Retailers may want to invest in personalized rewards to lock in loyal consumers.
According to a recent Virtual Incentives study, “Incentive Research Paper,” 56 percent of consumers said that receiving personalized rewards would improve their brand consideration, which would make them more likely to shop at particular stores over others.
“The information we gathered for this study is vital in helping brands make informed decisions when it comes to incentivizing their target audiences,” Virtual Incentives CEO Jonathan Price said. “After all, we want the reward or incentive moment to truly resonate and create an engaging moment with the recipient—that means we need to be educated on what different consumer groups are really looking for when it comes to incentives.”
Not all consumers have received personalized rewards though. Only two out of five consumers said they received a personalized reward from a retailer. That’s more than half of all shoppers that retailers are missing the mark on. With this in mind, retailers may want to alter their branding methodology to bump up exclusive perks and discounts for their consumers.
People also favor brands that incorporate personalization. Almost half (42 percent) of consumers thought individualized rewards were a smart concept. Although nearly a quarter of consumers said they distrust companies that offer personalized incentives (24 percent), more consumers (61 percent) felt valued by retailers when offered personalized incentives.
Personalization types also influenced consumers’ return decisions. More than half (63 percent) of consumers favored rewards based on purchase history and another 49 percent of consumers said that invites to clubs or loyalty programs also increased their likelihood to shop at retailers again. Consumers also didn’t favor purchase location (24 percent) or name usage (23 percent) for personalization types.
For rewards, a third of consumers preferred a virtual gift card they can use at multiple shopping destinations, such as MasterCard or Visa.