Study: Loyalty programs lacking personalization

Loyalty is gaining in importance to overall marketing and branding strategies. But, while many brands are implementing newer and supposedly better rewards programs, one report finds many programs lacking in a few areas.

by Kristina Knight

While brands are digging for the next great loyalty program, many consumers simply want their existing programs to work better. That's the takeaway from a new Bond Brand study, which found that personalization and customer experience factors are found to be lacking by many program members.

According to the 2016 Bond Brand Loyalty report 44% of loyalty program members are satisfied with their current program and about 39% say their program meets their needs. However, only about 20% of respondents said company reps made them 'feel special' and only 22% were 'very satisfied' with the level of personalization in their current programs.

"Marketers are telling us that loyalty program investments are paying off in a big way," said Bob Macdonald, President and CEO of Bond Brand Loyalty. "This report arms decision makers with the critical insights required to build better strategies, keep up with consumer expectations, and drive more profitable outcomes for brands."

Other interesting findings include:

• 57% say they want to engage with loyalty programs via mobile device, with women more likely to want mobile options (62% vs. 52%)
• 68% of women and 60% of men are interested in earning points for things like social activity or profile updates in addition to purchases
• 70% of credit card program members want the ability to use instant retail/online redemptions

On average, consumers belong to 13.4 loyalty programs but are only active in 6.7 programs.

Tags: Bond Brand Loyalty, loyalty marketing, loyalty program trends, rewards program trends