Conditional Love (and Loyalty)

The wave of layoffs across tech have exposed those hollow company claims of ‘we’re a family.’ That love turned out to be - appropriately - conditional.

That bond between you and your shoppers: same. Customers’ love and loyalty is conditional. And, the primary condition is - shocker - your product.

So says the Merkle Loyalty Barometer's report, where 56% of shoppers say a 'great product' makes them feel loyal to the brand.

“Having a great product is the most important factor in building brand loyalty.”

– 2024 Merkle Loyalty Barometer

A number of other product-related factors are cited next most frequently, including convenience, great service, and my personal favorite, 'enhances life.' Bless those that chose that option on the survey.

Those leading loyalty drivers are little changed in the Yo2Y comparison, with only slight movement between the top 5 or 6 factors.

Relevance attracted some love - with two of the lower ranked reasons each showing a few points of growth; the experience shows the brand understands me, and the communications feel relevant to me.

‘I like its rewards or loyalty program’ comes in 5th, with 20% of respondents putting that in their top 2. Not unimportant, certainly, but not on the medal stand either.

Another reminder that you can't manufacture loyalty through a program alone, but you sure can manufacture it into your product. Looking to retain better? How can your product work harder for you?