Personalization and Customer Care Are More Important Now Than
Ever
TORONTO and NEW
YORK, July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Bond, a
leading insights-driven customer engagement company, has
released The Bond Loyalty Report in partnership with Visa. In
its 14th year, the report unveils the brands that are winning by
offering a strong loyalty experience and highlights new challenges
and solutions for brands that have seen declines in consumer
connection.
The Bond Loyalty Report deep dives into the current winning
strategies and gaps in loyalty programs and how brands meet
consumers' needs, providing exclusive access to data, insights, and
the tools to steer brands through these
challenges.
The 2024 report unveils insight into the way brands are choosing
to execute loyalty strategies. As an example, Bond identified
several brands that are pulling back loyalty earnings and benefits
for higher-status members. These same brands are now seeing impacts
as high as double-digit declines in satisfaction levels. Bond
predicts that without demonstrating clear reciprocity with members,
companies will continue to face challenges when looking to earn
back consumer
trust.
"Our data shows the importance of human moments of interaction
and the significant impact they have on loyalty behaviors.
Leveraging employees to recognize members and ensure they
experience the value of the program will set these brands on a path
to recovery," says Maegan O'Neill,
VP of Strategy and Insights at Bond. The study found that big box
retailers are also navigating customer loyalty execution. According
to O'Neill, "A challenge we continue to see in the market is
program benefits that are undifferentiated from the competition.
Free shipping is so ubiquitous it does not act to ingrain loyal
behaviors or a sense of being valued by the brand."
Not just focused on brand opportunities, the report also
analyzes brands that are using loyalty programs well, like Bath
& Body Works, Marriott, and Chick-fil-A. These brands have
focused on personalization and superb customer care - both
essential aspects of successful loyalty programs. According to the
report, participants must be "recognized" to feel seen, leaning
into the human-to-human connections that leave them feeling
special.
The influence of loyalty programs on customer behavior is higher
than ever with 79% of consumers being more likely to recommend
brands with solid loyalty programs and 85% of consumers saying they
are more likely to continue buying from the
brand.
For the fourth year in a row, the study found that one of the
top five drivers of loyalty is when program representatives make
the customer feel special and recognized. Loyalty members are
demanding more from their interactions, valuing simplicity and
seamlessness, which will continue to shape customer expectations in
the
future.
The data also unveils details on the way brand loyalty programs
are holding up in today's ever-changing market. Loyalty and
customer marketing are expected to boost engagement and sales with
fewer resources, yet enterprise-wide alignment on loyalty
objectives remains spotty and siloed. The ever-expanding
expectations and objectives being heaped on loyalty leaders further
complicate the landscape. Adding to the complexity, the looming
elimination of cookies creates insecurity in consistently
identifying customers, making it challenging for brands to maintain
a coherent loyalty
strategy.
Additionally, with an increase in brands adopting loyalty
programs, saturation muddles intent- promoting promiscuity among
less predictable customers. A strong, clearly communicated loyalty
strategy is needed as consumers now participate in a huge number of
programs with 19 different loyalty programs being held by the
average
person.
The Bond Loyalty Report stands out amongst a sea of existing
loyalty data as an actionable set of information customized
specifically to meet brand's needs, and can be utilized as a living
data set throughout the year. The data includes frameworks, AI
capabilities, and third-party sources to give brands across
numerous verticals a deeper understanding of consumer behavior and
help them focus on what matters most to
consumers.
"The Bond Loyalty Report is the longest, deepest, broadest, most
useful, most in-depth, and most customizable version of this data
that exists on the planet," said Sean
Claessen, Chief Strategy Officer, Bond. "We aim to
continuously provide brands with evidence and tools to help guide
their business on what needs to be done to grow into tomorrow's
landscape."
About Bond:
Bond is a global insights-driven, customer engagement company
that creates growth by building lasting connections between brands,
their employees, and their customers. Pioneers in Loyalty Science,
Bond transforms brands to be more customer-centric by combining
innovative AI technologies and rigorous methodology from behavioral
science and human-centered design. Renowned for the Bond Behavioral
Institute and the Synapze cloud platform, Bond is continuously
recognized for its unique approach to tapping the incredible growth
potential in known customer connections to create lasting customer
growth.
Based in Toronto, Bond is
powered by 800 people and operates across eight offices throughout
North America and Europe. For more information, please visit
bondbl.com and follow along on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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SOURCE Bond Brand Loyalty ULC