Being helpful builds loyalty in retail

In a time of ongoing economic uncertainty, greater volatility and weaker consumer confidence, retailers are dealing with the challenges of sustaining customer loyalty.

Retailers need to be bold in reinventing their loyalty strategies for this new era. That includes thinking more creatively than simply focusing on promotions and price discounts.

Yes, there’s no doubt that price is front of mind for many consumers right now.

Accenture’s recent survey found 85% of consumers saying they’re experiencing uncertainty at the moment. And more than half expect this to last longer than a year.

Thinking bigger

But a truly effective loyalty strategy has to be more than a discount.

It’s an opportunity to go so much deeper into the customer relationship — reducing complexity, increasing convenience, providing personalized product insights, building communities, and offering memorable experiences.

The goal should be to understand who each consumer truly is. Not just a member of a demographic segment but a complex individual with their own set of unique and sometimes conflicting desires and priorities.

This will allow retailers to craft loyalty offerings that help consumers take more control of their lives. Whether that’s finding the right price point, treating their families, living their values, realizing their broader goals, or adopting new habits, 61% of people are looking to try new experiences that improve their lives.

Being helped versus being “bribed”

It’s why, when it comes to reinventing loyalty, I think there’s one essential concept to keep in mind: be helpful.

Retailers can build loyalty by helping their customers, not only through this period of uncertainty but also in the better times to come.

From my own experience, I know what a difference it makes when it feels like a retailer is genuinely trying to help you.

For example, I’ve been using a personal stylist through one of the big North American department stores.

It’s a free service, and I can earn rewards if I end up purchasing anything that’s recommended. But what I love most about it is the honesty.

Honest advice

We all know how valuable it is to have a critical voice we can trust. Someone who understands our taste. But who can also say “do not wear that” when they have to.

In this way, the retailer is building my loyalty through trusted expertise. The points are just an added bonus.

You can see similar effects from the growing trend for “honest” video reviews from store associates on retailers’ websites.

Again, the focus is on short, snappy, real, human advice. Helping consumers by explaining which products may actually work for them.

I think that’s a very powerful way to build and sustain customer loyalty.

Loyalty through community

Another interesting avenue to consider is the connection between loyalty and a sense of community.

Again, I can speak from experience. My husband is a real audiophile, and he loves to stay on top of the latest audio-visual tech.

Recently he suggested we visit a trade fair. I won’t pretend I was enthusiastic at first! But the experience ended up being fascinating.

The retailer running the show was a boutique regional retailer. They only had a couple of stores.

But they’d built a nationwide community through their YouTube channel.?And they had people flying in from around the country to visit their trade fair.

Walking around listening to the conversations, it was clear they’d created a real community of committed, engaged, knowledgeable and like-minded enthusiasts.

I think there’s a lesson there for all retailers. Going deep on product expertise can be a highly effective route to brand engagement and customer loyalty.

Hyper-local knowledge

Much of this comes back to the idea of really, truly and deeply knowing your customer. And who does that better than a hyper-local retailer?

At home, we’ve started getting groceries delivered from a local farm. It’s all very sustainable — organic vegetables, homemade bread, reusable milk bottles and such.

But what’s interesting to me is the way the farm gets to know your purchasing habits. They understand what you like and what you usually buy.

So if you forget to order milk one week, they bring it anyway. Just in case!

If larger retailers can capture some of this hyper-local, hyper-personalized insight about their customers, there are countless opportunities to build loyalty.

Loyalty through helpfulness

That’s going to get even more interesting as generative AI becomes more deeply embedded in both consumers’ lives and business operations.

Intelligent systems will be able to draw together the insights needed to understand customers and spot opportunities to help them on a truly individual level.

So, ultimately, I think loyalty comes back to being as helpful as possible — whatever that means for each customer in each moment.

That needs to be the central thread running through any reinvention of a loyalty strategy.

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