OCUS LOYALTY F
Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper card has 8.5-million active users and reached its highest level of participation this year after launching a decade ago. Picture: Supplied
24/25
THE FUTURE OF LOYALTY PROGRAMMES
Those that adapt to changing consumer behaviour keep the shoppers coming back, writes Sanet Oberholzer Clicks has seen a significant move online since lockdowns began. Picture: Supplied
L
oyalty programmes are proven performers when it comes to buying behaviour. However, according to new research from McKinsey, consumers are more willing than ever to try out new stores, brands and websites as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jess Huang, a partner at McKinsey & Company who co-leads their loyalty work, says consumers are not necessarily becoming less loyal. “It’s just so much easier for them to try something new,” she says. “So brands are really attempting to figure out a way to develop and maintain that relationship with the consumer.” 24
LifeStyle
According to an article published by the company last year, 35% of US consumers have tried new brands since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 77% exhibited new shopping behaviours such as new channels and new stores — a trend that has been observed in consumers around the world. Clicks chief commercial officer Rachel
18•04•2021
Sunday Times
Wrigglesworth can attest to this shift in shopping trends. She says the company has observed a significant move to online shopping since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a growth of 191%. Andrew Mills, Pick n Pay retail executive in marketing, concurs, saying more customers started opting for the ease of online shopping during lockdown and have continued to be regular online shoppers. But despite this shift in customers’ preferred shopping channel, their Smart Shopper loyalty programme — which to date has over 8.5-million active members — reached its highest participation levels this past year since launching in 2011. In a similar vein, following the success of the Shoprite Group’s Xtra Savings rewards programme launched in Checkers stores in October 2019, the programme was introduced in Shoprite supermarket chains in October 2020. Since then, it has grown to become one of SA’s largest supermarket rewards programmes with more than 17million members. “The future of loyalty programmes lies in offering real value in the most seamless way possible,” Mills says. “Our loyalty programme lets us reward our customers, but also enables us learn more about their shopping needs. With this knowledge, we can adjust and innovate our offerings to better serve them.” Some of the innovations the supermarket chain has implemented include digital grocery vouchers and PnP Mobile, which lets customers earn instant free data rewards by