Hard step from push to pull

A good example of omnichannel customer loyalty: The "poinz" app allows smartphone owners to digitize their stamp cards. FROM DORIS GOTTSTEINIn the recently published report "The Forrester Wave: Loyalty Program Service Providers, Q4 2013." the reasons for the dilemma for manufacturers and retailers alike, are in a footnote. "With increasingly powerful customers and breakthrough innovations changing business models, executives in all industries are obsessed with customer knowledge, customer needs and attention to customers," it says. This is not just about spending more money, doing better advertising or tailoring products better to target audiences, it says. "It means shifting budget dollars to real-time customer intelligence, around deeper customer experiences, and about shifting sales and marketing thinking from push to pull with more interactive and engaging content."Role model in relationship managementThe world's most important service providers for customer loyalty, which are regularly assessed by Forrester Research, show how this can be achieved. The market research company has just named Epsilon a "Leader" for the second time. Although customer satisfaction accounts for only a fraction of the 61 assessment criteria, it is precisely this yardstick that is important for the dialog marketing service provider. On the one hand, what Epsilon experts find out in studies on customer loyalty also applies to the company itself. On the other hand, it has always seen itself as a role model in customer relationship management - and offers exactly what customers appreciate: relevant information via preferred info channels. The free know-how transfer not only convinces its own customers. The Epsilon reports and studies are also readily taken up by experts, such as the latest "Study on Customer Loyalty 2013 in Germany", the results of which can also be transferred to Switzerland.Optimization potential for providersThe fact that only 36 percent of the consumers surveyed seek information about products and brands on supplier websites and rather rely on product reviews online or Facebook recommendations is an alarming result of the Epsilon study, pointing to a lack of trust in suppliers, little user-friendliness, and a lack of breadth and depth in their online presence. In addition, the study reveals that "the majority of respondents have more than one preferred communication channel. "Since there are countless touchpoints in the "omnichannel world" that all have to be taken into account to build a close customer relationship, Swen Krups, Vice President EMEA at Epsilon, draws a sobering conclusion: "The extent to which brands succeed in offering a consistent customer experience across the entire sales cycle and all touchpoints will be decisive for competitiveness."Price discounts are not enoughThe step from multi- to omnichannel is made even more difficult for providers by the fact that the number of mobile Internet users is rising steadily. Almost 3.5 million Swiss own a smartphone, and the number of tablet users has doubled since 2012 to around 1.7 million. Epsilon has also dedicated itself to these topics and provides useful tips: For example, on optimizing e-mails for mobile devices, because at 52 percent they are the preferred communication channel. The Epsilon experts also explain how retailers can use the "showrooming" of mobile consumers, who compare prices anytime and anywhere, as an opportunity: with optimized bonus programs, product knowledge and conciliation. The fact that in food retailing, as in financial services, "best value for money" still takes precedence over good product and service quality should not tempt suppliers to give in to price pressure. "In many B2C areas, it makes little sense to simply lower prices for anonymous crowds of buyers," says Senior Director of the strategy and marketing consultancy Simon Kucher & Partner, Stefan Beeck. In certain B2C areas, to which the results of the Epsilon study can be applied, "customers reward it through loyalty and higher willingness to pay if the manufacturer invests in loyalty measures." This is confirmed by the study - and also applies to the "Leader".Further articles on the subject of customer loyalty in issue 12 of Marketing & Communication