Loyalty Is Dead, Community Just Stole The Show

Loyalty: the quality of staying firm in your friendship or support for someone or something

Attracting and retaining customers in this era of higher interest rates, a cost-of-living crisis and, let’s face it, extreme uncertainty across the retail sector, has become more challenging than ever before. And with it, it seems that consumer loyalty has, if not disappeared entirely, certainly taken something of a sabbatical.

For as long as we can remember there have been loyalty schemes, when in reality they are nothing more than data gathering processes. We have become inured to them, as if completing a purchase is not possible without scanning our Clubcard (other brands are available).

It becomes even more fascinating when one approaches the subject from two different perspectives; that of the retailer and that of the consumer.

Retailers are enthusiastic about sharing the popularity of their ‘loyalty’ schemes, citing the (sometimes) millions of members as representing their loyal customer base. But how many of these offer real value (in return for all that data) back to the consumer other than a bagful of points typically earmarked for a bottle of Baileys, a family size tin of Quality Street and an inflatable Santa at Christmas?

But what if we look at the same thing through the eyes of the consumer? Are we actually loyal to brands and retailers? The answer to that can be found in our behaviour. Even before Covid and then the subsequent economic haemorrhaging which has impacted all our lives, since the financial crisis of 2008, our attitudes to the way we shop had been undergoing something of an epiphany.

Driven by a new found sense of independence, built on the devastation of the banking crisis, then fuelled by a sense of empowerment that social media provided, our relationship with retailers began to change irreversibly. Our previous emotional engagement became detached and with it – our sense of loyalty.

Some might disagree, citing the many people who voice their sadness whenever a retail brand goes to the wall, but this is merely a reflection of the central role that retailers have in our lives. Retail enjoys a place in society not seen in other sectors. Together with entertainment and hospitality, it provides us with our basic necessities - food and clothing, but also our downtime, our leisure time and most importantly, our sense of belonging – of community.

It is this that Covid has given us, a new found desire for community. Starved of this during lockdowns, we became aware of our basic need for relationships, for engagement, to be able to socialise in real life, whenever and wherever we so desired.

Therefore, it follows that this has now become our priority in what we seek from retailers. Not points on a card. And it is for this reason that so much is discussed about creating great in-store customer experiences.

After all, when we board a flight, it matters not whether we turn left or right, we all arrive at the same destination.