Customers feel loyalty schemes take to long to produce rewards

Research carried out by Grass Roots Group surveyed over 2,700 UK consumers suggests that brands are failing to keep followers engaged and loyal during this period.

The survey revealed that 54% feel it takes too long to earn rewards in loyalty schemes, and 27% of people having stopped using a loyalty programme as a result.

The survey also revealed the amount of time that customers are prepared to wait. With 33% of respondents expecting to receive significant rewards from a loyalty programme within just a month of signing up and a further 45% prepared to wait between one and three months before it bears any fruit.

Delving deeper into the findings, the older generation is more impatient when it comes to being rewarded for their loyalty, with 12% of those over 55s expecting to receive a reward within a week, compared to only 4% of 18-24-year-olds. By not understanding this or targeting customers correctly, brands could be contributing to the relationship breakdown with their customers.

Adam Goran, divisional director of customer engagement at Grass Roots Group said: “Customer loyalty schemes hold a lot of value to both brands and their customers. Brands have already done the hard work by earning customer loyalty, why then do so many risk losing their customers by not keeping them engaged throughout the entire loyalty lifecycle?

“If brands fail to capitalise on this and don’t engage effectively with their customers between the times where they spend and save their rewards, they will find it increasingly difficult to hold on to loyal customers.”