Many companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region as high as 77 per cent are foregoing opportunities to strategically influence on loyalty initiatives to propel further engagement in the entire consumer lifecycle, a study conducted by US-based market research company Forrester Consulting on behalf of London-headquartered customer benefits and loyalty firm Collinson.
Many companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region as high as 77 per cent are foregoing opportunities to strategically influence on loyalty initiatives to propel further engagement in the entire consumer lifecycle, a study conducted by US-based market research company Forrester Consulting on behalf of London-headquartered customer benefits and loyalty firm Collinson.
The study polled decision-makers in the companies that took part in the survey with revenue more than USD300 million, the survey queried respondents to grade their own loyalty programs based on a range of measures, as well as their loyalty programs and approach to enhance customer experiences.
The study polled and compared the results for several countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore.
There has been a great deal of talk on personalization for some time now and loyalty practitioners in the Asia Pacific now understand that personalization is vital for an exceptional customer experience journey as well as to propel customer loyalty.
Out of the total survey respondents, 72 per cent state that they plan to enhance spending to enhance customer experiences over the subsequent 12 months.
Even as they are in a strong position to demonstrate that they realize and reward their customers with appropriate experiences at the suitable moment during customer lifecycle, the study discovered that a large number of companies fail when it comes to personalization of customer experience:
- Just 26 per cent of polled companies personalize all promotional offers. Australia emerged as the leading country with 41 per cent of respondent companies in the Asia Pacific region in this regard.
- Only 41 per cent of polled companies monitor and analyse the interactions between their loyal customers and their brands with the intention to enhance the total customer loyalty experience based on suitable and personalized content. Australia reported the highest percentage with 74 per cent, while mainland China reported lowest percentage with 28 per cent.
The study divulges that 56 per cent of loyalty practitioners in the Asia Pacific region carry out regular loyalty-specific market survey to better understand their most loyal customers.
With a percentage of 70 per cent, Singapore is the best-performing market, while Australia and Japan are the second and third best-performing markets with percentages of 65 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. With a percentage of 47 per cent, Hong Kong is the lowest-performing market in this regard.
Collinson Executive VP for APAC Mary English stated that the modern customers want to purchase from brands that provide a positive experience, relevance, and convenience. Integration of the data insights on consumer behaviour into the consumer lifecycle engagement strategy will enhance the success of a loyalty initiative, bolstering its return on investment and effectiveness.
Among the most important features of a loyalty initiative is making the most of engagement at every stage of the customer lifecycle, rather than only identifying and rewarding customers at the point of sale.
The study found that companies are forgoing opportunities to ride on the back of loyalty program mechanisms to further propel engagement at every customer touchpoint.
Strangely, the companies fall short to make loyal customers feel special and valued, mainly because they aren’t offering convenience and exclusivity to loyalty program members:
- Only 18 per cent of loyalty practitioners in the Asia Pacific region and 25 per cent all over the world are offering member-only events for their loyal customers. Australia is the best-performing country among the polled markets in the region with a percentage of 53 per cent in this regard. Starkly, mainland China, South Korea, and Hong Kong emerged as laggards with percentages of 11 per cent, 7 per cent, and 5 per cent, respectively.
- Just 30 per cent of respondents are accepting experiential benefits in their loyalty programmes. Australia emerged as the leader among the polled markets in the region with 43 per cent in this regard.
- Only 33 per cent of respondents offer their loyal customers access to reward redemption and instant coupons, even though about 47 per cent of the respondents are presently using a points-based system for payment/redemption.
