advertising and marketing efforts in the future
• 24% of respondents said that they are using advanced personalization methods, but 50% plan to put them in place within the next 12 months

Companies that prioritize employee experience to deliver a premium customer experience achieve 1.8 times faster revenue growth. (Salesforce)

89% of companies that lead with customer experience perform financially better than their competitors. (Qualtrics)

High-growth companies are nearly 2.5 times more likely to focus on solving customer problems than those that are not. (Forrester)

A one-point customer satisfaction improvement on a 10-point scale corresponds to at least a 3% increase in revenue. (McKinsey) 

B2B and B2C companies that implement innovative CX strategies are 3 times more likely to substantially outperform their business goals. (Adobe)

75% of customers will spend more to buy from a company that offers a good customer experience. (Zendesk)

90% of global CX professionals agree that CX is a primary focus of their company. (Oracle)

Customers are 2.7 times more likely to spend more when companies communicate clearly. (Forrester) 

Fully engaged customers give 23% more share of wallet than the average customer. (Gallup)

63% of customers will pay more for a great experience. (Salesforce) 

Personalization at scale can reduce marketing and sales costs by up to 20%. (McKinsey)

52% of consumers would be willing to pay more to receive great customer service. (Hyken) 

One in four customers is willing to pay up to 10% more to receive excellent customer service. (Hyken)

46% of companies say customer experience is their top priority for the next five years. (Super Office) 

90% of B2B buyers will turn to a competitor if a supplier’s digital channel can’t keep up with their needs. (Avionos) 

87% of B2B buyers will pay more for a supplier with an excellent digital commerce portal. (Avionos)

Delivering a high-quality B2B customer experience can reduce customer churn by up to 15%. (McKinsey)

84% of B2B buyers are more likely to buy from sales reps and companies that understand their goals. (Salesforce)

A positive customer experience yields 20% higher customer satisfaction rates. (McKinsey) 

91% of consumers are more likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive experience. (Salesforce)

A positive customer experience leads to a 10-15% boost in sales conversion rates. (McKinsey) 

71% of consumers have made a purchase decision based on experience quality. (Salesforce)

A positive customer experience increases employee engagement by up to 30%. (McKinsey)

78% of customers say they are loyal to brands that understand them and what they want to achieve. (Acquia)

Customers who have a high-quality experience are 2.7 times more likely to keep doing business with a brand than those with a low-quality experience. (Deloitte)

59% of loyal customers are more likely to choose that brand over competitors. (McKinsey) 

62% of loyal customers are more likely to spend more on the brand. (McKinsey) 

Customers are 2.4 times more likely to stay when companies solve customer problems more quickly. (Forrester)

90% of customers say they are very likely to trust companies that have very good customer experiences, compared to 15% of customers that trust companies with very poor CX. (Qualtrics)

86% of loyal customers will recommend a company to friends and family. (KPMG)

75% of customers are very likely to forgive a company for a mistake if they think it delivers very good CX. (Qualtrics) 

46% of loyal customers will remain loyal to the brand even after a bad experience. (KPMG)

64% of customers will try new products or services immediately from companies they think have very good CX. (Qualtrics) 

66% of loyal customers are likely to write a positive online review after a good experience. (KPMG) 

75% of U.S consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that delivers a personalized customer experience. (Hyken) 

80% of customers say the experience provided by a company is as important as the products and services. (Salesforce) 

70% of customers say convenience is more important than branding. (Salesforce) 

66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. (Salesforce) 

52% of customers expect offers to always be personalized, up from 49% in 2019. (Salesforce)

Customers are 10 times more likely to recommend a brand when employees answer all their customer questions. (Forrester)

95% of customers who rate a company’s CX as very good are likely to recommend the company, compared to 15% of customers who rate a company’s CX as very poor. (Qualtrics)

94% of customers who rate a company’s CX as very good are very likely to repurchase from that company. (Qualtrics) 

Modest improvements in CX performance lead to a 34% increase in future purchase intentions. (Qualtrics) 

74% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to buy based on experience alone. (Treasure Date)

88% of consumers will switch to a competitor after three or fewer bad experiences. (Customer Contact Week Digital) 

After the pandemic, customer experience is now more important to 58% of consumers. (Customer Contact Week Digital)

84% of customers say being treated like a person instead of a number is very important to winning their business. (Salesforce)

93% of customers say trusting a company makes them more likely to recommend that company. (Salesforce)

Customers who rate a company’s customer service as good are 38% more likely to recommend the brand. (Qualtrics)

• Willing to Pay for a Safe Environment: More than 40% of people would pay extra to be on a 100%-vaccinated flight or stay at a 100%-vaccinated hotel/resort.
   
• No Travel Money: 30 million Americans can’t afford winter travel.
   
• Stay-at-Home Winter: 27% of people won’t travel due to fear of Covid this winter.
   
• New Cards for Younger Travelers: Millennials are 4X more likely than baby boomers to apply for a new credit card to save on winter travel.
   
• Credit Card Perks Worth the Cost: 1 in 3 consumers think it's worth paying an annual fee to get a hotel or airline credit card with better perks.
   
• Best Credit Card for Winter Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best credit card for winter travel because it currently has an initial bonus worth $1,250 in travel for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

A new study published by BCG Ventures this September shows how redirecting spend from promotions to personalized offers can lead to a 200% return.

Instead of going all-in on one or two programs, big retail brands are starting to allocate 25% of their customer-oriented investments into four areas: Pricing, Promotions, Reward programs, and Personalized offers.

You’re probably busy, so I thought I’d send a quick summary:

• Personalized offers perform at least 2x better than mass promotions. The study estimates that first-movers can capture $70 billion in opportunities. Not bad!
• Starbucks dropped mass promotions and instead gamified specials to each rewards member. They’ve seen 8% YoY growth in member spending for several years now.

• Food and beverage sales in the restaurant and foodservice industry are projected to total $789 billion in 2021, up 19.7% from 2020.
• Despite a steady trend of job creation in the first half of the year, eating and drinking places are still nearly 1 million jobs, or 8%, below pre-pandemic employment levels and the restaurants and accommodations sector have one of the highest levels of unfilled job openings of any industry.
• As of June 2021, 39 states and the District of Columbia had reopened to 100% indoor dining capacity; 11 states and Puerto Rico are open at varying capacities ranging from 50% to 80%.
• Six in 10 adults have changed their restaurant use due to the rise in the delta variant.

Despite these increases, eating and drinking places remain nearly 1 million jobs or 8% below pre-pandemic employment levels. Operators also continue to grapple with higher input costs, with wholesale food prices increasing at their fastest rate in seven years.
 

• 75% of restaurant operators reported that recruiting employees was their top challenge as of June 2021 – the highest level ever recorded.
• The fullservice segment was down 626,000 jobs, or 11% below pre-pandemic employment levels; the limited-service segment was down 175,000 jobs or 4% in the same period.
• Menu prices have increased nearly 4% through June 2021.

 

• 52% of adults would like to see restaurants incorporate more technology to make ordering and payment easier.
• 84% of adults say they favor allowing restaurants to set up tables on sidewalks, parking lots or streets permanently.
• A majority of adults in states that allow alcoholic beverages with takeout and delivery orders would like to see it continue on a permanent basis.

• 6 in 10 adults changed their restaurant use due to the rise in the delta variant.
• 19% of adults said they completely stopped going out to restaurants.
• 37% of adults said they ordered delivery or takeout instead of dining in a restaurant.
• 32% of adults said that if asked to wear a mask and/or show proof of vaccination to dine indoors again, they would be less likely to dine in a restaurant.

Most consumers (71%) enjoy it when companies offer co-branded products, which encourages businesses to give partnerships a try.

• 71% of consumers feel positive about co-branding partnerships, making partnership opportunities appeal to prospective brands.
• 61% of consumers avoid purchasing products with a negative brand reputation at least sometimes, emphasizing the importance of wisely selecting a co-branding partner. 
• 50% of consumers recognize Doritos and Taco Bell co-branded products, showcasing the benefits of aligning on target audiences before a product launch. 
• Only 5% of consumers knew the CoverGirl and LucasFilm co-branded products, displaying the disadvantages of targeting separate, distant audience groups.
• 43% of consumers would likely try a co-branded product from a company they already liked, making co-branding a solid opportunity to reengage returning consumers.
• 41% of consumers think a brand’s values are essential for purchasing decisions, indicating that co-branding partners should spend time discussing values alignment.

Furthermore, when waiting to speak to a customer service representative by phone, they are willing to wait on hold for six minutes on average, but the average actual wait time is three times longer, averaging 17.4 minutes. The survey also finds companies that prioritize good customer service are likely to be rewarded by consumers with increased brand loyalty and positive online reviews.

In the survey, nearly 7 in 10 respondents (69%) said talking to a live agent by phone is one of their top three preferred methods of communication with a company’s customer service department; 5 in 10 (54%) said email; 4 in 10 (46%) said an online chat with a live agent. When asked to pick the top three most important qualities of a customer service agent, 60% selected “willingness to help;” 60% chose “ability to solve my issue;” and 58% indicated “knowledge about the product or service.” Fifty-four percent said either “pleasant to talk to” or “having a compassionate attitude.” By age groups, Millennials (18-24) value a compassionate attitude (28%) twice as much as Baby Boomers (57-75) (13%).

Americans are willing to wait on hold, but not for long. When calling a company’s customer service department, Americans said they are willing to wait on hold for six minutes, but the actual wait time on average is three times longer. One-third (34%) said they’re willing to wait on hold between five to seven minutes, an average of six minutes overall, with women (15%) twice as likely as men (8%) to be willing to wait 10 minutes or longer. However, the average actual wait time on hold is 17.4 minutes, with 2 in 3 (62%) saying they’ve waited on hold longer than 10 minutes and nearly one-quarter (23%) saying they’ve waited on hold for 30 minutes or longer. Women are more patient -- they’re twice as likely (31%) as men (13%) to wait on hold more than 30 minutes.

In the survey, consumers said they are likely to reward companies with good customer service with increased brand loyalty and positive online reviews. After a positive customer service experience, 3 in 10 (33%) said they post an online review. Conversely, after a poor customer service experience, 4 in 10 (42%) said they have posted an online review, with Gen Z (18-24) consumers the most likely to post a review after a poor experience (65% are somewhat likely and very likely). Younger Americans are also more likely to abandon a brand after a poor experience -- 65% of 18-24 and 61% of 25-40 said very or somewhat likely; only 33% of 41-56 and 19% of 57+ said very likely or somewhat likely.
 

• Customer Service is Quite Good: When asked for an adjective when hearing the term “customer service,” 65% provided positive words, like knowledgeable, helpful, caring and sincere; only 14% provided adjectives that were negative in connotation.
• Accessibility is Key: When asked about the most important features when contacting a company’s customer service department, 55% said “easy to get through to a live agent” and 52% said “available 24 hours/day”; 41% said “a website chat with a live agent;” 40% picked “multiple options for communicating” (i.e., by text, email, etc.).
• Biggest Fear is Going Back to the Start: When asked to name the top three frustrations when calling a company’s customer service department, Americans are frustrated by inefficient customer service that wastes time -- 68% said “waiting on hold for a long time and then getting disconnected and having to start all over again;” 64% said “having to talk to several people/departments to get an issue resolved;” 59% said “the amount of time it will take to get my issue resolved.”
• Call Me (Back) Maybe: If there is a long wait time when calling a company’s customer service department, call backs from a queue are preferred; 37% said they would prefer to be put in a queue and called back when an agent is available; 24% would continue to wait on hold; 20% would hang up and try another time.
• Most Are Satisfied When Dealing with Healthcare Organizations and Financial Institutions: More than 6 in 10 (64%) said they were extremely or somewhat satisfied when contacting healthcare organizations (hospitals, doctors offices, labs, therapists, insurance, etc.); 1 in 10 (10%) said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied. When contacting financial institutions (banks, student loan organizations, mortgage companies, car loans, etc.), nearly 7 in 10 (68%) are extremely or somewhat satisfied; less than 10% (8%) are somewhat or extremely dissatisfied.
• Can You Hear Me Now? Cable and wireless companies need to do a lot better in their customer service. When asked “what company is the worst to get a hold of for customer service?,” respondents named companies or organizations in the cable & wireless industry (43%), state and federal government agencies (23%) and banks/financial services (8%).
• Cloudy with a Chance of a Text Notification: Among notifications by text messages currently received by respondents, the three most popular are weather updates; notices of deliveries or to pick up an order at a store; and banking/account balances/bill pay.
• “Unknown Number” and “Scam Likely” are Frequent Callers: One-third (30%) said they receive between 6-10 phone calls from an unknown number each week; more than one-third (35%) said they receive more than 10 phone calls each week; nearly 10 percent (8%) said they receive 21 or more phone calls each week.
• Stranger Danger!: One-half said if they don’t know who’s calling, they are unlikely to pick up. Fifty percent are very unlikely and somewhat unlikely to answer a phone call from an unknown number; women (58%) are much more unlikely than men (39%) to answer a call from an unknown number.
• Keeping Your (Social Security and Credit) Cards Close to Your Chest: When providing private or sensitive information, like a credit card number, account number, social security number, etc., over an automated phone system, 41% said they will only give information to a live agent or they never provide that kind of information over the phone; 38% said they enter the number in the keypad.

More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents say they don’t want to accumulate points anymore, and retailers’ loyalty programs should provide immediate benefits to maintain their loyalty.

68% of consumers agree that their loyalty is more difficult to maintain than ever before.

76% of consumers would pay for a premium loyalty program.

81% of traditional loyalty members say they would join a premium loyalty program at their favorite retailer, assuming that the benefits were valuable.

79% of consumers say they don’t want to accumulate points anymore, and retailers’ loyalty programs should provide immediate benefits to maintain their loyalty.

90% of consumers say they’re likely to choose a retailer where they’re a premium loyalty member over another one offering a lower price.

73% of premium loyalty members shopped more with their favorite retailers during the pandemic.

More than twothirds (68%) of customers agree their loyalty is more difficult to maintain than ever before, up from 64% in 2020. At the same time, consumers are increasingly willing to pay for the benefits they want from retailers. More than three-quarters (76%) would pay for a premium loyalty program.

Seventy percent of 2021 respondents currently belong to a premium loyalty program, compared to 66% in 2020 and 58% in 2019.

Gen Zers are actually more likely to have premium loyalty memberships (70%) than traditional loyalty memberships (63%).

Three-quarters (75%) of current premium loyalty program members are likely to join additional premium loyalty programs in the next 12 months, compared to 69% in 2020. And more than a third (37%) definitely would join an additional program.

90% of retailers said the launch of Walmart+ influenced their decision to consider a premium loyalty program.

Ninety percent say they’re likely to choose a retailer where they’re a premium loyalty member over one offering a lower price. And 88% of premium loyalty members say they’re likely to recommend a retailer with valuable premium loyalty benefits to a family member or friend.

Almost half (49%) of consumers tried shopping with a new brand since March 2020, as the shift to online shopping made it easy to order with a single click.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) shopped more with retailers whose premium loyalty programs they were part of during the pandemic, and 41% shopped significantly more with those retailers.

As in 2020, 94% of premium loyalty members in 2021 shop with their favorite retailers at least once a month. But the percentage of members who shopped even more often — once a week or more — actually grew from 58% in 2020 to 67% in 2021.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of consumers said it would entice them to invest in or renew a premium loyalty program. Other benefits are also important to the mix, including instant discounts that customers can conveniently use whenever they shop (53%) and free giveaways (47%) that cater to customers’ needs for instant gratification.

Premium loyalty members’ desires for instant gratification are just as strong as they were last year. Nearly three-quarters (72%) expect to see benefits within the first week or immediately, compared to 70% in 2020.

Of consumers who belong to traditional loyalty programs, a majority (68%) belong to 1-4 programs, and almost a third (31%) belong to 5 or more programs.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of respondents use 50% of those programs or less on a monthly basis, and 5% don’t use any of those programs on a monthly basis.

Of respondents who belong to traditional loyalty programs, 81% say it’s likely they would join a retailer’s premium loyalty program if they were already part of its traditional loyalty program, assuming the benefits were valuable. This is an increase of 14 percentage points from 2020 (67%).

Of consumers who don’t belong to a premium loyalty program, almost half (44%) said it was because they don’t see the value — the most popular answer.

we surveyed 300 marketing and loyalty professionals and found that 51% of respondents who work with a vendor experienced ROI within the first six months of starting their program, compared to only 41% of those that manage their programs in-house.

 

• 91% of users of voice assistants search the internet with their voice – highlighting how it is now a platform for SEO and SMO marketing and comms
• 41% of American users are making purchases with their voice assistants
• Those who don’t use the tech yet state that privacy concerns are the main reason they don’t use it (42% stated so), followed by a lack of trust for the assistants (32%)
• Only 27% of voice assistant users in the US feel comfortable using them in public

Thirty-four percent of all consumers say that they are on shakier financial ground than they were prior to March 2020, and more than a third of them believe their finances will only grow less stable over the course of the next year.

84% share of customers who beilieve their finances will improve within the next year.

49% portion of resturant customers with slipping finances who use loyalty programs.

34% share of customers who finances are improving from March 2020 who would spend more on food orders placed online.

Forty-nine percent of consumers with this financial outlook are signed up with at least one restaurant’s loyalty program, compared to 42 percent of consumers whose finances have remained largely stable throughout.

Thirty-six percent of restaurant customers whose personal finances are slipping say they would feel encouraged to spend more on their orders if their restaurant offered them loyalty programs, in fact, as would 39 percent of restaurant customers whose financial outlook has been consistently negative since before March 2020.


 

Approximately 58 percent of retail professionals say the pandemic accelerated new technology-related product launches at their company.

Brands have leveraged technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality to connect with consumers, with 31 percent of consumers using these technologies to buy household items and furniture this year.

nearly 30 percent of consumers purchased through this medium in the last month. China recorded a high adoption usage at 63 percent; in the United States, while recording a relatively lower figure at 29 percent, popularity will likely continue as the concept takes hold.

Almost 40 percent of consumers point to scan-as-you-go, smart cart, and walk-in, walk-out technologies as top desired features.

More than 42 percent of consumers are comfortable with in-store assistance from robots, and one in five are open to the idea of microchip implantation to enable payments.

Scams accounted for 59% of blocked user-generated malicious content within Sift’s network during the first quarter of the year.

The other most common blocked content fraud types include irrelevant content (22%, not related to the topic at hand), toxic (18%, includes foul language, harassment, hate speech or bullying) and commercial (1%, solicitations against terms of service).

Decreased transaction volumes, new digital shopping methods and services, and rising attack volumes across many markets throughout the pandemic contributed to a 77% surge in blocked content fraud in Q1 2020 over the same period in 2019.

However, with an additional 18% increase in Q1 indicating that fraudsters remain committed to leveraging user-generated content to ensnare consumers and steal from businesses. 

• Content fraud encounters abound: Approximately 27% of consumers surveyed report running across fraudulent content on a daily or weekly basis. According to respondents, the most common types of fraudulent content encountered are spam (51%) and scams (50%) with misinformation and 'fake news' rounding out the top three (43%).
   
• COVID-19 vaccine misinformation widely reported: Half (50%) of consumers surveyed say that they’ve come across COVID-19 scams or misinformation. Within this group, 61% say the scams encountered involved misinformation about the efficacy or side effects of COVID-19 vaccines; 61% say they involved misinformation about vaccines containing tracking technology; and 28% came across fraudulent vaccine cards or passports.
   
• Fraudulent content has a direct impact on consumer loyalty: More than half of consumers surveyed say they would stop shopping at a business if malicious content was discovered on the brand’s website. Specifically, 56% say they’d stop using the site or service if fake or misleading content was discovered, while 54% say they’d stop use if they were scammed into sharing personal information.
   
• The web’s top spammiest and scammiest places: Those surveyed also identified the places online where they encounter the most content fraud. These include: social networking sites (61%​); classifieds (28%​); dating sites (24%); marketplaces (21%); and crowdfunding sites (15%).

Over half (54%) of respondents have witnessed this rise, with 36% seeing instances of inaccurate, fake or even toxic UGC multiple times a day, and an additional 15% saying they see this type of content daily. More than 40% of respondents will disengage from a brand’s community after as little as one exposure to toxic or fake UGC, while 45% say they will lose all trust in a brand.

“It is in the best interest of organizations to deploy strong content moderation tactics and technologies to combat this material when it appears on their channels as nearly 70% of survey respondents stated that brands need to protect users from toxic content and 78% said it is a brand’s responsibility to provide positive and welcoming online experiences.”
 

• The most frequently encountered unwanted content includes spam (61%), fake reviews and testimonials (61%), and inappropriate or harmful images (48%).
• Consumers report finding these types of content so impactful that it has affected the quality of their day, with 38% saying it has made their day worse, and nearly 30% reporting it ruined the entire day.

On the flip side, when a brand engages with a customer online (e.g. liking a social media post or responding to a review/comment) it has a positive effect on their relationship with that company. More than half (53%) said it makes them more likely to purchase from the company again, while 45% said it makes them more likely to post additional UGC and increases the likelihood they would recommend the brand.

With 83% of Americans surveyed saying they have posted UGC - most frequently, images (52%), reviews or testimonials (51%) and comments in forums/social/online communities (44%) - brands that turn to social listening and community management practices in addition to addressing unwanted content will have a stronger chance at positively impacting the online customer experience.

Today’s consumers are willing to help combat toxic or misleading UGC, with 66% reporting having flagged instances to brands. Respondents also indicated that many companies can provide a more timely response as less than a third (32%) of people received a response within 24 hours. In terms of actions they want to see taken by brands, 69% of those surveyed said they want the brand to remove the content, while 46% want a direct response about the actions the brand has taken and 40% want the offending user banned, at least temporarily.

 

About 50% of grocery shoppers began buying online and picking up in store during the pandemic, but only half of those customers will continue this behavior in the future.

shoppers want to be in control - 54% prefer to pick items out in person and 40% want the experience of shopping in a physical store.

Nearly half BOPIS shoppers won’t buy meat / seafood, about 40% avoid dairy, produce and frozen products, about 35% won’t order deli or bakery and 31% get t heir healthcare/personal care items through another channel.
 

• 40% of people report waiting 10 minutes or more for their BOPIS orders
• 90% of shoppers still go into store when picking up an order
• Walmart, Target and Kroger are delivering best experience for BOPIS shoppers
• Shoppers have become highly reliant on retailer apps for both a better in-store and BOPIS/delivery experience

Amongst 1,000 consumers between the ages of 18-54 who buy groceries online for pickup in-store, curbside pickup or home delivery. 
 

47% of restaurant customers use at least one loyalty program.

The share of consumers using restaurant loyalty programs increased 12 percent. In fact, 42 percent of all restaurant customers had been using at least one restaurant’s loyalty program on January 22, and that figure increased to 47 percent by April 22.

• QSR Growth -- The increase in restaurant reward program usage is most pronounced among consumers who order from quick service restaurants (QSR). Twenty-four percent more chain QSR customers reported using at least one restaurant’s loyalty program on April 22 than did on January 22.
   
• Top Loyalty Users -- Millennial and bridge millennial restaurant customers use more loyalty programs than the rest. They are also signing up for new loyalty programs faster than all other age groups.
   
• Loyalty Drives Spend -- Demand for restaurant loyalty programs soars after the first sign-up. Fifty-seven percent of consumers who already use at least one restaurant’s loyalty program would spend more on food orders from other restaurants if the latter offered loyalty programs as well

Fifty-seven percent of restaurant customers who are signed up for at least one restaurant’s loyalty program would be willing to spend more on food orders from other restaurants if they could use loyalty and rewards options.



 

McDonald’s closed most of it dining rooms, yet the fast food titan reported that same-store sales rose more than 13 percent year over year in Q1 2020. 

Roz Brewer, former chief operating officer of Starbucks, called drive-thru the industry’s most productive model. The coffee giant’s same-store sales fell by 5 percent in Q4 2020, but locations with drive-thrus saw revenues rise.

Transactions at QSRs may have fallen last year, but check size has increased by more than 14 percent to an average of $11.

Overall transactions fell by 9 percent in 2020, but the rise in check sizes was due to restaurant operators responding to slowing sales with incentives such as rewards and family meal deals to help maximize ticket sizes.

Delivering on Restaurant Rewards revealed that 92 percent of vaccinated customers plan to keep ordering online as often as they do now, and only 8 percent of consumers will return to dining in restaurants.

Americans spend an average of more than $1,200 on drive-thru food each year, and researchers reported that drive-thru trips grew by 26 percent in Q2 2020 to make up 42 percent of all restaurant visits. Nearly three-quarters of Americans have used a restaurant’s drive-thru since the start of the pandemic, moreover — up 43 percent since April 2020.

37% Share of single parents who said they would spend more on food orders if they could place them via mobile app.

34% portion of married parents who would spend more on food orders if resturatnts offered drive-thru pickup.

33% portion of married parents who would spend more on food orders if they could order from a website on a mobile device.

9% segment of occasional diners who said they would spend more on food orders if they could pick up their food at a drive-thru.

9% share of convience diners who said they would spend more if they could place their orders via mobile app.

Americans have long been fans of remote food ordering and pickup options, with the most recent data revealing that they spend an average of $1,200 annually on drive-thru purchases.

Recent research showed that 60 percent of consumers would feel safe dining out — the highest rate since last spring. This share has been on the rise this year, but it never exceeded 42 percent in 2020. Consumers’ comfort with dining outdoors still remains higher than with dining indoors, however, at 68 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

Restaurant sales increased by 32 percent in March compared to the same month one year prior as more consumers ventured out to dine, with QSR transactions leaping by 29 percent and full-service restaurant sales skyrocketing by 210 percent year over year. 

Paytronix, recently revealed that 92 percent of consumers who have been fully immunized plan to keep ordering online after the pandemic eases as often as they do now, while only 8 percent will return to dining in restaurants.

Additional survey findings noted that 32 percent of vaccinated diners would spend more if they could pay online, 40 percent would do so if they could earn rewards and vaccinated consumers’ desire to use loyalty programs is highest among bridge millennials, millennials and Generation Z consumers.

the average size of each check increased by more than 14 percent to $11 in 2020, according to a recent report. The rise in check sizes was a surprise to researchers, given that overall transactions fell by 9 percent, but restaurant operators had been responding to slowing sales with incentives such as rewards and family meal deals to help maximize ticket size.

Closed dining areas and consumer demand for low-contact visits to eateries also pushed drive-thru sales up by 28 percent, and drive-thrus comprised 82 percent of customer spending — up from 69 percent in 2019.

The average drive-thru order at McDonald’s took six minutes and 18 seconds in 2019, and last year it was reduced to five minutes and 49 seconds as drive-thru orders picked up.

Uber Eats said last year that its year-over-year revenue had increased 152 percent to nearly $5 billion.

90 percent of customers prefer curbside pickup over going inside a restaurant location to get their orders.

The average U.S. consumer will spend more than $1,200 on drive-thru food every year, according to reports, and drive-thru trips increased 26 percent in Q2 2020, representing 42 percent of all eatery visits. Drive-thru visits also rose by 13 percent last July when restaurants began reopening — the highest rate of all the service models, including dine-in, carryout and delivery.

Given customers’ priorities How Drive-Thrus Became The Lifeline Of The QSR Space 16 | © 2021 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved Order To Eat Tracker® DEEP DIVE of convenience and safety, some national chains reported sales swelling by as much as 70 percent

67 percent of consumers saying in one survey that a wait of six minutes or more is too long for in-store pickup. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said drive-thrus were the safest way of engaging, followed by curbside pickup at 21 percent and in-store pickup at 9 percent.

 

• 27%: Share of superconnected consumers have shifted to ordering online from at least one restaurant.
   
• The average superconnected restaurant customer spent 26 percent more on food orders than average in the last 12 months.
   
• Two-thirds of all 'connected-me' consumers use at least one restaurant’s loyalty program.

 

Key findings include:

• Digital features bank customers want and will pay for:
  • 86% of respondents are most interested in cashback offers based on preferred card perks, followed by 82% for cashback offers based on bank loyalty.
  • 26% are willing to pay for reward features of interest. Gen Z and millennials tend to be more inclined to pay for reward features than Gen X and the baby boomer generation.
  • 88% of survey respondents would like to receive alerts before recurring charges, and 31% of customers are willing to pay for that feature.

• The human touch remains vital for customer engagement: Consumers will be loyal to a bank’s brand if they find it easy to engage online or via mobile – but they still want to talk with a person when needed.
  • A majority of survey respondents (63%) indicated a desire for one-on-one personal conversations with bank representatives, with only 37% favoring chatbot or text message (SMS) communications.
  • Willingness to engage with a chatbot decreased as age increased, with 18% of Gen Z favoring chatbots compared to only 8% in the baby boomer generation.
  • The baby boomer generation favors face-to-face interactions. They are more likely to speak with a branch representative (36%) than Gen Z (23%).
  • Engagement preferences varied slightly by type and size of the bank. Community (34%) and regional (41%) bank customers preferred to speak with a branch representative, while super regional (38%) and large institutional (36%) patrons preferred to speak with a customer representative over the phone.

• Personalization – here comes the bank of CRM: The desire for customers to personalize their banking relationship is the strongest message emerging from survey respondents.
  • 72% of respondents rated personalization as “highly important,” while just 8% said it was not. 20% of respondents were neutral on the topic.
  • Millennials place the highest value on personalization (79%), followed by 75% of Gen Z, 74% of Gen X, and 58% of boomers.
  • 86% of people who felt personalization is important to their experience are willing to provide feedback on their experiences at least annually. Customers who are older and have higher income levels are more willing to provide regular feedback.

• Fraud remains a concern: 75% of survey takers cited a fraud issue as a key reason to switch banks.
  • Gen Z is most concerned about fraud incidents (81%), compared to 76% of the baby boomer generation, 75% of millennials, and 72% of Gen X.

Research included in-depth interviews with AR experts to explore AR's evolving dynamics; mobile ethnographies with daily diary entries; and a quantitative survey among 1,000 people ages 13-49 in each market (n = 4,000) who are smartphone owners and AR non-rejectors.

• Purchase decisions are spurred by AR: Branded AR experiences increase the likelihood to purchase, particularly in categories like home decor (73%), product personalization (73%), virtual try-on (72%) and product demonstration (70%).

• High AR awareness and adoption: More than half of people aged 13–49 claimed to have used AR in the past, and nearly one-third have used branded AR. Snapchatters are 56% more likely than non-Snapchatters to have used branded AR.
   
• Increasing role of AR in shopping landscape: More than three in four believe AR technology will play a role in how people shop in the next five years. Two in three who say they would use branded AR for shopping also agree they are likely to purchase after a branded AR experience.

• Consumers are looking for AR: 54% actively search for AR experiences, most commonly seeking out branded AR by searching within the camera on digital platforms like Snapchat.
   
• AR shareability heightens impact: 61% say the ability to easily share branded AR experiences is important to them.

90% of respondents say enhancing or expanding their loyalty programs is a priority for 2021.
Two-thirds of consumers believe their loyalty is harder for retailers to secure now. And nearly 40% of consumers are not interested in joining loyalty programs due to their lack of perceived value
95% of retailers with traditional loyalty programs have discussed launching a premium loyalty program in 2021
67% of consumers aren’t satisfied with traditional loyalty programs.
78% of consumers anticipate an increase in the number of premium loyalty programs due to COVID-19.
According to a McKinsey loyalty study, 35% of U.S. consumers have tried a new brand since the pandemic started and 77% have tried new shopping behaviors.
51% of respondents with premium loyalty programs consider program members to be at least 4x as valuable as non-members.
41% of retailers say their loyalty program members receive benefits within the first month.
86% of respondents who offer benefits within the first week say their loyalty program members shop at least once a week — that number drops to 63% for those who offer benefits within the first month.
Respondents with premium loyalty programs tend to offer benefits faster: 65% say their members receive benefits at least within the first week..
More than half of respondents (62%) who offer benefits within the first week see ROI within the first six months.
37% of retailers say “competing priorities” were the biggest barrier to entry in launching their loyalty programs.
57% of respondents cite lack of budget, internal resources, or IT support as the main reasons for not launching loyalty programs.
Almost 1 in 4 say they lacked the internal resources to build and manage their programs.
 44% of respondents who use a vendor say loyalty members shop with them at least once every few days, compared to only 30% of respondents who manage programs in-house.
84% of retailers with a premium loyalty program rate the profitability of their programs an 8 or above (out of 10).
According to McKinsey, besides the incremental revenue stream from annual fees, premium loyalty members are 60% more likely to spend more on the brand after subscribing, while free loyalty programs only increase that likelihood by 30%.
62% of respondents with only traditional programs have not updated their loyalty programs in the past three months.
Consider nearly 40% of consumers don’t join loyalty programs because of their lack of perceived value..
Over half of retailers (59%) only offer a traditional loyalty program.
In fact, 67% of consumers are likely to join a premium loyalty program if they already belong to that retailer’s free loyalty program.
 

In fact, one third of consumers considered breaking up with a brand while another 65% severed ties with a brand as a result of a poor customer experience (CX). This is according to the latest Sitel Group whitepaper, Driving Customer Loyalty: Perception, Effort and Action, which analyzed how brands create loyalty and the key considerations for what consumers value.

Despite changes in communication, nearly all respondents (97%) believe brands are working to deliver a positive CX. But, only 43% of all respondents agree this effort is making a tangible difference, meaning that 57% of customers believe brands still need to do more to align with their expectations.

For brands curious about how to drive customer loyalty, the report finds that 42% of consumers say the perception that the brand offers good value for money is a top driver. Furthermore, the attributes customers most closely associated with a brand's commitment to the delivery of a positive customer experience are helpful and friendly staff (69%), fast response to questions (53%) and an easy-to-use website (51%).
 

• Consumers Crave Live Chat With Brands - Two in five (40%) respondents and nearly half (47%) of millennials believe brands committed to meeting their CX expectations should be providing online chat facilitated by live agents for effective issue resolution without the need to move to another channel.
• Positive CX Drives Positive Word of Mouth - 27% of consumers will always share a review, if invited to do so, and 28% always leave a review if it is part of an incentive program.
• Social Means Positive CX - 22% of all consumers and 31% of Gen Z respondents feel a strong social media presence is synonymous with a commitment to positive CX
• Positive Customer Experiences Influence How Consumers Consume – More than half (58%) of consumers say it is one of the most important factors when making a purchasing decision. Millennials (63%), Gen X (71%) and U.S. consumers (65%) are the most likely to let customer experience dictate how and with whom they spend their money.
• An Organization's Commitment to Social Causes Influences CX - More than one in four (27%) of consumers prefer to buy from brands which they know are committed to social causes, while a fifth (20%) have no interest in whether a brand supports social causes or not.

Paytronix Systems, Inc., the most advanced digital guest experience platform, today published the latest report in its ongoing series “Delivering on Restaurant Rewards,” which finds that 92 percent of vaccinated restaurant customers who have shifted to ordering online plan to keep doing so after the pandemic has subsided with only the remaining 8 percent planning to return to dining on-site as they did before. This signals that the mobile order-ahead, curbside pickup and delivery capabilities that gained traction during the pandemic are here to stay.

When Paytronix examined sales through February and March, as vaccinated people started returning to on-premises dining, it found that online sales increased along with in-store sales. Between The first week of February and the last week in March, in-store sales grew by 13% and online sales grew about 3%.

Key findings from the research include:

• Convenience matters -- 32 percent of vaccinated restaurant customers say they would spend more on their orders if they could pay online; 40 percent of vaccinated restaurant customers would spend more if they could earn loyalty and rewards for their orders.
• Vaccinations and loyalty – There is a surprising and inexplicable link between vaccination and loyalty program usage. Vaccinated consumers’ inclination to engage with loyalty and rewards programs is highest among younger demographics, including bridge millennials, millennials and Generation Z consumers.
• More accessible loyalty programs -- Restaurant loyalty programs need to be accessible both online and offline to meet their customers’ payment needs as more consumers migrate back to brick-and-mortar establishments.

“There are no signs that brick-and-mortar commerce will necessarily return to its pre-pandemic norms despite the acceleration of mass vaccination rollouts. Consumers are keen to maintain the digital-first ordering and purchasing habits they have acquired since the pandemic began, with restaurant customers being more attached to digital ordering and payment capabilities than most.” – Delivering on Restaurant Rewards.
 
Delivering On Restaurant Rewards, a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration, draws from a survey of a census balanced panel of 1,984 U.S. consumers to gain insights into the types of rewards programs they use and would like to use when placing food orders. Respondents were 48 years old, on average, 33 percent had college degrees and 36 percent earned more than $100,000 annually.
 

The study found that consumers are increasingly becoming more comfortable with sharing their data in exchange for personalized experiences. In fact, the percentage of respondents who are uncomfortable sharing personal information, regardless of the benefits, decreased from 2020 and is currently at 23% of respondents. And even further, the feeling that personalization makes it easier to find products of interest rose to 49%. However, in the privacy-centric environment of today, brands must execute these personalized experiences in a data-safe way. Brands that are able to do this are being rewarded with customer loyalty.

Additional insights from survey respondents include:

• Brand reputation, personalization, and brand loyalty have all increased in importance from 2020 to 2021.
• 88% of consumers view a brand’s products as having higher quality if they feel like the brand is listening to their needs.
• 91% of consumers are slightly or significantly likely to make a repeat purchase if they feel a brand has listened.
• 48% of people increased the amount they spent shopping online this year compared to this time last year.

New York, NY -- April 7, 2020 -- Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) released the findings of a new study covering American consumer sentiment about COVID-19 and media usage. The study also includes insights about activities consumers engage in, health, schooling, employment, and transportation during the pandemic. Additionally, the study includes new data about vaccines, and how people get the things they buy. 
According to this consumer sentiment survey, consumers eighteen and older now show increased confidence with respect to consumer behavior.  The survey looked at three segments reflecting attitudes about the pandemic. People who are “Ready to Go,” those who “Proceed with Caution” and consumers who “Wait and See” when it comes to resuming normal behavior.  The Ready to Go segment peaked at 61% in the March 2021 survey compared with 34% in April 2020. The more pessimistic group of Wait and See consumers dropped to 9% in March 2021 compared with 29% a year ago.  
 
Other key consumer sentiments about recovery from the pandemic, 

• 82% now say that stores that were closed have started to open again compared with only 40% in April of last year.
• 64% agree that it is safer than it was a month ago, compared to 38% in April 2020.
• 72% agree that their town is starting to emerge from the crisis versus 44% a year ago.

The study showed that heavy radio listeners are more likely to make big-ticket purchases within a year. Heavy radio listeners are 18% more likely to purchase or lease a new or used vehicle in the next year, and 64% are more likely to buy a house in the next twelve months, compared to total adults. 
“As Americans continue to navigate the pandemic, the future looks promising,” said Brad Kelly, Managing Director, Nielsen Audio. “Consumers are becoming more optimistic and resuming more normal activities, especially heavy radio listeners. AM/FM listeners are more likely to be out and about and spending more time in their vehicles.” 
Among the other findings from the study:

• Vaccines
  • More than half (52%) have either gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, have an appointment to get vaccinated, or have registered to get it when eligible. These consumers are more likely to be male and tend to be older
  • One in four (26%) are uncertain about getting the vaccine and one in five do not intend to get vaccinated. Those who are uncertain or don’t plan to get the vaccine tend to be younger, female, and Hispanic.
• Employment
  • Among the employed, two-thirds now work outside the home, up nearly 70% since April.
  • Workers at home due to COVID-19 declined by more than half since April 2020.
• Transportation
  • All groups are using less public transportation due to COVID-19.
  • Those spending an hour or more in vehicles is up 150% since April, and heavy radio listeners are more likely to spend an hour or more in the car.
• Schooling
  • In March, the number of children attending in-person classes exceeded those attending virtual-only classes.
  • Children of heavy radio listeners are more likely to attend in-person classes and less likely to attend virtual classes or be homeschooled.
  • Nine in ten say the radio is on during the drive to school.
• Health and Doctor Visits
  • Significant levels of concern remain about the health implications of COVID-19, with 65% more concerned with the health of a family member of a close friend than their own health (53%). 
• How Local Shopping Has Changed
  • Nearly 8 in 10 are now getting items delivered that they ordered online compared with 7 in 10 before the pandemic.  
  • Fewer are now getting items they buy in the store (72%) compared with prior to COVID-19 (78%).  That said, getting items purchased in-store is the second most frequent way people get the things they buy.  
  • More are now getting things they buy in new ways such as having items they bought in a store delivered to their home (38%), as well as in-store (38%) and curbside pick up (35%), compared with those who did so prior to the pandemic (15%, 27%, and 22% respectively).
  • Nearly 3 in 10 consumers expect to do more in-store shopping in the months ahead compared with the 11% who expect to do that less. This is a good sign for the local retail economy in the coming months. 
  • Consumers expect to do less in-store pick up, less curbside pickup, and less home delivery from local stores in the next year which suggests that fewer restrictions are likely to spark a return to more normal local shopping habits.   

About the Nielsen Survey
Nielsen conducted an online survey to gauge the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak. The survey was administered online among a weighted sample of 1,009 adults 18+ in the U.S. between March 11-15th, 2021. Nielsen conducted similar surveys in April, May, June, and October 2020. 
About Nielsen
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a leading global data and analytics company that provides a holistic and objective understanding of the media industry. With offerings spanning audience measurement, audience outcomes, and content, Nielsen offers its clients and partners simple solutions to complex questions and optimizes the value of their investments and growth strategies. It is the only company that can offer de-duplicated cross-media audience measurement. Audience is Everything™ to Nielsen and its clients, and Nielsen is committed to ensuring that every voice counts.
 

Across sectors, the results suggest that rates for developing digital products during the pandemic differ. Given the time frames for making manufacturing changes, the differences, not surprisingly, are more apparent between sectors with and without physical products than between B2B and B2C companies. Respondents in consumer packaged goods (CPG) and automotive and assembly, for example, report relatively low levels of change in their digital-product portfolios. By contrast, the reported increases are much more significant in healthcare and pharma, financial services, and professional services, where executives report a jump nearly twice as large as those reported in CPG companies.

The customer-facing elements of organizational operating models are not the only ones that have been affected. Respondents report similar accelerations in the digitization of their core internal operations (such as back-office, production, and R&D processes) and of interactions in their supply chains. Unlike customer-facing changes, the rate of adoption is consistent across regions.

Yet the speed with which respondents say their companies have responded to a range of COVID-19-related changes is, remarkably, even greater than their digitization across the business (Exhibit 3). We asked about 12 potential changes in respondents’ organizations and industries. For those that respondents have seen, we asked how long it took to execute them and how long that would have taken before the crisis. For many of these changes, respondents say, their companies acted 20 to 25 times faster than expected. In the case of remote working, respondents actually say their companies moved 40 times more quickly than they thought possible before the pandemic. Before then, respondents say it would have taken more than a year to implement the level of remote working that took place during the crisis. In actuality, it took an average of 11 days to implement a workable solution, and nearly all of the companies have stood up workable solutions within a few months.

When respondents were asked why their organizations didn’t implement these changes before the crisis, just over half say that they weren’t a top business priority. The crisis removed this barrier: only 14 percent of all respondents say a lack of leadership alignment hindered the actual implementation of these changes. Respondents at both B2B and consumer-facing companies most often cite a failure to prioritize as a barrier, but the responses to other challenges differ. Nearly one-third of B2B respondents say that fear of customer resistance to changes was a barrier, but only 24 percent of those in consumer-facing industries say this. After these two challenges, B2B executives most often cite organizational and technology issues: the required changes represented too big a shock to established ways of working, IT infrastructure was insufficient, or organizational silos impeded commitment to and execution of the required changes.

45 percent: Share of independent restaurant customers’ total food spending that is made online.
16 percent: Portion of independent restaurant customers who have switched to ordering online since the pandemic began.
45 percent: Share of independent restaurant customers who would spend more if offered loyalty programs.

Loyalty programs have continued to expand year over year, now amassing 3.3 billion members in the United States. Today’s average consumer is a member of roughly 14 programs, but only active in 6. The current data trends point to a key differentiator in engaging consumers with a loyalty program: mobile.

Connecting on the right channel, with the right message, at the right time when it comes to driving sales, email outperforms other paid media by up to 92%.

Once an afterthought, privacy is now as vital of a differentiator as price, product, and customer experience 52% of consumers think product recommendations from cookie tracking or similar is creepy, and not cool.

The rise of the conscientious consumer means brands should choose wisely where they advertise 79% of consumers would rather brands invest in loyalty programs than advertise on Facebook.

Loyalty is about more than undercutting your competitors 64% of consumers are prepared to pay more to purchase from a trusted brand.
 

The Harris Poll report comes as vaccinations rise while cases fall, and nearly half of all Americans (45%) are confident that life in the United States will soon "return to normal". The COVID-19 vaccine seems to be having an immediate impact on future spending with (53%) of consumers and (61%) of households over $100k claiming the vaccine rollout has had at least "some influence" on how much they plan to spend in the coming months. In fact, (30%) of those households say they plan to spend more compared to last spring, and (28%) plan to spend more compared to this winter.

The increased optimism also points to an American economy that may be better suited to quickly transition from crisis to recovery thanks in part to a digitally-adapted American consumer who has relied on e-commerce to get basic essentials during the pandemic, and the rapid technological innovations made by business to meet their changing needs. While (47%) of Americans miss the experience of shopping in-store, over three-fourths (77%) say they are satisfied with online shopping. 

 

New Shopkick survey compares consumer behavior, concerns and spending habits over the past 12 months
 
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- March 15, 2021 -- One year ago, as COVID-19 lockdowns spread across the U.S., consumer anxiety was at an all-time high and 76 percent reported adjusting their shopping habits as a result. Now, one year later, most consumers (57 percent) say the pandemic continues to impact how they shop.
 
According to a new Shopkick survey, the events of the past year resulted in significant changes in shopping behavior. For example, 68 percent of Americans claim the pandemic has made them more conscious consumers. Many are now supporting local or small businesses when possible (65 percent) and researching companies’ values and practices to ensure they align with their personal beliefs (39 percent), while others are supporting more BIPOC-owned businesses (11 percent) or foregoing online shopping (8 percent) and Amazon (8 percent) altogether. 
 
In an ongoing effort to support retail and brand partners with fresh insights, Shopkick, a leading shopping rewards app, surveyed more than 10,000 consumers across the country between March 5-7, 2021 to uncover current consumer behaviors and trends. The survey addressed in-store health precautions, ethical trends, channel preferences and more, and the findings have been compared to Shopkick’s March 2020 report.
 
Key Findings:

• Americans still stocking up on the essentials. One year into the pandemic, nearly half (48 percent) of consumers report still stocking up on the essentials - a slight increase compared to 12 months ago (47 percent). Following last year’s trends, these items include toiletries (90 percent), food and water (79 percent), cleaning supplies (76 percent), hand sanitizer (72 percent), medicine and medical items (53 percent), and pet supplies (34 percent). And while 56 percent say they are spending about the same amount on essentials now compared to one year ago, 35 percent say they are actually spending more. 
• Aisles finally looking fuller. In March 2020, nearly 100 percent of consumers noticed household essentials being out of stock on store shelves. As supply chains continue to recover from the initial shock of the pandemic, that number has now shrunk to 77 percent. However, the hardest items to obtain still include pandemic essentials like cleaning supplies (77 percent), toiletries (66 percent), and hand sanitizer (48 percent).
• Brand loyalty continues to waver. While 85 percent of consumers reported not caring about brand names in March 2020, the number a year later has decreased, yet remains relatively high compared to pre-pandemic trends. Now, 61 percent say brand names still do not matter when making their purchasing decisions.
• Consumers continue to take precautions in-store. As consumers continue to head in-store to get their essentials, nearly 90 percent say they are taking certain safety precautions (86 percent in March 2021 vs. 85 percent in March 2020). The majority of consumers are disinfecting their hands and shopping carts (86 percent), using debit/credit cards to avoid handling cash (70 percent), using self-checkout (66 percent), and shopping at slower times (65 percent).
• Online shopping picks up steam. As Americans become increasingly accustomed to spending more time at home and retailers continue to expand their ecommerce capabilities, one in two (51 percent) consumers now say they are shopping online more frequently as compared to the start of the pandemic, with 84 percent planning to continue shopping online in the future. However, most consumers say high shipping costs (67 percent) and extended delivery dates (51 percent) caused by this uptick in popularity have led them to abandon online shopping carts in the past year.
• Shopping as an event. With much of the past year spent at home, 44 percent of consumers now view in-store shopping as an event and something to look forward to. For those who feel the opposite, reasons vary from viewing shopping as: something done for a specific purpose (45 percent), a stressful event (23 percent), and a nuisance (20 percent). 

 
"A year later, we are still learning how consumer behavior is evolving. Whether shoppers are  shifting to conscious consumerism or continuing to stockpile and undertake safety precautions, we are committed to keeping brands and retailers informed at every stage of the pandemic," said David Fisch, general manager of Shopkick. “It has become clear that this new retail reality requires keeping a much more frequent pulse on consumers’ needs and expectations, especially as brand loyalty continues to waver."
 

• The number of restaurant gift cards sold across service types fell 31.8% year over year.
• QSRs were the ultimate victors in 2020, capturing upwards of 60% of the restaurant gift card market. 
• More than 45% of restaurant gift cards sold in 2020 were sold during the holiday season. 
• In-store sales realized the smallest decline in number of cards sold of any sales channel in 2020. 

• More than half (52.6%) of consumers are buying households good online, and 50.3% are buying clothing online
• Only 20.6% of consumers report buying groceries online
  • Those in the “young family” age range (26-45) reported the highest rate of online grocery shopping at 28.6%
• Only one quarter (25.5%) of consumers are buying everything online
  • West Coast = 28.7% vs. North East = 21.8%
•  While the majority of consumers have yet to test out a virtual shopping consultation, nearly one third (30.9%) say they would consider it

Customer experience teams need to tackle more diverse challenges. Businesses and customer experience (CX) teams must be adaptable in 2021, prepared to tackle new challenges as a result of COVID-19. Customers have less time and declining confidence since the onset of the pandemic, and CX leaders need to ensure their largely remote teams have the skills and knowledge to address changing customer needs. A key to this is building and training teams as diverse as the challenges they’ll face. Leaders need to prepare their teams to face unforeseen challenges head-on and protect their team’s resilience while delivering consistent experiences in key channels while working remotely. 

1. Focus on delivery and engagement
   1. Grammarly users care about more than grammar and spelling or clarity of writing during complex times. People used Grammarly’s engagement and delivery features more in 2020, reflected by a 77 percent increase in interacting with engagement suggestions and a 98 percent increase in delivery suggestions—almost double the rate of 2019. For business teams, this trend shows that customers need more than proper spelling and grammar. Customers care about how things are said and want engaging messages that capture and keep their attention. The delivery of communication conveys more information beyond the literal meaning of the words used, which is especially important outside of in-person interactions where we can rely on facial expressions and voice.
2. Practice empathy and personalize communication
   1. Formal writing decreased in 2020, while informal writing increased. Grammarly users wrote more casually in the fall, as formal writing decreased 92 percent compared to January. This drop in formality reflects how connection and a human touch became important factors for customer-facing teams. Sixty-eight percent of customers expect companies to demonstrate empathy, and that was especially true this year. However, only 34 percent of that same group believe that companies deliver that empathy. There’s an opportunity for customer-facing teams to practice empathy and personalize the customer experience to connect with customers and strengthen brand loyalty. Grammarly Business can deliver highly customized suggestions through a style guide feature. A company-wide style guide can help customer teams avoid both internal jargon that customers won’t understand and overly formal or generic language that feels impersonal.
3. Offer reassurance and solutions
   1. Grammarly users expressed a general loss of confidence over the year. By November, aggregate data showed a 43 percent decrease in the monthly average use of confident tone than in January. Between an economic downturn, uncertainty around the pandemic, not to mention a contentious U.S. election, it comes as no surprise that Grammarly users experienced a drop in confidence when communicating with others. With high unpredictability across personal, work, and academic life, Grammarly offered users suggestions to remove hedging language. Customer-facing teams that want to reassure customers and sound more confident can lean on Grammarly to check tone when responding to emails, social media comments, and customer resolutions.
4. Other notable trends for customer-facing teams
   1. 2020 was a year marked by influential global events, and the data indicated that writing sentiment was affected by these major events. In the early days of the pandemic, writing became more informative and less optimistic.
   2. Grammarly’s product also observed shifts in several emotional tones in writing as the Black Lives Matter movement sparked protests at the start of summer. While data indicated an astounding 1286 percent increase in the anxious tone and a 258 percent increase in the gloomy tone, there was also a 210 percent increase in the curious tone, 241 percent increase in the optimistic tone, and a 628 percent increase in the empathetic tone during this time.
   3. In the fall, with the U.S. election and a “second wave” of COVID-19 cases looming, Grammarly data correlated with further shifts in tone—capturing a 50 percent increase in direct tone, a 47 percent increase curious tone, and a 66 percent increase in empathetic tone.
   4. Businesses should consider recent customer sentiment and how it’s been impacted by major events. Teams looking to connect with customers as we head into another uncertain year should focus on customer feedback, conduct research where possible, and seek a greater understanding of their customers’ needs. Companies leveraging Grammarly Business in their customer communication channels are able to increase customer satisfaction by up to 17 percent and resolve issues more quickly, as much as 12 percent reduction in contact per ticket.

Average weekly support requests are up 20 percent since the start of the pandemic.
65% of customers want to buy from companies that offer quick and easy online transactions.
49%of customers gave Amazon the highest marks for service.
75% of customers are willing to spend more to buy from companies that give them a good customer experience.
63% of CX managers say their company prioritizes CX more than a year ago.
50% will switch to a competitor after one bad experience.
80% will switch to a competitor after more than one bad experiences.
49% want agents to be empathetic​.
54% want to buy from companies that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in their communities and workplaces​.
63% want to buy from companies that are socially responsible.
31% of customers bought from a new company in 2020 and 84% plan to keep buying from them​.
64% of customers used a new support channel in 2020 and 73% plan to keep using it​.
45% over embedded messaging​.
31% over social messaging apps​.
20% over text/SMS​.
50% of teams have gone fully remote.
36% laid people off​.
68% of agents reported feeling overwhelmed​.
40% of managers don’t have the right analytics tools to measure success for remote teams​.
46% of agents don’t have the right tools to work successfully from home​.
70% of companies are looking to invest in new ways to engage employees​.
60% of companies now have access to developer resources (a 30% increase over the previous year), which means that teams can customize their support solutions to help teams work smarter.​
60% of company leaders say their company has plans to give employees more WFH flexibility​.
50% say that digital adoption has accelerated by 1-3 years​.
25% say it’s accelerated by 4-7 years​.
35% plan to invest more in adding service across channels​.
29% plan to invest more in agile technologies​.
27% plan to invest more in the digital workspace.​
 

In our recent "Brand Loyalty 2020" survey, 58% percent of consumers said they are more loyal to brands than they were five years ago.1 But they're more selective too, with 63% indicating they belong to only one to three programs.

Plus, more than three-quarters of consumers believe brands could be doing more to earn their loyalty.

Keeping an existing customer costs 5x less than acquiring a new one. Loyal customers also deliver a greater lifetime value (LTV), of as much as 10x their first purchase. And they drive revenue; nearly half of an eCommerce store’s revenue is created by only 8% of their most loyal customers.

If products are unavailable, 41% consumers said they would turn to less familiar brands as options. However, some of the consumers surveyed said they would stick with their brand preferences, which proves that customer loyalty is not dead.

Nearly 70% of consumers agree their loyalty is more difficult for a retailer to maintain than ever before, while 88% agree retailers could do more to earn their long-term loyalty.

According to the Promotion Marketing Association, 75.4% of consumers said they were more likely to make a purchase if a rebate is offered. In the Rebates Engage Report, we surveyed over 1,000 US consumers to gain insight into rebate program participation and how brands can create more effective rebate programs.

A recent Accenture Strategy global survey of 30,000 consumers demonstrates that nearly two-thirds of consumers want companies to take a visible stand on widely relevant social concerns—such as sustainability and fair employment practices. Given that dominant consumer perspective, making sure a brand’s loyalty program signals and celebrates its values should be a priority.

According to a 2019 report from Deloitte Digital, 60 percent of loyal customers use emotional terms to describe their favorite brands—using words like happy, love, and adore.

Brands that embrace and remain true to their values cultivate consumer loyalty by inviting customers into their mission. Connecting with consumers through a sense of shared purpose builds connections that endure long after the glow of cash savings has faded.

Loyalty is driven by emotion—be it loyalty to friends, family, a cause, or a nation. Brands can tap into that emotional drive by structuring a loyalty program that reflects their purpose and helps consumers use their brand transactions to make some corner of the world a little better for someone else.

- The global loyalty management market was valued at USD 3226.76 million in 2019, and is expected to reach a value of USD 11442.24 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 23.3% over the forecast period (2020-2025)

- Loyalty management is adopted by key companies across various industry verticals, whose primary focus is on client retention and further building of sustainable customer relationships

- In the United States, there are over 200 subscription video-on-demand platforms, and in order to set themselves apart, these companies are turning to unique loyalty rewards programs

- In a shift from product-centric strategies, businesses across major industry verticals are gradually shifting toward customer-centric approaches

• According to the report, in 2020, there was a 30% increase in consumers who said digital capabilities are a primary requirement when searching for a small service provider.

• Also, 66% of respondents said the pandemic has made them more likely to use small businesses in the future.

• Additionally, 84% of small business customers said they would consider seeking an alternative provider if digital capabilities were lacking.

• However, 63% of overall respondents said that the number of digital tools and technologies their company uses makes some tasks more complex.

• 89% of small business customers agreed that it was important to be able to reach out digitally to a small business instead of scheduling an appointment or phone call

• 40% of consumers said digital capabilities were a primary requirement when searching for a small- sized service provider before COVID-19.

• Now, 52% of consumers say digital capabilities are a primary requirement when searching for a small service provider — a 30% increase during the pandemic.

A new report found that 40% of employees anticipate getting a holiday gift from their employer—and digital-friendly, contactless rewards will be favored. Enter physical and digital gift cards, which can both be uploaded to mobile wallets, redeemed online and spent in-store for optimal flexibility.

The brand new research reveals 82% percent of employees would like to receive a gift card from their employer as a holiday gift. Gift cards are preferred employee gifts because they:

• allow employees to choose what they want (76%)
• can be delivered physically or digitally (46%)
• can be re-gifted (29%)

Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company, released its Q3 2020 Customer Engagement Report. The report explores the modern marketing technology platform, how it is implemented, and how marketers feel their platforms deliver engaging customer experiences. Merkle’s research also explores the balance of real-time versus relevant-time activations of data.

The research shows that marketers are generally happy with their current platforms and latest purchases, but many may not be using them to their full potential. 78% of marketers said their current platform is delivering expected ROI, but later 68% stated they need to build a custom platform. 
 
Additional findings include:

• 90% of marketers realize the significance of real-time data, but fewer put it into practice today
• 25% of marketers have a distributed streaming platform leveraged throughout the enterprise
• 78% say current platform is delivering expected ROI
• 89% say current martech enables omni-channel experience
• 70% of Health, Retail Consumer Goods, and High-Tech respondents prefer a best best-of of-breed approach to implementing martech 

Emotions are the hidden motivations behind consumers’ purchase decisions. And including a person’s name in an email is no longer enough of a “personal touch.” According to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers’ holiday shopping preferences, published this morning by growth marketing company Iterable, 83% of respondents are more likely to purchase from a brand they have an emotional connection to. This will be a key consideration for retail brands as we approach the holiday shopping season.  
 
Other key data points from the study include: 

• Consumers look to brand CEOs: Three-fourths (77%) agree that statements made by a brand’s leadership have the power to influence their purchasing decision.
• A majority of shoppers aren’t looking forward to holiday shopping amidst the pandemic: Over one-third (36%) of respondents said the pandemic impacted their attitude toward holiday shopping “somewhat negatively,” and 27% reported feeling “very negatively” toward the shopping season. 
• No “hard sells” for younger consumers: Straight-forward product descriptions won’t cut it for Gen Z, as 32% prefer an “empathetic and comforting” promotional tone.
• Value-driven brands have gained importance: 16% of consumers are most likely to purchase from a brand they feel would align with their values. 
• Consumers choose emotional connections, if they can afford to: More than 50% of those making more than $100,000 said they are “much more likely” to make a purchase when they connect with a brand, whereas the majority of those earning less said it makes them just “somewhat more likely.”

Nearly 10,000 respondents helped retail brands understand consumer expectations and prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Here are three key themes from the research:
 
1. Financial concerns are looming – Although 58 percent of respondents are concerned about their financial situation due to the pandemic, 59 percent of respondents indicated they plan to spend about the same on holiday gift shopping as they did last year, and 20 percent indicated they plan to spend more. To quantify holiday spending, respondents were asked how much they plan to spend: 47 percent of respondents plan to spend $499 or less on holiday gifts whereas 24 percent plan to spend more than $1,000.
 
2. Value will be key this shopping season – Despite the ongoing financial concerns created by the pandemic, 91 percent of respondents plan to shop for others this holiday season, with 31 percent of respondents shopping for 10 or more people. When asked about the most important factor when deciding where to shop for holiday gifts, nearly one third of respondents chose value for the money (32 percent), followed by selection of merchandise (14 percent) and convenience (12 percent). The four most popular types of gifts selected were clothes (63 percent), gift cards (56 percent), electronics (51 percent) and toys (49 percent). The least popular gifts were experiences (16 percent), fitness (12 percent) and automotive (8 percent).
 
3.  Holiday shopping will start early and be dominated by digital – When you consider the double-digit growth of digital holiday sales in 2019 and how the pandemic is impacting the in-store experience, it’s not surprising that 3 in 4 respondents plan to do most of their holiday shopping online this year. When asked to compare the timing of their holiday shopping to last year, 42 percent of respondents said they’ll start shopping earlier. With 61 percent of respondents planning to do most of their shopping before Thanksgiving, we found just 15 percent of respondents plan to stock up on Black Friday and only seven percent plan to take advantage of Cyber Monday. When we compare the timing of the two groups of shoppers, 62 percent of online shoppers plan to start shopping earlier whereas 44 percent of in-store shoppers indicate they’ll take advantage of Black Friday sales or do most of their shopping in December.
 

Merkle has released a special edition of its annual Loyalty Barometer Report. The updated report reveals the importance of loyalty as businesses re-emerge from the pandemic. Highlights include:

• The #1 cause of dissatisfaction with loyalty programs is the time it takes to earn a reward.
• 35% of consumers would like to be able to unlock additional features or utilize tools to find the right product.
• 85% of consumers would like to be able to select the benefits and rewards they receive.
• 59% of consumers indicate that the most important way a brand can interact with them is through surprise offers and gifts.
• Baby Boomers are most interested in writing online reviews, taking surveys, or attending an event. They are less likely to engage in social media or download an app.
• Millennials and Gen Z enjoy competition and achievement. 35% want badges as a feature and 27% want leaderboards as a feature.
• Gen Z prefers community-focused program aspects. 22% want access to a community of like-minded people and 19% want to compete against other members.

Household essentials have been flying off the shelves since the pandemic first hit in March, and months later, most consumers are still stocking their pantries. More people (59 percent) are stocking up now as compared to June (53 percent), purchasing items such as food and water (87 percent), toiletries (81 percent), cleaning supplies (68 percent), hand sanitizer and soap (65 percent), medicine and/or medical items (48 percent) and animal supplies (37 percent).

As the economic impact of COVID-19 continues to affect consumers’ budgets, the majority (54 percent) say they are now spending less than at the start of the pandemic, compared to only 26 percent who reported decreased spending in June. When asked to compare spending to this time last year, 62 percent say they are spending less.

With more widespread reopenings, 89 percent of consumers say non-essential retailers have reopened in their local area (compared to 70 percent in June), while more than half (52 percent) have already visited these retailers (compared to 37 percent in June). Of those who have visited non-essential retailers, 58 percent have hit apparel, shoe and accessories stores, followed by restaurants and bars (55 percent), and beauty stores (39 percent).

For those who have not visited reopened retailers yet (48 percent), 65 percent say they plan to wait more than one month to visit, a 20 percent increase over June.

Across five states experiencing particularly high spikes of the virus, an average of 92 percent of consumers say they or a member of their household is still visiting physical retailers to fulfill essential shopping needs. On average, nearly three out of four consumers (74 percent) from these states are taking one to two shopping trips per week, which is either about the same or less often than one month ago.

As these states experience greater numbers of COVID cases, rates for stocking up on essentials are generally higher than the national average. While Californians match the national numbers (59 percent) more Floridians, Georgians and Texans report stocking up (64 percent, 62 percent and 60 percent, respectively), while Arizonians actually report slightly lower rates (55 percent).

Most Georgians and Floridians are visiting grocery stores to purchase essentials (91 percent and 87 percent, respectively). Meanwhile, Arizonians, Californians and Texans (85 percent, 84 percent and 86 percent, respectively) are more likely to head to big box stores like Target and Walmart.

Arizonians and Californians are most likely to visit restaurants and bars once they reopen in their local area (50 percent and 51 percent, respectively), while Georgians are most likely to visit apparel and shoe stores (60 percent). Meanwhile, Floridians and Texans are nearly equally split between wanting to visit restaurants and bars (45 percent and 42 percent, respectively) or apparel and shoe stores (44 percent and 45 percent, respectively).

Consumers predict that some changes in behavior will continue after the pandemic is considered over. Seventy-three percent expect to continue eating more home cooked meals, and 62% expect to continue improving cooking skills and eating more fresh ingredients. Only 22% predict that increased “pandemic snacking” will continue.

Loyalty may be stronger for toilet paper, while 57% had to purchase something outside of their typical brand during COVID-19, 49% will return to their original brand.

During the pandemic, 60% percent of consumers purchased food brands not typically used before—only 21% predict they will return exclusively to their original food brand; 54% tried something new for cleaning with 33% planning to return exclusively to their original cleaning brands. Many expect the future to include a mix of both newly tried and usual brands after COVID-19 (72% food, 55% cleaning).

12% will only use contactless payment going forward
23% say they will rely more on same-day ordering with curbside pickup
37% believe they will purchase more items online or through an app
12% of consumers who subscribe to meal-kits are new to the service, in response to the pandemic
21% are new users of food delivery apps, in response to the pandemic
37% have ordered groceries online for the first time in response to the pandemic
23% of new investment app users are women
18% of new personal finance app users are over age 55
34% of new cryptocurrency users are between the ages of 18–24
11% have begun using mobile payment apps for the first time due to the pandemic
5% are new direct deposit users in response to the pandemic
15% have used mobile checking for the first time in response to the pandemic

3 steps to implement and scale with Formation

Step 1: Understand customers individually
Developing a holistic view of each customer may seem like a daunting task, as it will involve integrating data from all of that person’s interactions across all of a brand’s touchpoints and data sources

Step 2: Build and automate dynamic offer templates
Once marketers have mapped transaction data and identified the most valuable customer behaviors, it’s time to build their dynamic offer templates. These are variable templates where every aspect of the offer can be individualized

Step 3: Experiment and optimize while scaling
Formation is designed to get offers to market quickly not only for efficiency, but to allow marketers to learn as they scale.

In addition, marketers are better prepared from a technical perspective with 41% feeling “significantly better,” while 51% feel they are “a little better” prepared from a strategic perspective. Marketers also report preparedness for re-opening in the form of plans for getting “back to normal,” with 95% of marketers having a plan for a national lockdown exit, and 62% having multiple sets of plans.
Looking ahead, the report shows that marketers are optimistically prepared for the possibility of future stay-at-home orders with about 80% of respondents stating that they are better positioned to continue operating business as usual should stay-at-home orders continue.
Additionally, 74% of marketers have changed their approach to content developed for consumers and an overwhelming 96% of respondents state that their organizations will continue with their recent customer marketing innovations once the crisis is over.
Over 90% of respondents indicate that they are reassessing historical practices to eliminate under-performing activities or campaigns. Marketers have also been using this time to cut waste in their marketing programs, with 67% implementing new programs to improve first-party data capture, and 57% investing more in existing programs.

46% of brand members responded that they have realized strategic/ programmatic opportunities in their customer loyalty/CX offering they would like to address.
65% of brands had plans to make program changes or updates pre-COVID-19 that are now on hold
73% of respondents said their brand has experienced a shift in the allocation of marketing/technology spend due to COVID-19
Over a quarter of respondents (27 percent) said that their current technology offering precludes their brand from making required changes needed for their customer loyalty/CX program
Brands are looking to address a wide range of opportunities, but the most mentioned were: 50% extending status/point exploration, 50% increased personalization, 43% different reward options
Over half of brand member respondents (54%) said that as a result of COVID-19, their brand has realized technical opportunities in their customer loyalty/CX offering they would like to address.

90% agree that it’s “a good reward for their hard work.”
78% agree that it keeps them motivated to work harder.
77% agree that it makes the feel their company cares about them.
65% agree that digital incentives are better than other kinds of recognition.
81% completely or somewhat agree that a digital incentives would make them more likely to do business with that company in the future.
80% completely or somewhat agree that it would spur a brand recommendation to family or friends.
74% completely or somewhat agree that it increases loyalty to the company.
64% would be encouraged to shop online when they wouldn’t otherwise.
60% would lead them to make purchases they wouldn’t make otherwise.
When given the option, 52% of respondents chose digital incentives over plastic prepaid so they could receive their reward faster.
72% of digital incentive recipients report high levels of satisfaction adding the cards to a digital wallet.
63% of respondents report wanting to receive digital incentives to make online purchases.
There is also notable interest in digital incentives among mobile wallet users, regardless of how they are categorized generationally, based on their lifestyle preferences—evidenced by the fact that 59% of digital incentive users surveyed have a mobile wallet.
Gen Z employees surveyed are 150% more likely than Baby Boomer respondents to want a digital incentives from an employer; millennials are 140% more likely than Baby Boomers.
Gen Z and millennial respondents are each 120% more likely than Baby Boomers to want to receive a digital incentive from a business as a special offer or promotion.
Overall, 72% of respondents are highly satisfied with receiving digital incentives as a payment, incentive or rebate.

Loyal customers are 5x more likely to make a repeat purchase and 4x more likely to refer the brand to others.
Eighty percent of executives feel their brand understands the needs and desires of their consumers; only 15% of consumers agree.
Nearly three in four customers (73%) are likely to invest in a retailer’s premium loyalty program if they already belong to that retailer’s free loyalty program.
86% of consumers would choose retailers with premium loyalty programs they belong to over other retailers. This is even higher at 90% for millennials.
And 84% of consumers are likely to recommend a retailer to friends or family when the retailer offers a premium loyalty program with valuable benefits.
80% of millennials would be willing to join a premium loyalty program if their favorite retailers offered them and the benefits were valuable.
87% of consumers who are satisfied with the special benefits offered by a retailer’s paid loyalty program will likely choose that retailer over a competitor that is offering a lower price.
No matter the category, if the value is there, customers will gladly sign up and pay to be members of premium loyalty programs. They perceive these programs as “paying for themselves”

Setting up a world-class digital experience program to do that is a 3-phased approach: 1 Track & Diagnose 2 Optimize through Journey deep dives 3 Activate & Transform
92% of people who gave a high score for ‘emotion’ said they were more likely to purchase more from that company.

In just two weeks, the average company in our study saw the percentage of calls scored as “difficult” more than double from a typical level of 10% to more than 20%. Issues related to the pandemic — from unexpected travel cancellations to appeals for bill payment extensions and disputes over insurance coverage — dramatically increased the level of customer emotion and anxiety in service calls, making a job that is hard for reps on a normal day far more challenging.

One company in our study saw financial hardship-related calls, among the most difficult for reps to handle, increase 2.5 times in the span of a week.

Another big contributor is the fact that reps — most working from home for the first time — now find themselves without the infrastructure (like a reliable phone connection) or support (peers and managers available to lend a hand) they once enjoyed in the contact center. As a result, they may struggle more than usual to help customers. For instance, we measured a massive uptick in instances of both customers and reps saying, “I can’t understand you,” and some companies in our study saw hold times balloon by as much as 34 percent and escalations (calls sent up the chain of command) skyrocket more than 68 percent.

For one company in our study, difficult interactions had only a 6% chance of resulting in a cross-sell or up-sell, compared with a more than 80% chance that an easy interaction would. And, among customers threatening to defect, those who had had a difficult interaction had less than a 4% chance of accepting the company’s “save offer” (a promotion to entice them to stay) as compared to a 20% probability for customers whose interactions were scored as easy.

At the time the survey was conducted, 65% of shoppers using Amazon said they couldn't get everything (32.75%) or anything (32.25%) they really needed from the retailer. Less than a week later, it was reported that Amazon Prime delays reached the one-month mark, leaving consumers scrambling to find other online options to get the essentials they need.

Additionally, nine industries improved their score averages, and the number of brands with good scores jumped 3 percentage points to 20%, the largest gain in five years. The top 5% of brands that scored the highest across industries in their regions — the CX elite — include Lexus, Lincoln, Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, and Zappos.com.
27% of brands improved their CX Index scores over the past year, a significant jump compared to previous years marked by minimal gains.

Stress and anxiety due to COVID-19 appears to impact our younger respondents differently depending on age (figure 14). More than 65% of Millennials (25-34, 35-44) reported feeling stressed, and that figure jumped to almost 90% for Gen Z (18-24). This finding aligns with known influences for these generations— younger workers tend to have less security (both job-based and financial) and typically are under more pressure to quickly adapt to more tools and technology while working from home.
Digital service usage has been skyrocketing since the onset of COVID-19. We looked more closely at usage across nine digital service categories and five generation segments. Unsurprisingly, more than 50% of Millennial and Gen-Z respondents said that, on average, they have used digital services more frequently in the past few months. 
Despite the burnout reported by many, more than 60% of employed respondents still expressed interest in working from home after COVID-19, and nearly 90% give their employers a passing grade on the amount of support they’ve offered. This may suggest that the stress that leads to burnout relates more to unmet technology needs that facilitate working from home. It might also indicate that stressors from other, non-workrelated aspects of consumers’ lives are affecting work/life balance and job satisfaction. It may take a while to fully analyze the many nuanced variables influencing people’s perceptions and feelings, but one thing is clear – now that they know it’s possible, people would like more work-from-home opportunities.
Since the onset of COVID-19, 14% of respondents lost their full-time employment status, primarily being forced to transition to either part-time employment or unemployment (figure 9). Regardless of employment status, all groups of respondents reported a decrease in spending in at least one common expenditure category (vacations, dining out, shopping, etc.).
Respondents highlighted confusion around how organizations are developing plans for the future of their physical locations. Many recognize the need for a new strategy, but are unsure about the actual plans (figure 8). Across the board, the majority of executives (58%) expect that a return to physical office spaces will occur within one month of stay-at-home orders being lifted. Some are planning to wait much longer once stayat-home orders are lifted – 12% say employees will return within the year.
Digital innovation is a priority with more than 75% of respondents planning to prioritize digital innovation in key areas like augmented and virtual reality following the crisis. 42% of executives also plan to increase spending on this initiative, and it saw the single largest improvement in priority among initiatives (figure 5). Interestingly, data modeling fell in priority, a potential indicator that with new behavior still developing it may not yet be the time to explore new data models.
Many businesses are re-prioritizing as a result of the changing landscape of the post-COVID-19 world. Organizations report that they are spending substantial time on efforts related to COVID-19, with 52% reporting spending at least as much time on COVID-19-related efforts as on normal initiatives (figure 4).
Most executives are regularly reviewing their employees for burnout as a result of the crisis. An additional 31% have only engaged in burnout reviews for their leadership and strategically critical roles. The majority of employees reported feeling regularly burned out or stressed, but the majority who felt this way also stated that they are interested in continuing to work from home regularly after this experience (figure 3).
16.4% Productivity has not been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis
34.1% Productivity has increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis
49.5% Productivity has decreased since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis

Customer loyalty is a critical component of LTV because those who return to shop your brand purchase 31% more on average than new customers. Over time, loyal customers are estimated to be worth 10x more than their first purchase.

83% Consumers who are more likely to continue doing business with certain brands as a result of loyalty programs
50% The likelihood that existing customers are to try new products, compared to new customers
76% Consumers who said loyalty programs are part of their relationship with brands
89% Companies that see customer experience as a key factor in driving customer loyalty and retention.89% Companies that see customer experience as a key factor in driving customer loyalty and retention.
60% to 70% - The probability of selling to an existing customer, compared to just 5% to 20% for new prospect.


 

And research has shown that nearly 40% of a store’s revenue is generated from only 8% of its most loyal, repeat customers. 

25% to 100% The increase of average profit per customer that results from just a 5% increase in customer loyalty.

48% of customers have left a brand’s website and purchased from a competitor due to a poorly personalized experience
92% of marketers report using personalization techniques in their marketing
55% of marketers don’t feel they have sufficient customer data to implement effective personalization
63% of marketers say datadriven personalization is the most difficult online tactic to execute
89% of digital businesses are investing in personalization
80% of customers are more likely to purchase a product or service from a brand who provides personalized experiences
Personalization is the ultimate measure of a quality customer experience, with 91% of customers more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations.
 

As many as 52 percent of retailers offer a loyalty program today, with another 12 percent planning to implement one. (Retail Touchpoints - Loyalty Playbook 2019 w/ Highlights)

We found that nearly 70% of consumers agree their loyalty is more difficult for a retailer to maintain than ever before, while 88% agree retailers could do more to earn their long-term loyalty

Focus on the person, not on the purchase: Brands that focus their personalization efforts beyond the purchase itself to include all the important moments that comprise the Member’s experience with the brand, and that endeavor to fulfil on a broader set of customer needs, will be successful in achieving personalization that truly delivers.
Keep up with changing preferences: Consumers aren’t static: their preferences, interests, behaviors, and life stages all change over time. Don’t take a “set it and forget it” approach. Check in with your Members regularly about their needs and use the data in a way that aligns with their current preferences.
Put an eye to privacy: You may have permission to collect and use data, but you can’t do personalization well without an eye to privacy. The beauty of loyalty is that it is an overt, transparent relationship. Consumers expect brands to know them if they’ve signed up to a program. That said, you must always consider where your personalization efforts will land on the “cool to creepy” continuum. For example, a customer might not mind being alerted to a promotion when they walk past their favorite coffee shop. Yet, if they’re driving by their bank and get an alert about a payment, it might feel more invasive.
Take credit for your efforts: Consumers are often blind to the level of personalization that brands are serving up because they don’t recognize their experience is different from that of others. Be sure to overtly draw attention to and take credit for your personalization efforts. For example, with an email, you can confidently write, “This has been personalized just for you.” Members will feel more special and recognized—two important drivers of Member satisfaction.
Just get started: Many marketers feel they need to get their entire house in order—from having the right technologies in place to breaking down organizational siloes—before they can unlock personalization. While those factors are important, our advice is to just get started. Everything you need to do personalization effectively is available to you. Don’t let striving for perfection get in the way of making progress. Just make sure you use the data you’re asking for in ways that add to the relationship.
5 recommendations to help brands move forward on personalization
Our research found that when personalization is done well, there is a 6.4× lift in satisfaction. Other benefits are: Members “say good things about the brand” (6× lift), “stay longer,” (5.2.× lift) and “spend more with the brand” (3.5× lift)—all important KPIs for loyalty marketers aiming to keep Members engaged and drive bottom-line results.
On even the most basic level, brands are falling short. While the vast majority of Members say information such as their first and last names, and demographic details (96%) are being collected, only 57% say that information is used.
Our Loyalty Report found that only 22% of loyalty Members are very satisfied with the level of personalization they get from brands with which they interact.

Research found that existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more, on average, compared to new customers.

63% of consumers say they're prepared to modify their spending habits in order to maximize the benefits of a loyalty program.
70% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand with a good loyalty program.
Bond Brand Loyalty • 77% of consumers say they are likely to stay with a brand that has a loyalty program.
According to Temkin Group, 77% of customers would recommend a brand to a friend after a single positive experience.
Bain & Company and Harvard Business School report that "increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%."
According to Marketing Metrics, the probability of selling to an existing customer is up to 14 times higher than the probability of selling to a new customer.

When survey respondents were asked what their biggest concerns related to global consumer contact regulations were, 65% stated that financial penalties were top of mind. However, when asked if they register with relevant Do Not Call lists to prevent violations that would result in fines prior to conducting outbound calling campaigns in other countries, 54% said they either did not register at all or they weren’t sure if they registered.
PossibleNOW™, a leading provider of enterprise preference management, consent, and compliance solutions, today announced the results of its latest survey, showing 81% of U.S. businesses engaged in international telemarketing report little to no knowledge of international laws and regulations.

Let’s take one step deeper. Out of all the respondents that are seeing an increase in online traffic, nearly 60% of brands are focusing heavily on marketing promotions. Seems to be working.
Out of the brands seeing no change or a decrease in online traffic, only 24% are shifting their focus to digital.
Out of the brands seeing an increase in online traffic, 80% are pushing forward and
investing more in digital.
74% of brands are heavily focused on investing in digital
Because of government mandates, many “non-essential” physical stores were forced to close down, while online stores can remain in operation. While it’s fortunate that brands can continue selling
online, there are still many challenges these brands are facing. For example, what can brands do to make sure they don’t run out of inventory? What about the inventory that’s been left in stores? Can retailers make up for the lost brick & mortar sales by selling
that inventory online? 69% of brands are planning to do just that. Since online traffic is increasing, inventory can be taken from physical stores and sold online. But it needs to be done fast — especially for brands that sell seasonal items, like apparel and footwear.
With the way things are looking, online shopping is not going to slow down anytime soon, so there is a solid opportunity here to make up for lost sales.
When asked if their websites are prepared to handle the anticipated influx in traffic due to more people shopping online, amazingly, 94% of respondents said “yes.” This would be great if it were true, but history
suggests otherwise. Each year, retail brands have around 10 months to prepare for the five biggest shopping days of the year: “Cyber 5.” And every year, major brands and small brands alike experience slow and inconsistent
site performance, crashed sites and use of waiting room technologies, destroyed reputations, issues at checkout, and millions of dollars lost to lack of preparedness.
45% Said online shopping will be a “necessity” for them to live their daily lives
94% Stated online shopping will be an important activity during the current crisis
Brands seeing traffic increase 72%
Brands seeing no change in traffic 21%
Brands seeing a decrease in traffic 7%

About three-quarters of consumers insist that brands must adapt others to their personal requirements and expectations, or they’ll choose to shop elsewhere.
One study shows that 92% of marketers report using personalization techniques in their marketing efforts.

Both seniors and millennials are impacting the U.S. in discernable and distinctive ways, affecting everything from the housing market to workplace culture to the healthcare industry. And with seniors and millennials making up over half the U.S. population – seniors making up 28.9% and millennials making up 23.3% – it’s easy to understand why.

21% of seniors and 22% of millennials are connecting to 7+ wi-fi accessible devices on a weekly basis, but the majority are connecting to 5 or less (73% of seniors and 66% of millennials).

Unsurprisingly, millennials lead the way in terms of digital service adoption with one exception: 2% more seniors say they shop online versus millennials (87% versus 85%).

Across generations, the biggest gap in digital service use is seen in riding sharing apps – while just 15% of seniors use these services, 37% of millennials say they do.

While many seniors (39%) have them listed on a sheet of paper that’s locked in their home or office, most millennials (40%) utilize an online password storage system.

Fortunately, a very small number from each generation “use the same password for all online accounts” (3% of seniors and 5% of millennials).

Across generations, a similar number have a few different passwords that they rotate between accounts so that there’s no need to store them (16% of millennials and 14% of seniors).

Seniors have a leg up on millennials regarding password reuse: 45% of seniors use the same password across 0-1 online accounts, while only 31% of millennials can say the same (most millennials [43%] are using the same password across 2-3 accounts).

44% of seniors and 48% of millennials always change their password afer a breach.

3% of both seniors and millennials never change their password after a breach.

While almost half of millennials (49%) have chosen the highest privacy settings possible, only 30% of seniors can say the same.

While 42% of millennials say they are extremely likely or likely to share “your location and away from home status at the time you are away,” only 14% of seniors practice this risky habit.

27% of millennials say they are extremely likely or likely to share their social media passwords with close friends

A whopping 56% of millennials allow either parents, siblings, close friends, or another familial relative to access their banking information.

19% of seniors allow either parents, siblings, close friends, or another familial relative to access their banking information.

Almost 1 in 2 (46%) of seniors and just 1 in 3 (33%) of millennials say no one else has access to their banking information.

We’ll admit we were a little shocked to see that over half of millennials and roughly 1 in 5 seniors share their banking information with at least one family member or friend outside of their spouse. But perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised knowing that familiar fraud is on the rise:  Javelin saw this rate jump to 15% in their 2018 Identity Fraud Study.  

While 35% of seniors feel they have a solid foundation of identity theft prevention knowledge and/or regularly seek out such knowledge, only 28% of millennials feel this way.

For those that didn’t feel they had a good grasp on identity theft prevention, the trending reason for seniors was “there’s so much conflicting information that I’m not sure who to trust” and for millennials “I know the information exists but don’t know where to find it.”

And while 21% of seniors regularly seek out the latest and most relevant identity theft prevention information, just 13% of millennials are doing so.

The top three “safe habits” that seniors and millennials engage in were the same: antivirus/antimalware (79% seniors and 55% of millennials); regularly checking their credit report/score (56% of seniors and 44% of millennials); and regularly monitoring financial accounts for suspicious activity (63% of seniors and 40% of millennials).

58% of seniors and 62% of millennials believe they’re doing all they can to protect themselves, but just 21% of seniors and 13% of millennials have identity theft protection.

Many consumers – no matter their age – aren’t sure where to buy an identity protection program, despite wanting one. A previous GGA study revealed that 58% of U.S. consumers plan to buy an identity protection program – so why the disparity? Often, it’s simply a matter of opportunity, and for most, the companies they trust to protect such data just aren’t offering a solution.

Amongst seniors, 84% believe that financial institutions are doing all they can to protect their data, and 82% believe that insurance companies are doing all they can.

Amongst millennials, 80% believe that financial institutions are doing all they can to protect their data, and 88% believe that insurance companies are doing all they can.

A little over 50% of our respondents said that they or someone in their household was working or studying from home.

As network of clients sees an 20% year-over-year increase in online orders since the beginning of 2020, Bazaarvoice highlights how user-generated content, social commerce, and brand advocacy are critical to e-commerce success.

When shopping online, the largest portion of shoppers (56%) said reviews were the e-commerce feature they relied on most to make informed purchase decisions faster, far ahead of the product description and professional photos (16%). When asked what type of UGC they wish they had more access to, photos from real customers was consumers’ top request. UGC doesn’t just address these preferences, it also impacts revenue: globally, when shoppers engage with reviews on best-in-class websites, there is a 138% lift in conversion and a 159% increase in revenue per visitor, both up from the previous year. To address this preference for more UGC, especially now as more consumers are shopping online, we expect brands to prioritize UGC on the e-commerce product page and to incorporate a wider variety of authentic content from consumers, making product descriptions and professional photos the secondary focus.

Not only do consumers prefer recommendations from peers, they are also purchasing directly from each other: This evolution of the typical e-commerce environment is already playing out one step further in two different but related trends: social commerce and recommerce. In the last year, 45% of respondents said they had purchased a product through a social media platform, 41% had purchased a product an influencer had recommended, and 62% had made a purchase from a secondhand marketplace. With much of the world shifting to online environments in the last two months, brands should determine how social commerce plays a role in their e-commerce strategy, particularly platforms or features that allow consumers to connect and shop with each other, with brands playing a less overt role.

Brands should leverage increased customer feedback to their advantage: Consumers can reach out to brands at any time through a variety of channels. Compared to other regions, North American consumers were most likely to say they had complained about a brand on social media (44%) and to have asked a brand a question across different channels, including through chat bots (36%), online Q&A features (41%), and store associates (46%). The always-on nature of customer feedback should be an advantage for brands, as long as they respond to and learn from their customers. 89% of consumers expect to hear from a brand within 24 hours when they ask a question through social media, and almost half expect brands to improve their products based on negative reviews. As consumers are unable to experience products and engage with brands in person, brands should be prepared to address an influx of customer questions and feedback, identify common praise and complaints, and quickly learn from this feedback to strengthen their business.

To build trust with consumers, brands and retailers should evaluate their approach to brand advocacy: Consumers look to a wide variety of people when it comes to reviews, recommendations, and content to inform purchase decisions. Overall, 75% of shoppers said they sometimes or always trust consumer reviews, 39% said they trust a brand employees’ product recommendation, and 40% said they’ve purchased a product from an influencer because they trusted their endorsement. It is critical for brands and retailers to have an approach to advocacy that includes a mix of different types of authentic, trustworthy “influencers” — from everyday consumers and employees to subject matter experts and micro-influencers — especially at a time when social media is playing a larger role in the shopping experience. Consumers are choosing to shop with businesses they want to see succeed in a post-pandemic world, and brand trust is more important now than ever: three out of four shoppers choose products based on brand reputation.

The insights we found, while based on research conducted in early 2020, are especially relevant today, as businesses everywhere navigate this period of uncertainty, said Joe Rohrlich, Chief Revenue Officer at Bazaarvoice. More shoppers are turning to online shopping out of convenience and necessity. This shift will accelerate innovation in e-commerce across a variety of industries, and our research shows what consumers are looking for from their shopping experience. Brands that provide an authentic online experience, agile customer service, and the ability for shoppers to connect to each other are poised to succeed now and in the future.

Forrester’s Consumer Technographics reveals that only 24% of US online adults agree that it’s cool to be associated with a company/brand on social media. And 68% don’t agree that brands/companies share interesting content on social media.

Tellingly, in 2020, only 24% of US online adults agree that it’s cool to be associated with a company or brand on social media (see Figure 1). When organic presences didn’t work, marketers binged on social advertising, increasing global social ad spend from $75 billion in 2018 to a forecasted $165.6 billion in 2023.

Thirty-seven percent of US online adults believe social media does more harm than good, and only 14% believe the info they read on social media is trustworthy.4 Sometimes brands are the source of this toxicity. Detox tea used celebrity endorsers on social networks to mispresent its health benefits.5 The Fyre Festival acted similarly to promote a fantastical music concert that never came to fruition.6 Amazon launched an employee ambassador program to almost comedic effect when seemingly planted ambassadors engaged in a Twitter war of words with company critics.7 Even honest social advertisers aren’t absolved: They fuel social networks with their advertising spend while asking for no safeguards for a healthy environment in return.
 

The survey also uncovered insights regarding projected purchasing habits as they relate to COVID-19 among U.S. female shoppers in 2021, as demonstrated by findings including:

● The commitment to local retail boutiques is consistent in the younger generations of female shoppers as well. 70% of female respondents ages 18-29 think about supporting a local business when they choose a retailer.

● Only 9% of female consumers have stopped shopping in person, a relatively small portion of the general population despite the widespread reports of a decline in in-store traffic. However, the survey results signal a shift in in-store shopping behavior, with 10% of respondents planning to exclusively shop in person in the new year.

● The female shoppers polled are highly motivated by the entire shopping experience and where she does life. When these consumers are out shopping, they enjoy shopping at apparel stores (43%), grabbing a cup of coffee (46%), dining at a restaurant (49%), and shopping for groceries (69%) or home goods (29%). These shoppers intentionally seek out multiple local retailers for a well-rounded shopping experience.

The brand new research reveals 82% percent of employees would like to receive a gift card from their employer as a holiday gift. Gift cards are preferred employee gifts because they:

• allow employees to choose what they want (76%)
• can be delivered physically or digitally (46%)
• can be re-gifted (29%)

The majority (89%) of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year. With most of those celebrations being just with family or virtual – but trick or treating traditions hold strong.

• 48% plan to host a house party with only members of family
• 39% plan to host a virtual Halloween party
• 41% plan to take their children trick or treating

Enthusiasm for Halloween treats remains high - 96% plan to buy Halloween candy this year, and are buying with the intention to:

• 31% give out to trick or treaters
• 28% to have a small gathering of friends and family
• 25% to give to their children

Ron Ruffinott, Senior Research Solutions Consultant at Toluna, said, “While trick or treating will likely be scaled back to some degree this year, candy sales are up ahead of the holiday.  This speaks to a strong desire to return to normalcy, as well as an emotional need for consumers to ‘treat’ themselves for their endurance over the last several months.”

Of those surveyed, 90% will celebrate Thanksgiving this year, with the pandemic driving adjustments to those holiday plans to be smaller and more family only type gatherings relative to prior years.

• 34% plan to celebrate with a quiet, small gathering of immediate family
• 24% plan to celebrate only with those they live with
• 14% plan to attend a large family gathering if social distance rules allow

Travel plans for Thanksgiving have also suffered, as 58% of people do not plan to travel at all for the holiday.    

Of those planning to travel, their trips this year will be primarily semi-local:

• 65% report they will stay within the state
• 66% of those will travel by car

Many are opting out of Friendsgiving plans as well, with 44% reporting they will not host or attend a Friendsgiving celebration.

Ruffinott said, “Even strong, broadly celebrated, holidays like Thanksgiving, where the core celebration is togetherness, will be different in 2020.  How and where they travel, who they celebrate with, and the size of those gatherings will all be impacted.  This is most strongly evidenced by only 14% of people planning to attend a large family function.”

Despite caution about gatherings and travel for the holiday, people still plan to do their Black Friday shopping in stores:

• 78% believe stores will be very busy on Black Friday
• Yet, 47% of those surveyed plan to shop in store

Americans believe there are good deals to be had on Black Friday, with 79% expecting there to be better and bigger sales this Black Friday. In order to get the best deals, people are split on strategy:

• 38% plan to visit a store or shopping center
• 36% plan to purchase an item online and get it delivered
• For holiday gifts in particular, 40% plan do a mix of online and in store shopping

Meanwhile, enthusiasm for Cyber Monday remains lower than Black Friday – with only 61% of Americans reporting they will participate, despite 79% expecting there to be better and bigger deals this Cyber Monday.

Along with the promise of good deals, Americans are conscious this year’s shopping will be quite different than past years.

• 40% believe there will be many more deals and discounts
• 39% believe items will be going of stock faster due to surge in online shopping
• 36% believe popular items will be going out of stock quickly due to smaller inventories

The fear of low stock has caused many Americans to start their shopping early – 56% report fears about being able to get the gifts they want. As a result, 59% have already begun their shopping or plan to this month.

If stock is low, people are prepared to shell out for what they want. 56% of Americans are willing to pay more for gifts this year if they are in short supply.

Ruffinott said, “We see people looking to return to normalcy, and look forward to the holiday.  They are planning to shop earlier given the shortages experienced over the last few months, and concerns about shipping delays.  We’ll see people compromise in some areas.”

When it comes to the December Holiday, people are less likely to celebrate in groups than Thanksgiving:

• 35% plan to have a small, quiet gathering of immediate family at home
• 27% plan to have small celebration on with those they live with
• Only 12% plan to attend a big family gathering if social distance rules allow

Despite caution around gatherings, Americans plan to keep some holiday traditions, including:

• 48% plan to attend a Holiday party
• 34% plan to attend a Holiday market

Ruffinott said, “We’re seeing a ‘back to basics’ approach to the holidays and end of year.  Most are introspective, and plan small gatherings with family.  As resolutions are made, they are simpler, less commercial, and more reflective on learnings from the past year.”

Fewer yet plan to celebrate New Year’s, as:

• 29% plan to have a small, quiet gathering of immediate family at home
• 25% plan to have small celebration on with those they live with
• Only 12% plan to attend a house party  

In the New Year, Americans are resolved to improving health, being happier and becoming a better person. This year’s top resolutions are:

• 31% - be happier and more content with life
• 30% - be a better person
• 29% - eat healthier
• 28% - more self-care

“Early” is even earlier than brands might initially think for the holiday shopping season, especially for this demographic. In fact, nearly half (48%) of millennials begin holiday shopping before October, and just under 1 in 4 do so before July. For those millennials who begin holiday shopping before October, 73% have joined a loyalty program solely to use the benefits and rewards during the holiday shopping season.
During the holiday season, millennial shoppers are fiercely loyal to their favorite retailers: 89% of millennial respondents are more likely to holiday shop at a retailer where they are already a loyalty member. And among millennials who are already premium loyalty members and plan to join more programs in 2020, the number who choose their loyalty retailers during the holidays jumped to 95%.
First and foremost, 40% of respondents expect to receive their premium loyalty benefits immediately, not after 10 purchases and not after a month of consistent buying.
In fact, 67% of respondents are likely to join a premium loyalty program if they already belong to that retailer’s free loyalty program.
The survey found that 66% of respondents currently belong to a premium loyalty program. This is a promising increase when compared to the 58% reported in 2019.
74% of millennials plan to join additional premium loyalty programs in 2020
88% of respondents are likely to choose a retailer whose premium loyalty program they belong to over a competitor that is offering a lower price
70% of those not in a premium program would join if their favorite retailer offered one and the benefits were valuable
94% of premium loyalty members shop at that program’s retailer at least once a month
69% of premium loyalty members plan to join additional premium programs in 2020
In 2020, loyalty is critical: Nearly two-thirds of customers say their loyalty is more difficult for retailers to maintain than ever before, confirming what we already know to be true: With unlimited choices at customers’ fingertips, earning loyalty today takes more than just a plastic punch card or weekly coupon.

This trend appears to be here to stay as approximately three quarters (74 percent) state they will continue to use contactless post-pandemic.
The majority of respondents (82 percent) view contactless as the cleaner way to pay, and contactless payments are up to 10 times faster than other in-person payment methods, enabling customers to get in and out of stores faster.
Globally, nearly half of respondents (46 percent) have swapped out their top-of-wallet card for one that offers contactless – this proportion climbs to 52 percent among those under 35 years old.
79 percent of respondents worldwide say they are now using contactless payments, citing safety and cleanliness as key drivers. Consumer polling by Mastercard, studying changing consumer behaviors in 19 countries around the world, paints a picture of accelerated and sustained contactless adoption.
Between February and March, contactless transactions grew twice as fast as non-contactless transactions in the grocery and drug store categories
In a Mastercard global consumer study, nearly eight in 10 say they use contactless payments

Points’ data shows that up to 26% of total promotional revenue can come from smart web and mobile placements.

Loyalty leaders grow revenues roughly 2.5x as fast as other companies in their industries.

48% of consumers have left a brand’s website and purchased from a competitor due to a poorly personalized experience.
42% of marketers do not segment at all, despite the fact that segmented, campaigns account for 77% of the email ROI
70% of customers say that connected processes, including offers designed based on past purchases, are very important to earning their business.
About 84% of customers say that being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business
 

A third of customers (34%), especially millennials and younger consumers, demand more bespoke and alternative benefits for their loyalty instead of points. In 2013, 73% of women and 55% of men said they really valued the benefits they got from loyalty cards, but this sentiment fell to 63% of women and 45% of men by 2019. 60% of consumers who say their loyalty to their favourite brand is genuine go on to name brand social responsibility as a reason for their loyalty.
Most popular loyalty programs in the U.S: These are the top three mentioned loyalty programs our survey respondents participate in: 1. Amazon Prime 2. Kroger Plus 3. Starbucks
Only 12% of the consumers we surveyed said their favorite brand successfully personalizes for them.
We asked survey participants to select all of the rewards that appeal most to them. 88% of people want discounts and cash back rewards, 65% want free products, and 41% want to be able to redeem for charitable donations.
Of the consumers we surveyed we found that 55% want to receive personalized recommendations, however, only 37% have purchased something that was recommended to them by a brand in the past six months. Bad personalization is worse than no personalization.
While 45% of the people we surveyed said they were willing to share their data in exchange for personalized experiences there is a massive opportunity for brands to build trust with consumers and overcome concerns they have around data collection and use.
Over half of the consumers we surveyed cite high shipping fees as their biggest online shopping frustration, followed by fees for returns and lengthy delivery wait times.
Only 37% of respondents are willing to download an app to help them navigate a store and check inventory. We also found that 64% of consumers prefer to be left alone when browsing in-store.
41% of consumers still enjoy trying and buying in-store, however 40% of consumers stated that long check-out lines is their biggest in-store shopping frustration.
64% of consumers prefer to shop online and 48% of consumers also enjoy shopping in-store.
People understand the value of loyalty programs, and are willing to pay for them. 59% of people are willing to pay for a loyalty program with valuable perks like free shipping (for example, Amazon Prime).
Our research found that consumers want to be rewarded for recommending or endorsing a brand. For example, 72% of consumers answered that they would write reviews or refer their friends to earn points. In addition, 87% of respondents answered that they would refer friends and family to their favorite brand.
Our research finds that 39% of consumers want free delivery and 29% want special member prices and perks as a loyalty program member. Consumers are less interested in VIP events or access to exclusive sales promotions.
54% of consumers said the number one reason they join a loyalty program is to save money. The second biggest reason consumers join is for member-only perks like free shipping and free samples.
The main reasons why consumers abandon loyalty programs are because the rewards aren’t compelling or relevant enough (27%), and it takes too long to earn points (27%).
71% of people are active in at least one to five loyalty programs per month.
Reward redemption is also comparatively high. 68% of people redeem rewards at least once a quarter, and 25% of those redeem at least once a month.
71% of the consumers we surveyed are active in at least one to five loyalty programs per month. 56% of respondents have at least one loyalty program app on their phone.
40% of respondents said their favorite brand has a loyalty program and they are a member. 20% said their favorite brand doesn’t have a loyalty program but they would join if they did.
62% of the consumers we surveyed answered that they could be persuaded to choose one brand over another due to the presence of a loyalty program.
What exactly makes a consumer feel happy or valued? We asked consumers what makes them loyal to a specific brand and 72% answered a good product selection, 67% answered that the products are fairly priced, and 43% said a good shopping experience.
We asked consumers to tell us what emotion they felt when they think about their favorite brands. Almost half of the respondents answered “happy”. The second strongest emotion was “understood”.

Upon establishing a loyalty strategy, retailers first must differentiate between building true loyal connections and delivering pure incentives or discounts, said Shep Hyken, Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations. 
With shoppers on average participating in 14.8 memberships , they are active in less than half, according to Bond Brand Loyalty. 
As many as 52% of retailers offer a loyalty program today, with another 12% planning to implement one, according to the 2019 Retail Touch Points Customer Acquisition and Retention Benchmark Report. Loyalty members candrive a large portion of company sales: 44% of retailers sayat least 40% of their total revenue comes from loyalty program members. As many as 60% report that members spend 2X to 3X more than non-members, a LoyaltyOne report said. 

Many of today’s revamped loyalty programs involve incentives and benefits including points, product discounts (68%), cashback rewards (61%), birthday perks (57%) and free shipping (49%), according to the 2019 Gartner L2 Loyalty Intelligence Report.