a heart-to-heart about increasing loyalty€¦ · when you ask customers to join your loyalty...

A Heart-to-Heart About Increasing Loyalty

New research reveals the

7 Truths of Customer Loyalty

Customer meets brand.

Customer falls in love with brand.

Brand asks customer to go steady.

Brand and customer live HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Beautiful story, isn’t it? Too bad it’s never that simple.

When you ask customers to join your loyalty program, you’re hoping for a long-term relationship. But often, the customer’s interest fades away, and you’re left to wonder, “Why the change of heart?”

At Blackhawk Network, we wanted to better understand what members expect from a loyalty pro-gram, and what keeps them engaged in it. With the help of research firm Leger, we collected feedback from 1,500 US consumers about their experiences with loyalty programs.

From their feedback, we learned the following “7 Truths of Customer Loyalty.”

A Heart-to-Heart About Increasing Loyalty: 7 Truths of Customer Loyalty 2

True loyalty does exist—but you must earn it

You’ll need to OUTSHINE the other suitors to win the hand of your customer.

With loyalty programs now the norm across a wide swath of consumer verticals, you’d think people would be weary of them. But we found the opposite—people enjoy and believe in loyalty programs more than ever.

The average consumer belongs to about 6 different loyalty programs; that same consumer only actively participates in about 4 of them, or roughly 63%

87% of respondents belong toat least one loyalty program

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Abundant rewards make the heart grow fonder

The more REDEMPTION OPPORTUNITIES you offer, the more appealing you become.

People love to get their rewards, and the sooner, the better. In loyalty programs with the highest levels of engagement:

More than 50% of members cash in for a reward at least 4 times per year

90% of members redeem points for a reward at least once per year

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Playing hard-to-get will get you nowhere

Offering easily accessible REWARD OPTIONS will keep members coming back for more.

People don’t like to wait for rewards, even for the promise of a big payoff. Offer a selection of small rewards that are easy to attain.

80% of members look for opportunities to redeem points for rewards at values well below the $100 mark

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The heart wants what the heart wants

Including both gift and prepaid cards in your REWARDS CATALOG is a smart way to

offer the types of choices your members love.

Customers can have some pretty specific desires when it comes to rewards. When we asked participants “What do you prefer to redeem your points for?” the most popular answer was reward cards for loyalty programs belonging to:

Banks 56%

Retailers 56%

Online retailers 70%


The price of loyalty is surprisingly low

Small, EASILY ATTAINABLE REWARDS are far more desirable than extravagant items.

It’s no longer the high-dollar, super-aspirational rewards that keep members engaged. In the following loyalty categories, most members prefer reward cards—including both prepaid cards and gift cards—at values under $100:

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Banks 68%


Utility companies 76%

Phone companies 75%



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Gifts that come from the heart are more meaningful

Loyal customers like having MORE REASONSto spend time with you.

Unlike members of other loyalty programs, members of traditional and online retail loyalty prefer store-branded gift cards over prepaid cards:

Brick-and-mortar retailers

43% 51%43%

30%

14%19%

Online retailers

Gift cards Prepaid cards No preference


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There are lots of fish in the sea—and you want them all

CHOICE is key. Offer both physical and digital reward options to cast a wide net.

We asked participants how they feel about physical rewards versus digital rewards. They told us they’re pretty open:

Brick-and-mortar retailers

36%

24%

33%

28%

32% 48%

Online retailers

Physical rewards Digital rewards No preference


The Loyalty study was an online survey of 1,500 Americans completed between February 5 and February 15, 2018, using Leger’s online panel, LegerWeb. The margin of error for this study was +/-2.5%, 19 times out of 20. © 2018 Blackhawk Network, Inc. All rights reserved.

Let’s talk.866.219.7533

HawkIncentives.com

Let’s dial up the appeal of your loyalty program.

Now that you have new insight into the hearts and minds of your program members, the question is:

What’s your next move?

Blackhawk Network can help you find the answer. We’re happy to share more of our research findings, talk with you about your program goals and help you develop a compelling rewards strategy that will keep your members wholeheartedly engaged.


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a heart-to-heart about increasing loyalty€¦ · when you ask customers to join your loyalty...

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