We know loyal customers are the lifeblood of any business. How can you better appreciate them?

In KPMG’s recent study The Truth about Customer Loyalty¹, 75% of all consumers said a superior loyalty program would cause them to switch brands. However, 59% of consumers don’t use their existing loyalty programs to shop every week. In other words, there's a huge opportunity for businesses to improve how they reward loyalty and reap its benefits.

What can a business do to drive better loyalty through improved loyalty program engagement? KPMG suggests four strategies:

Make loyalty programs easy to use: Customers should only have to make minimal effort to earn and burn points. Keeping track of points should be transparent and Don’t make your customers jump through hoops to earn points and ensure that keeping track of points is a transparent process.

Have a clear purpose for the program: Clearly show customers what they’ll get out of the program - which should be something they value.

Promote it! More than one in three customers don’t belong to any loyalty programs simply because they’re not aware of the offers, not of their eligibility to join.

Keep them fresh: Add new and different rewards regularly. Unexpected or exclusive offers and experiences can increase emotional engagement from your customers.

Greater brand loyalty often leads to bigger growth. KPMG says that 86% of customers will recommend a business to friends and family if they’re loyal to its brand, while 66% would write a positive online review after a good experience. And even when things don’t go so well, 46% would still stay loyal to the brand - that’s some strong staying power!

Rewarding your loyalty at FedEx

We’ve taken these ideas to heart with our own rewards program. My FedEx Rewards now comes with an expanded selection of rewards to help you show some gratitude to your employees, offset future shipping expenses, or just take some well-deserved self-care.

We’ve also made it a lot easier for you to get more value from your hard-earned points with features like these:

• Earn points from shipments with up to 70% shipping discounts
  
  
• Get rewards faster with a new two-tier point earning system
  
  
• Choose from an expanded range of handpicked rewards and benefits, including FedEx shipping vouchers
  
  
• Make the most of every point you earn. Points are now valid for 18 months, giving you even more time to save for your favourite rewards.
  
  

^1. https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2019/11/customer-loyalty-survey.html