Just like with all aspects of retail, COVID-19 challenged many facets of customer loyalty and made it even more difficult for retailers to maintain.
Even retailers deemed essential and allowed to remain open had to step up as consumers expected more – Expanded e-commerce capabilities, BOPIS, curbside pickup, and more to keep connected with their loyal customers.
The push to online shopping benefitted some retailers. But many of them struggled with all the issues that the pandemic brought. Some of these retailers experience a surge in customer acquisition, but even for those, customer retention as retail reopens will remain a challenge.
Clarus is proud to sponsor this fourth annual Retail TouchPoints Customer Loyalty Benchmark Report. It details the challenges brought on by the pandemic, but also some silver linings for the industry. Key findings include:
- The growth of new acquisition tools such as text/messenger program outreach (used by 30% of retailers) and declines in the use of traditional media (down to 29% from 41% in 2020)
- The emergence of free returns as a customer retention tool, used by 42% of retailers
- Downward shifts in the percentage of revenue generated by retailers’ loyalty program members — perhaps from the flood of new, non-member customers shaken loose from their normal shopping habits —indicating that building up these programs’ membership should be a high priority for retailers
In the wake of COVID-19, your customers are demanding more, and their loyalty is on the line.
Download the Retail TouchPoints Customer Loyalty Benchmark Report to learn where you should focus your loyalty efforts in 2021 and beyond.
Paul Wolfer
Paul is our Senior Manager, B2B Marketing. He works closely with the leadership team on strategic positioning, messaging and branding. When he's not posting on LinkedIn or working on the newest data study, he can usually be found adventuring to breweries or attempting to learn a new song on his guitar.