PDI, a global software company that provides leading ERP, Fuel Pricing, Logistics and Marketing Cloud solutions to convenience retailers and petroleum wholesalers, has released The Road to Rewards Report 2019: Mapping the Path to Loyalty Success.
The fourth annual report validates fuel savings as a top driver for loyalty program members, highlights increasing demand for mobile apps, and introduces new facts about how retailers across all industries are using customer data to improve promotions, customer relationships and revenues.
“This year’s survey data reinforces what we’ve seen in previous years — that consumers prefer loyalty programs that are easy to use and provide everyday value,” said Brandon Logsdon, president and general manager of Marketing Cloud Solutions at PDI. “The report provides insights into ways CPG brands and retailers across all categories can use loyalty data more effectively to attract and engage consumers.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Loyalty programs that offer fuel savings are most popular: 66% of consumers belong to loyalty program offering these rewards, a 12% uptick since the 2015 inaugural survey.
- Most millennials and Gen-Xers prefer fuel savings: 69% of Gen X (aged 35-44) and 67% of Gen Y (aged 25-34) cite fuel savings as their preferred loyalty currency.
- Mobile’s popularity has doubled in less than five years: Consumers citing mobile apps as their preferred redemption channel has jumped to 44%, more than double the percentage of 2015. In that year, only 20% of consumers surveyed said that mobile mattered.
- Retailers struggle to leverage data: An overwhelming 75% of retailers surveyed collect consumer data from their loyalty programs, yet only one third (34%) use the information to attract new customers.
The Road to Rewards Report 2019 addresses top challenges facing CPG brands and retailers including grocery and convenience stores. The report examines how they can improve their loyalty programs, better understand the data they have now in order to anticipate what their customers want next, and be ready to adapt to changing consumer needs and provide the rewards they desire most.
The report is a companion to PDI’s annual “The C-Store Shopper Report: How to Fuel Customer Loyalty,” a survey providing insight into shopper behaviors toward convenience store loyalty programs.
The Road to Rewards 2019 survey was conducted among 2,221 consumers and 239 convenience retailers, grocers and CPG participants in the U.S. by ResearchScape, an independent research firm.