Introduction
The literature survey has provided a base for the study and given an overview of the areas where the research could be done. It has also provided me with the relevant facts.
Objective of the study:
Study of loyalty programs of Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons.
• Are these programs really effective in enhancing the customer experience.
• How much profitable does the loyalty programs prove to be, for a customer centric apparel retailer.
Most customers hold several loyalty cards of competing retailers. Past studies looking into the impact of card ownership on store loyalty showed mixed results. Loyalty cards are effective only when customers value the rewards associated with them. This research is being done to investigate
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Hence a company should first figure out the basis of customer’s buying decisions before building the loyalty programs in order to serve them in the best possible manner.
The article Listening ain’t enough stresses upon the fact that customer loyalty cards are used to generate information about the customers in order to serve them better by developing products and services according to them. But these alone are not enough for gaining advantage over the competitors. Trained staff with a heart to serve the customers with customer-centric approach could help in gaining the advantage.
A similar research Loyalty in Retail: A strategic success or a management failure states that successful loyalty programs do not exist in vacuum. The loyalty cards provided by the retailers are compared to the hammer. Just as a hammer does not build a house, a loyalty card does not build customer loyalty. Customer loyalty has been used as a strategic approach in increasing customer value and thus providing a good customer experience but it doesn’t work alone. A brand value has to be created in which involvement of the staff, quality of the products, knowledge about the customers etc. are required.
Shoppers’ Stop’s customer loyalty program is called The First Citizen (Annexure X) and Pantaloons customer loyalty program is Green Card Program (Annexure XI) through
Customer loyalty plays a very vital role in an organization’s success or not always, is a very interesting debate. It has been suggested at several literature that loyal customer generates ongoing revenue and they also assist in generating profitable business income to any organization. At the same time research also suggests that there are other views available in relation to the concept of loyalty. The important factor to understand is weather those factors lead to long term business profitability or not. In my opinion regardless of other considerations, customer loyalty plays a great input in the business benefits and revenue. Today’s literature review will put some light on both customer loyalty as well as other consideration. It will further emphases the importance of the customer loyalty aspect and its impact on the revenue of the firm by supporting the concept of customer loyalty.
Developing a loyalty program is challenging. You team must understand what will keep your current customers interested and what will spark them to purchase multiple times.
Many service providers are continually assessing their ability to create customer loyalty, as Berry (1995) explores the direct relationship between loyalty and profitability through cost reduction and increased revenue per customer. It is the belief of many that customer satisfaction
Is the customer loyalty program a failure? Justify your answer. If not, how can failure be prevented? Is it important to avert failure? Why or why not?
Over the decades there were tremendous amount of challenges for every business. Customers have more knowledge, they have more options, and they have higher expectations. Customers are more informed with the humungous development in technology. Having more options in front of them, expectations has surpassed in retail industry. Loyalty is a customer having faith that your organization’s product or services offered is the best for them. It is the process of tapping the buying pattern of customers in a store based on their preferences. Customer loyalty is significant because it is economical to retain the old customers rather than acquiring new customers. So, organizations employ loyalty programs which reward customers for their repeat business.
According Baker M (2000), loyalty schemes is the “Overt attempt of exchanging partnership to build a long term relationship association, characterised by purposeful co-operation and mutual dependence on the development of social, as well as structural bonds with consumer”.
In this article, Brooks discusses how online businesses as well as regular businesses differ in benefitting from loyalty reward programs offered to customers. With the new age of technology becoming more and more prevalent, customers are less likely to actually travel to stores to purchase goods from businesses. The ones who do typically go to the places that
While I’m an atypical U.S. consumer who doesn’t buy into marketing hype, I do have strong product/service loyalty affiliations. I’ll try to keep my Journal entry under 1000 words! I like to revisit the meaning of familiar words. Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines loyalty as, “The quality or state or an instance of being loyal”. This is exactly what brand loyalty and loyalty programs are trying to create: an ongoing experience with multiple touch-points that captures followers and keeps them engaged through rewards, added value, and “prestige”. The goal is to lengthen “the lifetime value of the customer” (Tanner & Raymond, 2010, p. 284) which helps to maximize profits.
Even though the theoretical model suggested that winning loyalty is a long-term process and might be affected by some internal and external factors, in the case of Tesco, it was very much a positive impact helping to enhance the buying experience of customers, along with capturing high marketing share. Das (2009) stated that there are many factors that define the impact of loyalty schemes. Some customers are price conscious, meaning loyalty points do not matter to them. On the other hand,
Customer loyalty is much harder to obtain that customer service satisfaction. The most important first step is to satisfy the customer by meeting their expectations. Customers only give a company one chance and if they aren’t satisfied they will not do business with that company again, as well as tell others of their experience. The next step would be to exceed the customer’s expectations. If a business goes above and beyond to assist the customer they begin to build loyalty. The next step is to truly surprise the customer. In order to dominate the marketplace the company must find a way to make them selves stand out with their product or service, accompanied with phenomenal customer service. Once this has been done customer satisfaction and loyalty will be gained. “Acquiring a new customer can cost four or five times more than keeping a current customer” (Bestmark, 2013). So it’s essential to keep the current customer’s happy and coming back for more.
U.S. consumers hold 3.3 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs, the 2015 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census shows, a 26% increase over the number of memberships reported in COLLOQUY’s last census study in 2013 (Colloquy, 2015) With loyalty programs established this helps to generate a repeat customers which drives profits and promises future revenue. Consumers need an incentive to purchase a product at a certain place. When Loyalty programs are in place it helps the consumer relate to the product and funnels them towards the product in which they feel that they are apart of. They can build exclusive points and incentives when products are purchased and are then able to use those rewards points at a later time to purchase more goods or even get a portion of the cash back.
In marketing terms, a loyalty card is a plastic or paper card, which is quite similar to the other financial cards in visibility and that, identifies the card holder as a member in a loyalty program. Loyalty Cards typically have a barcode or magnetic stripe that can be easily scanned when it is swiped at the particular stores. Loyalty cards can be in the form of small key ring cards which are often used for convenience in carrying and ease of access for the consumers. Loyalty programs are predominantly run by retailers and the service industry. Companies typically have several goals when launching loyalty programs, all of which are focused on generating greater profits from the program’s
Many companies today have come to the conclusion that customer loyalty is not effortlessly achieved since customers have so many options and alternative to choose from. Customers are the decision makers of where and when to shop. The research in this chapter will focus on what factors or elements impact customer’s loyalty. According to Harvey Thompson (2004), there are numerous factors that influence customer’s loyalty. One of these factors is the price of the products rather than the perception of value. Another factor is the attribute of the product and how well it caters to the customers wants and needs. Service is another element in which the customer measures their experience and evaluates whether they
Additional survey results proved that customers are not satisfied with SHLD’s current loyalty program. Loyalty programs are designed to enhance a firm’s customer relationship management (CRM). In order
The term “Brand Loyalty” also called as “Customer Loyalty” has been in the business industry since a very long time as a model to be used in conducting business. But it wasn’t until the mid to late 1900’s that the term was actually given its due importance by making it a vital part of advertising and marketing. The concept of marketing evolved substantially from being focused on sales of a product to having Customer satisfaction to be its focal point. Studies further revealed that there was a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and Brand Loyalty.