The Loyalty Mandate

February 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Nikki Baird, managing partner, RSR Research

Loyalty versus relevancy — which is more important for retailers in 2012?

Over the last four years that RSR has conducted research on the topic of customer programs and loyalty, we have learned that few retailers understand the full impact of their customer programs, whether top line or bottom line:

• Many retailers treat their loyalty programs as a “pay for customer data” relationship, yet few feel that they are making effective use of the data they collect.
• Many retailers leverage trigger-based offers in their digital channels, but few can enable the same degree of personalization in stores.
• There is very little coordination of customer interactions across available marketing channels.
• Most retailers understand that there is far more value to be had from their customer programs than they are getting — but few know how to get it.