Give Me a Reason to Stay

It’s easier to keep a customer than win a new one. Depending on your source, it costs about five times more to bring someone new into the fold than retain an existing customer. So why don’t we invest more in satisfying and delighting the people who have already taken a chance with us? As inflation concerns are felt, especially at the grocery store, retailers and brands will need to fight price and convenience-driven switching.

A natural tactic is through loyalty programs. They can be great, but not when they excessively spam you or are so complicated you’re not really sure what you’re signing up for. How many times do we get daily emails from brands announcing things we already knew and think “why did I sign up for this again?”  DELETE. 

That’s why Target’s overhaul of Target Circle with automatic savings (taking a page from grocery aisle members-only pricing) is drumming up excitement. And in an age where convenience is queen, people aren’t raising eyebrows at Target Circle 360, a paid program that gets you free shipping and same day delivery. With paid memberships, consumers feel like they have skin in the game and will default to coming back. 

Consumers also need to know what they’re signing up for. When Gap, Inc. came to us with four separate loyalty programs that had cross-brand benefits, we built a communication platform for clearly articulating the benefit for consumers across all programs: One Membership. Four Brands. Across all of the scenarios we tested, consumers were clear: make it simple. 

So, think about how to show your customers some love—they deserve the same attention that new acquisitions get. But keep it simple and meaningful. As they navigate the cacophony of branded communications vying for their attention, that might just be their reason to stay.