Dive Brief:
- Consumers worldwide want more control over how they earn and use loyalty program rewards, with 4 in 5 preferring to shop with brands that allow them to do so, according to research published by EPAM Systems.
- An overwhelming 93% of consumers have used or would use features allowing them to customize how they earn rewards and/or choose their rewards, the survey of 10,000 consumers worldwide found.
- “Loyalty programs must offer a personalized experience that cater to customers’ unique expectations and engagement triggers,” Ward de Kruiff, global head of Web3 and Metaverse at EPAM, said in the report.
Dive Insight:
A growing number of businesses, including Church’s Texas Chicken, are launching or relaunching loyalty programs with more personalization and customization to boost membership and engagement.
Earning rewards, discounts or cashback on future purchases are the main reasons 70% of consumers join rewards programs. Free shipping and free returns also drive loyalty, according to the research.
But once they're in the door, giving customers more control over how they earn and use rewards can further increase loyalty by delivering greater personalization and value, Rochelle Wang, principal experience consultant at EPAM, said in the report.
“More often than not, it’s not about the size of the rewards pool but how relevant the rewards are in your loyalty program. Think quality, not just quantity,” Wang said. “Marketing and communications have long embraced personalization. Yet, most loyalty programs are stuck in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ rut.”
Gamification, including games and quizzes, and allowing members to scan or enter codes to register a purchase, can also help by enabling businesses to capture more first-party data from consumers and deliver more personalized rewards, de Kruiff said. More than half of consumers would rather share information about themselves through games or quizzes, while about one-quarter prefer traditional forms, the survey found.
First-party data has become crucial to loyalty programs amid growing restrictions on third-party data collection. It’s also essential to get the most out of AI-powered loyalty program solutions, which can better target specific groups with relevant rewards, experts told CX Dive in June.
Among consumers’ desires for rewards is greater flexibility in who they can share it with. More than three-quarters of consumers prefer to shop with brands that allow them to share loyalty accounts and rewards with friends and family, according to EPAM.
