Marketing

Customer loyalty at inflection point, claims study

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July 24, 2025

Retail loyalty is hitting a crossroad and is at an inflection point as customer expectations are outpacing loyalty program evolution.

That's a top finding from a dunnhumby study, "How to Keep Hold of Your Customers," that also revealed that while loyalty programs remain a strategic priority for retailers the traditional approaches aren't doing enough.

"Loyalty isn't broken, but it does need to change. Shoppers now expect more than ever in terms of relevance and personalization, and that requires retailers to ask some difficult questions about their own approach," Ben Snowman, global head of loyalty and personalization, dunnhumby, said in a press release regarding the findings.

Additional findings include:

• Customer retention remains the top concern. For many retailers, price sensitivity and limited insight into "less loyal" shoppers are seen as some of the biggest issues.
• Traditional approaches are losing effectiveness. Faced with the prospect of budget cuts, retailers would cut generic rebates and coupons, choosing to protect their personalization efforts instead.
• Today's shoppers are looking for exclusive offers and rewards that match their own needs and values. Relevance is non-negotiable.
• Retailers that excel enjoy a deeper emotional connection with customers, see stronger commercial performance, and tend to boast a higher CAGR than their competitors.