Reward programs or better shopping experience?

According to the latest research from Adyen, the payments platform of choice for many of the leading companies in the world, the Rewarding programs are failing to deliver their promise made to their retailers to fetch the customer loyalty. 55 per cent of the customers, being the majority say that reward programs do not offer things that they actually want. It matters as the customer experience hold equal influence in the matter of loyalty, which was approximately 48 per cent. 62 per cent feel retailers need to improve the ways they reward consumers for shopping with them. 55 per cent believe that loyalty programs rarely offer them the things they actually want or would use. 48 per cent want retailers to focus on making the shopping experience better for them, rather than a loyalty program. The research took the polls of more than 2000 customers of the UK in 2020. The report also says exploring the agility will be the key for the retail sectors since it is now emerging from the pandemic. The results showed that, while rewards and loyalty schemes are still welcomed by many customers, the majority ( 62 per cent ) feel that retailers need to improve how they reward their shoppers.

Every customer counts – especially in the context of the pandemic. Anything retailers can do to keep customers coming back for more is worth exploring. But it goes beyond a loyalty or rewards scheme. The customer experience, both online and in store really matters. Making it as easy as possible to shop is equally as important as other incentives. And, if you do go down the rewards route, a one-size-fits-all approach rarely delivers. You must make the effort to understand your customers and offer something they really want,” said Myles Dawson, UK Managing Director, Adyen.

In the poll, the number of the respondents who opted for the option of wanting the retailers to focus more on making a better shopping experience instead of just delivering a loyalty program which most of the time does no valuable job. The customers want a seamless link between the online and the physical stores, which provides them access to the physical store through online portal and this service can drive a better customer experience and in turn will drive loyalty. 60 per cent of the customers said that they would instead take the liberty of being loyal to the retailers which let them pick up the ‘out of stock’ items shown on the websites from the retail stores and have them shipped directly to their home. Whereas the 53 per cent of the customers shared their view as they would be more loyal to the retailers if they let them buy the products online and could return in store given the chances of defect or any other issue.  

“The high street is under increasing competition from online retailers who put convenience and usability at the center of their customer experience. To succeed now, businesses must harness the best of their physical and digital worlds to create amazing experiences. This will increase conversions and also raise the prospects of customer loyalty. For those consumers that want loyalty schemes, it must be as seamless and easy as possible. 61 per cent of respondents were more likely to shop with a retailer that linked their loyalty scheme to the payment card. By doing this, businesses can track customer buying behavior and shopper data which lets them offer a more personalized shopping experience,” Dawson concluded.