Decline of the prospectus and end of third-party cookies in online audience measurements on the one hand, inflation and constant quest for the best deal on the other : it is in a very uncertain context that many companies decide to focus again on their loyalty programs. What happens to loyalty programs ? What do Internet users think of it and what do they expect? ? Response with a study by the consulting firm Converteo on the attractiveness of loyalty programs.
Converteo analyzed, thanks to its semantic artificial intelligence technology, Internet users' conversations : 17,000 verbatims collected on social networks allowed it to draw up an initial assessment of consumer expectations and their level of satisfaction with corporate loyalty programs.. Main lessons from the study : one in two speeches concerns retail and e-commerce players ; cashback is a declining expectation due to real mistrust and lack of transparency of offers ; prize pool programs are gaining popularity ; in the face of inflation, the craze for private sales is increasing. Analysis of these conversations, which were held over two years (between August 2021 and September 2023), brings out 24 main topics for discussion, classified into seven themes. It shows that among the business sectors mentioned, retail and e-commerce players account for nearly 55% of speaking engagements. At the same time, more than 50% of the comments collected concern the financial benefits of loyalty programs, whether it concerns the accumulation and conversion of points, jackpot, vouchers and promotions or even cashback.
Priority to purchasing power
Without surprise, in connection with the Converteo study on French morale published last September, which indicated a high priority given to purchasing power in the face of inflation, the frequency of these topics is increasing in 2023 compared to the previous year. The exception comes from the subject of cashback, who regresses and sees himself tarnished with a degraded reputation, due to a lack of transparency and readability. At the same time, the subject of private sales is gaining momentum in conversations over the period analyzed., but consumers are awaiting clarification on this subject regarding sales. Trust issues (43% of mentions linked to cashback for example are negative), of readability and valorization emerge from the study and indicate that the road is still long for many brands and brands whose loyalty programs are sometimes perceived as simple data collectors which offer nothing in return. This clearly indicates an increasingly clear awareness among consumers of the value of their personal data..
Distrust of cashback
“Consumers’ preference clearly goes to programs allowing a direct gain in purchasing power, in the form of a prize pool, promotion or discount. On the other hand, cashback has a fairly negative image, because it is perceived as lacking transparency. It is even associated with strongly negative terms such as the word “scam”.”, observes Grégoire Michel, loyalty program expert at Converteo.
