Speaking From Experience: How Experience-Based Benefits Can Create Loyal Consumers

Earlier this month, I wrote about how far apart businesses are from consumers when it comes to their evaluation of what actually impresses consumers in a shopping experience. Part of the report focused on how consumers are prioritizing return policies, and how companies might better leverage that priority to better know those consumers.

Reiterating that priority is a new study from ebbo entitled “The Impact of Loyalty Programs in the Apparel Industry,” which found an extended returns policy to be the highest-ranked experience-based benefit for U.S. adults. That focus on experience-based benefits, as opposed to money-saving benefits, is key here because while there’s “no debating that people love saving money,” ebbo says there’s “another element to consider.”

“[That’s] the softer, experiential benefits that brands can provide,” the study says. “More noteworthy, many of these experiences don’t require a drastic hit to your company’s bottom line — but they hold significant value in terms of connecting to and keeping your member base.”

(Source: ebbo)

42% were most interested in extended returns as an experience-based reward from brands, followed by surprise events and benefits (37%), and early or extended access to shop new products (35%-36%, depending on a variety of shopping methods). Highlighting those benefits clearly goes a long way in establishing your brand … and your consumers’ loyalties.

“An impressive 80% of consumers agree that when they join an apparel brand’s loyalty program, they think of that brand more often than brands whose programs they don’t belong to,” the study says. “Being a member of your loyalty program can elevate your brand in their mental hierarchy.”

“In other words, shoppers think of brands whose program they belong to more often than brands they don’t.”