Customer Loyalty In 2021: Three Key Things You Need To Know

2020 was a year of huge changes, and this affected the relationship between retailer and consumer in various ways. But what have we learned about consumer loyalty that we can apply to 2021 to ensure a better experience for both parties? Here are three things to be aware of when it comes to customer loyalty in 2021. 

Prioritise Mobile

The overriding lesson we can from 2020 is that the public wants mobile solutions when it comes to shopping. The smartphone is the easiest way to reach customers with the least amount of pushback. This has been known for years but 2020 pushed people’s reliance on their mobile device beyond what anyone could have predicted. 

Mobile wallets are a huge part of this. Working with the right platform means that any brand or retailer can set up a valuable customer loyalty program on mobile, which has the added benefit of providing useful consumer data that you can use to improve your products and systems going forward. 

Plastic is over

Plastic loyalty cards, and plastic in general, were on their way out before 2020, but the covid pandemic sped this up exponentially. Due to the concern about fomites and the virus passing on cards, many countries made an enormous shift towards becoming a cash-based society - and this applies even more to loyalty cards, which are regarded as less essential than bank cards. 

This is why mobile wallets became the smart choice for loyalty schemes. Starting with QR codes and online links to spread awareness and encourage people to sign up, the mobile wallet became a valuable channel for all kinds of offers, rewards and marketing messages. This is made more effective by the fact the customer deliberately signed up, making them more amenable to promotional information. By using technology, the mobile wallet removes any kind of physical contact between the customer and the retail assistant, keeping both parties safe. 

Loyalty isn’t a short-term deal

Loyalty programs have a poor reputation. They can be associated with such disposable deals as “buy 10 and get one free” that few customers are committed to and do little to engineer positive feelings about your brand. Instead, 2020 proved that loyalty is about building long-term relationships, delivering offers that they’re happy to share with their friends and family.

The best loyalty programs utilise this with mobile wallet technology to effortlessly create a sense of exclusivity, that this offer is personal to them but that they’re also part of a community. Working on instant rewards can produce short-term gains but the real way to build a positive relationship between your brand and the consumer is to focus on long-term benefits for the user, which in turn will help your brand grow.