Purely digital loyalty programs are on the rise
The loyalty report by Conceptio Consulting and Milesahead shows that Swiss customers participate in an average of six loyalty programs. In addition, purely digital programs are gaining ground - also because of Corona.
Loyalty programs are popular with Swiss customers. According to the representative Loyalty Trend Report 2020, the average respondent is aware of 17 of the 38 programs surveyed, making it one out of every two major programs in the Swiss market. Respondents participate in an average of six loyalty programs, and 80 percent agree to use their program every time they have the opportunity.
The Migros Cumulus, Coop Supercard and Ikea Family programs, which have been established for many years, made it onto the podium of the best loyalty programs in Switzerland - in the same order as in 2018. The rather young programs Helsana+ and H&M Club, which have gained several places, follow in fourth and fifth place. Another newcomer to the top 10 is Poinz, which is also a younger program.
Digitization is also making inroads into loyalty programs
With Helsana+, the H&M Club and Poinz, three purely digital programs made it into the top 10. This is in line with the importance of being able to benefit conveniently and easily via smartphone using an app, which has increased by a significant 7 percent among respondents compared with 2018. In addition, the digital channels "Mobile App" as well as "Internet" have clearly increased in importance as sources of information. The app has now become the most important information channel for customers, with the Internet in second place.
Digitization is therefore also becoming increasingly prevalent in loyalty programs. According to the study, the loyalty experts surveyed in the companies also confirm that digitization of the programs is at the top of the agenda. In particular, around two-thirds of the company representatives surveyed are focusing on establishing or expanding the mobile channel.
Corona reinforces customer need for digitization
Due to the current Corona pandemic, there is an increased need on the consumer side for more digitization of programs and further digital usage options. This is likely to further accelerate the trend toward digitization of loyalty programs in the coming months.
The Loyalty Report of Switzerland includes the two studies Loyalty Trend Report and Loyalty Expert Report.
The Loyalty Trend Report is based on over 2,000 representative customer interviews conducted by the independent market research institute Innofact. The report is being published for the second time since 2018 and examines the key factors for successful bonus programs from the customer's perspective as well as the usage behavior of bonus program users in Switzerland. It also uses the Loyalty Performance Score (LPS) to measure the overall performance of all 38 bonus programs examined across 11 different criteria. The LPS is used by the individual programs to identify optimization potential in both industry and overall comparisons.
Dem Loyalty Expert Reportpublished for the first time in 2020, is based on 16 structured interviews with loyalty experts and managers of selected benchmark customer loyalty programs (such as UBS Key Club, Coop Supercard, Helsana+) from various industries in Switzerland. The report primarily highlights the corporate perspective and shows what the success factors of loyalty programs are. It also captures the current status of loyalty marketing in Swiss companies. The report explains the challenges that can arise in setting up, operating and further developing customer loyalty programs, and also outlines the most important trends currently affecting loyalty programs.
