A research suggest customers have not switched between grocers, or abandoned more ‘expensive’ supermarkets in the numbers that could be expected during a period of high food inflation.
It’s evidence that the methods used by supermarkets have generally been successful in helping them retain customers over the past year.
Overall, 53% of retailers in the study said that direct take-up of their loyalty programmes had increased.
The report also looked at how supermarkets had sought to adapt their loyalty offers in order to attract more customers. The “tried and tested” approaches to loyalty were still the ones most favoured by the retailers, and the ones likely to gain most traction with customers, the findings show.
Discount coupons or vouchers were the most common loyalty perk, with 82% of retailers surveyed deploying it. Exclusive discounts (75%) and personalised product recommendations (68%) were the next two most common approaches.
Another key point in customer loyalty is the shopping experience within the store. This is where the strength of the furnishings and fittings come into play.
If the customer feels welcome inside the shop, it is very likely that he or she will decide to stay longer (often thereby increasing the volume of shopping) and return in the future.