INSIGHTS to create more personalized and valuable
SHOPPER experiences at retail 

The Shopper Matters Retail Thought Leadership Series engages with industry experts to share new ideas, deeper content, and build greater understanding of the retail world. Our Managing Editor, Michael La Kier, who also serves as Vice President, Brand Development at IGA, recently sat down with Becky Eldredge, Vice President, Commercial Customer Media & Loyalty at 84.51° for a conversation about today’s evolving shopper and new, proprietary research on shopper loyalty. The new research provides a glimpse into how shoppers’ loyalty mindset is evolving, and you can find it here: Customer Loyalty Report.

Editor’s Note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.

LOYALTY MATTERS, TODAY MORE THAN EVER 

Michael La Kier

Why was now the time to undertake new research on shopper loyalty?

Becky Eldredge

From a timing perspective, multiple external factors have taken place, certainly the pandemic three years ago, most recently with the inflationary period economic period that everyone is going through right now. And, lastly, the continual digital insurgency that’s taking place right now, as we’re seeing customers continue to migrate and settle into becoming an omnichannel customer. Loyalty matters to us at Kroger, and for brands, so we really wanted to dig in a little bit deeper to understand how customers were thinking about loyalty and what matters most to them.

HOW CUSTOMERS THINK ABOUT LOYALTY IS DIFFERENT

Michael La Kier

You mentioned “how customers think about loyalty;” it’s very different how customers versus brands think about loyalty. How has the definition of loyalty changed? And what’s driving that change?

Becky Eldredge

One of the highlights from the research is that customers don’t think about loyalty in terms of exclusivity. Certainly, there are customers that are exclusive to brands and retailers (especially when we look at particular categories). The research identified and confirmed that the most important factors for customers isn’t always what you think when it comes to brand loyalty. So, when they say things like “I’m looking for good value for the money”, when we see things like “I need a brand that I can trust” it means they will buy and repeat. And interest that matters.

Likewise, from a retailer perspective, we hear things like, “I’m looking for good sales” and “I’m looking for promotions”, especially given the times that we’re in now. Quality, fresher products, product availability, and reward mechanisms are factors that also make customers want to return.

LEARNINGS FROM “MORE LOYAL” CATEGORIES 

Michael La Kier

The study highlighted that brand loyalty is strong for certain grocery and household categories and items. Are there any specific learnings that can be adapted for categories where loyalty is not as strong?

Becky Eldredge

One of the other highlights from the research is that while loyal customers do exist, we can’t take that for granted, especially as we think about the digital landscape. We need to make sure we’re continuing to deliver on customers wants and needs, and really drive that connectivity. One of the emerging things we know from this research is the fact that personalization can help inspire loyalty. Knowing what’s on the minds of the customer, their wants and needs, seeing their behaviors, and then leveraging that to drive relevancy and personalization can help to drive overall loyalty.

BRANDS DRIVING LOYALTY WITH RETAiL

Michael La Kier  

Take off your retailer hat for a second…based on the research can brands inspire loyalty among shoppers on their own or must they rely on retailers?

Becky Eldredge

Definitely, brands can inspire loyalty on their own. As a brand marketer, there are many moments in which brands can influence overall loyalty for their target shoppers. So, I absolutely think they can impact loyalty. I think that’s what’s critical as they’re identifying unmet needs within the marketplace, and then how they tell that story to really engage the customer from that perspective.

We’ve done work around the level of personalization and learned that 59% of customers are likely to purchase a certain brand or shop at a retailer if content is personalized to them. Personalization drives incrementality to brands and retailers. The other aspect coming out of this research is the notion of customers seeking deals. In the study, 32% of customers say that they’re choosing retailers based on good sales and promotions.

EXPERIENCE AND OFFERS DRIVE LOYALTY

Michael La Kier  

Oftentimes, loyalty gets mistaken for deals and offers. Outside of offers, what are best practices for creating and maintaining loyalty based on what you learned?

Becky Eldredge

Having an experience that customers seek is really important. It shines through from the research in terms of overall freshness of products. It also shines through in terms of having a good assortment of products. And, availability of products. This is a factor, especially as we think about the pandemic and that it caused outages in terms of that availability for products for customers.

And I think that gets back understanding your customer set to know what matters most to them. In other words, when you think about fresh quality products, are there certain aspect of the store that over index with shoppers more that ought to be highlighted to really help drive drive that for that particular area of the of the country?

LOYALTY DOES NOT EQUAL EXCLUSIVITY

Michael La Kier  

What was the most surprising finding from this study?

Becky Eldredge

From my perspective, I don’t know that I would say surprising, but what really resonated was the validation that how customers think about loyalty doesn’t mean exclusivity. There’s always a choice for customers. What resonates for me is the call to action for both brands and retailers to respect that and be proactive around how they are listening to those customer needs to continue to drive that loyalty over time.

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A BIG thanks to Becky Eldredge for spending time with the Shopper Matters team. Look for more retail wisdom and insights from the Shopper Matters Retail Thought Leadership Series soon.