According to some experts in the loyalty sector, as more and more companies choose to incorporate loyalty schemes into their offerings, competition in the space will become much more pronounced. As a result, we are likely to see providers trying to differentiate themselves by experimenting with a wider range of reward types and new technologies. With customer experience benchmarks rising post-pandemic and consumer expectations increasing, data-driven marketing and personalization will also become more prevalent in the space.
Provide seamless and highly personalized experiences through multiple touchpoints will gradually become the norm. What remains unclear is the long-term impact of the recession on the loyalty space: will it drive innovation or cause brands to invest more conservatively in loyalty marketing initiatives to defend margins? One thing is certain: the coming years will be challenging for marketers, requiring them to be more strategic in their action plans and budgets never, as shown by the year-on-year changes.
The challenges already evident in the world of loyalty in 2023 are high ongoing inflationary costs and, at the same time, customers who want more value for their dollar/euro. This means that companies must offerhigher rewards, more frequent catalog updates, and greater incentives to join a program in order to keep customers loyal to a brand. We are also likely to see an increase in subscription/pay-per-play models, as companies seek to soften liabilities while offering greater value for joining the program.
Conclusion
For many centuries, the concept of rewarding customers for purchasing/exchanging services/products has been around. The only thing that has changed is the era and the resources available. Human beings continue to seek recognition, regardless of their age, which is why loyalty programs are seen as something that will continue to exist in the future, with the trend being upward rather than downward. Social media reflects this need. Adapting technology to needs and learning to use customer data is the goal in the 21st century. We have never had so much knowledge, and the great challenge is knowing how to get our customers to buy again or tempt them to buy for the first time.
Photo by Piotr Cichosz on Unsplash / Photo by Kitinut on Freepik
