40% of shoppers feel no loyalty to fashion retailers, report finds
Some 42% of UK consumers feel “no loyalty” to any fashion retailer, according to a new report into consumer attitudes.
The report by customer engagement, loyalty and lifetime optimisation specialist Ello Media, surveyed 1,000 consumers to discover their expectations surrounding loyalty and the loyalty schemes that brands deliver .
It found that aside from cost, the biggest influences on their decision to change the fashion retailer they purchased from were poor customer service (24%) and their retailer of choice not stocking the latest trends (22%).
When asked which fashion retailer they felt most loyal towards, 17% identified Primark, while second placed Next was identified by just 8% of consumers.
The report also revealed 47% of UK consumers believe it no longer pays to be loyal. However, more than a third of consumers across all market sectors said they would be loyal to brands if they got true value for their loyalty.
When asked about how they like their loyalty to be rewarded by brands in general, respondents identified supermarket vouchers (53%) as the option they felt offered them the best value for staying loyal, followed by restaurant discounts (24%) and cinema discounts or tickets (19%).
Michael Kalli, managing director for Ello Media, said: “The findings of the report reflect that consumers will be loyal when they feel they are receiving real value from fashion retailers for doing so. Rapid developments in data capture have presented fashion retailers with an incredible opportunity to learn more about their customers than ever before.
“Yet many brands still aren’t making full use of the technology on offer, leading to their loyalty schemes failing to meet customer expectations. With it costing five times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing one, it is in fashion retail brands’ best interests to start improving their loyalty programmes in earnest.”
