A new study by Roy Morgan Research has found 71 cent of Australians over the age of 14 maintain some sort of loyalty rewards program with a store, with Woolworths Rewards voted Australia’s most popular.
The report also found that despite the high take-up of the schemes many people found them “too complicated” and “offered little real value for consumers”.
You can check out the full report here.
According to the report 49 per cent of respondents said they were members of the Woolies program. Next was Coles Flybuys program (45 per cent). More than one in every five Australians (21 per cent) are members of department store Myer’s customer loyalty program, MyerOne, and 18 per cent belong to Priceline’s Sister Club
However the report also noted: “Just because someone has a customer loyalty card doesn’t mean they’re going to use it. Who hasn’t enlisted for a loyalty program only to promptly forget they ever joined, or lost their card before they could use it, or decided it was simply too much effort to commit to?”
That said, the report found that 78.2 per cent of shoppers with Woolworths Rewards had shopped in-store in the past four weeks. And 61.8 per cent of people with (the liquor retailer) BWS had done the same.
Norman Morris, industry communications director, Roy Morgan Research, said of the report: “A large membership is obviously important for a store’s customer loyalty program, but if members are inactive and don’t actually shop at the store/s in question then it can’t really be considered successful. Woolworths Rewards is a high-profile example of an extremely popular loyalty program whose members do form the majority of customers at Woolworths and BWS.
“Much more niche in size is Miller’s, but with almost three-quarters of its customers in any given four-week period belonging to its loyalty program, it can certainly be considered a success! Clearly Millers Rewards members see the value in their loyalty program, and shop accordingly.
“While it is perfectly reasonable for retailers to want the consumer intelligence provided by a large loyalty program, it’s worth remembering that customer loyalty programs are about more than big data: they must also give their customers reason to be loyal. Calling your program a rewards program but making it hard for customers to redeem their rewards is the first step to failure.
“With its deep consumer data, Roy Morgan Single Source allows retailers to better understand what makes their customers tick: from their demographics and shopping habits, to their attitudes, activities and media consumption. This knowledge will then allow them to tailor their loyalty program so that it not only encourages return visitation, but nurtures a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with their customers,” Morris said.
