Europeans become increasingly loyal in shopping
Over 70% of customers are members of minimum one loyalty program – as specified in the report: “The future of shopping. Key trends in retail today and in 2030”. We are most loyal to companies in clothing and cosmetic sectors. What are the most important contact channels in the program? What is the major advantage from participation? All those questions are answered by the recent report by Comarch and Kantar TNS.
An analysis of shopping behaviour of consumers “The future of shopping. Key trends in retail today and in 2030” was performed in Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and in Italy. As the major advantage from participating in the programs, clients from those countries indicate financial benefits while every fifth respondent anticipates personalised offers. In the sphere of loyalty programs, multi-channel contacts will become fashionable. Those are only examples of conclusions drawn from the survey by Comarch and Kantar TNS, held among three thousand Europeans.
In stores we remain traditional
As the report shows, 90% of program participants continue to use traditional plastic loyalty cards in stores. However, as many as 39% of the respondents prefer to communicate within the program over the web. As many users directly use the terminals accessible at points of sale. Only 18% of users use smartphones for the purpose. Mobile phones are relatively rarely used for identification purposes at stores – only 6% of users use mobile phones for the purpose. As many people provide their first and last name for identification.
Multi-channel fashion
It is surprising that traditional methods continue to prevail in the sphere of point collection and use loyalty offers among program participants. Only 1/3 of the respondents wish to obtain rebate coupons and codes in digital form, preferably by e-mail or via the web site. Every fifth respondent prints their coupons on their own and use them to shop at stationary stores.
“On the basis of the above example, it is clear that nowadays online and offline channels overlap. Clients of loyalty programs wish to use various forms of communication in an easy way”, notes Piotr Budzinowski, director of the Product Management Department, Comarch ERP.
The report of Comarch and Kantar TNS further shows that almost every third program participant prefers to receive coupons via traditional post. Only 15% use a dedicated application for smartphones for the purpose. Coupons published in traditional press – newspapers or magazines, are of little importance since only 2# of the respondents use such coupons.
“The multi-channel nature of loyalty programs is of key importance. As shown in the report of Comarch and Kantar TNS, now clients use various forms of contact with specific brands. That is why a cohesive message is important as well as program availability via various channels – traditional and modern. This must be remembered by program organisers and pay attention to that when selecting an appropriate IT solution”, stresses Zofia Woźniak, consultant for loyalty solutions at Comarch. “For the purpose, a flexible system is required that will support a comprehensive analysis of specific clients, development of personalised offers and multi-channel communication”, summarises Zofia Woźniak.
A full report by Comarch and Kantar TNS on “FUTURE OF SHOPPING. LATEST TRENDS IN RETAIL TODAY AND 2030” is available on:
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