Report Announcement: Research conducted by CodeBroker, a developer of mobile marketing solutions for retailers, reveals potential game-changing results for retailers who want to maximize the return on their loyalty program investment. The CodeBroker 2017 Shopper Loyalty Survey is now available for download.
Based on a survey of 1,207 U.S. consumers across all age groups and income levels, the report’s main conclusion finds the vast majority of U.S. shoppers prefer that retailers take their rewards programs digital; they want the option of managing their loyalty programs on mobile phones, citing higher usage if they can avoid logging into a website or even downloading an app.
Shoppers want to access all aspects of loyalty including their cards, rewards, point balances, offers, and how to earn, from their phones.
Problems of Traditional Retail Loyalty Cards and Programs
CodeBroker research found the biggest consumer complaint with today’s loyalty programs is simply carrying the card itself; 43% say physical cards are the biggest obstacle to claiming rewards, while 17% cite that looking up a missing card is most annoying. In addition, 15% say linking a card online is the biggest hassle of loyalty programs.
CodeBroker discovered that 70% of shoppers surveyed said they belonged to between one and five non-grocery loyalty programs. In addition, 16% do not belong to a loyalty program of any kind. The report found other issues with loyalty programs:
- 24% use the rewards they earn
- 43% say rewards expire before they can be redeemed
- 38% say they never knew if they had rewards available
- 28% say they forget to bring paper rewards certificates to redeem
- 65% attempt to redeem a reward at POS and find it expired
Other areas of frustration came from 56% of shoppers who say they changed or abandoned a purchase when they realized their points had expired.
What Do Shoppers Want?
- 70% of shoppers say they would use a mobile version of their loyalty cards if they didn’t have to sign into a website or download an app.
- 71% say they would be more likely to use their loyalty cards if they could access these cards and rewards from their mobile phone.
Key Takeaways
Given the ubiquity of cellphones, consumers want to make their phones the hub of all transactions including the ability to exploit rewards, digital coupons, discounts and other shopping incentives. Converting loyalty programs to a digital, mobile platform will resolve many of these issues and improve the customer experience. Shoppers want easy access to their card, status, and rewards — they want to eliminate the clunky plastic cards from key fobs and wallets.
For additional survey results and information including consumers’ preferred delivery channels, download the full CodeBroker 2017 Shopper Loyalty Survey.
