Four Key Drivers on the Path to Loyalty

ATLANTA — Fuel savings, accessibility to mobile apps and promotions are among top drivers for loyalty programs according to PDI's fourth annual The Road to Rewards Report 2019: Mapping the Path to Loyalty Success.

"This year's survey data reinforces what we've seen in previous years — that consumers prefer loyalty programs that are easy to use and provide everyday value," said Brandon Logsdon, president and general manager of Marketing Cloud Solutions at PDI. "The report provides insights into ways CPG brands and retailers across all categories can use loyalty data more effectively to attract and engage consumers."

Four key findings from the report show:

Loyalty programs that offer fuel savings are most popular.

Sixty-six percent of consumers belong to loyalty program offering these rewards, a 12 percent uptick since the 2015 inaugural survey.

Most millennials and Gen Xers prefer fuel savings.

Sixty-nine percent of Gen X (aged 35-44) and 67 percent of Gen Y (aged 25-34) cite fuel savings as their preferred loyalty currency.

Mobile's popularity has doubled in less than five years.

Consumers citing mobile apps as their preferred redemption channel has jumped to 44 percent, more than double the percentage of 2015. In that year, only 20 percent of consumers surveyed said that mobile mattered.

Retailers struggle to leverage data.

An overwhelming 75 percent of retailers surveyed collect consumer data from their loyalty programs, yet only one third (34 percent) use the information to attract new customers.

The Road to Rewards Report 2019 addresses top challenges facing consumer product goods (CPG) brands retailers and how they can improve their loyalty programs, better understand the data they have now in order to anticipate what their customers want next, and be ready to adapt to changing consumer needs and provide the rewards they desire most.

The survey was conducted among 2,221 consumers and 239 convenience retailers, grocers and CPG participants in the United States by ResearchScape, an independent research firm.

The Road to Rewards Report 2019, which is accessible by clicking here, is a companion to PDI's annual The C-Store Shopper Report: How to Fuel Customer Loyalty, a survey providing insight into shopper behaviors toward convenience store loyalty programs.

Based in Atlanta, PDI is a global software company that provides leading ERP, fuel pricing, logistics and marketing cloud solutions to convenience retailers and petroleum wholesalers.