Every business dreams of attracting loyal customers. Hence, the preponderance of loyalty programs. The average U.S. household is enrolled in 14.1 loyalty and rewards programs, but is only active in 6.2 of them. Which begs the question, do loyalty programs work?
According to BrandWeek, 32 percent of respondents to a recent CMO Council survey felt that program participation held little to no value while 37 percent felt individual rewards had even less to offer by way of value. Additionally, 38 percent of respondents included “too many conditions or restrictions” among their top complaints about loyalty programs.
The report also says loyalty programs generate lots of data about members, but often not in a way that helps them address members as individuals. “One of the greatest deficiencies the study identified was in the collection and utilization of this customer information,” says the report. “Marketers largely gather fundamental demographic information and transaction histories while only about a third captured personal or product preferences from program members.”
Here we are deep in the Age of Data, and again there’s no one qualified or available to make sense of the findings, and apply them to real world situations.
