Canadians want faster, more tangible rewards in exchange for participation in loyalty programs, according to a study released yesterday by the Canadian Marketing Association.
The CMA study, “Making and Breaking Loyalty,” was based on 1,000 telephone interviews with Canadian consumers conducted by the Logit Group of Toronto, a public opinion and market research firm.
When choosing a rewards program, 34 percent of respondents consider the time it takes to accumulate enough points to redeem as a major influencer while 35 percent rate the variety of products and services offered as part of the reward package as important.
“An organization's ability to present the right offer at the right time is a major factor that influences a consumer's decision to participate in a loyalty program,” said John Gustavson, president/CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association, Toronto. “This is particularly true as organizations seek to identify marketing channels and techniques which will deliver the optimum customer experience.”
Overall, 72 percent of Canadians claim to be enrolled in at least one loyalty program, with average enrollment at 2.2 programs per person. The study also found that:
· Fliers blown in with newspapers are popular with consumers. Thirty-seven percent of respondents say they have shopped somewhere new based on a flier received with their newspaper. Youths aged 18-24 are most likely (48 percent) to have tried a new store based on a flier while seniors are least likely (28 percent).
· Infomercials are a growing medium. Forty percent of Canadian consumers have watched a 30-minute infomercial; of those, one-third have purchased an advertised product.
· E-mail marketing is growing in appeal. Fifteen percent say e-mail is an effective channel to use to reach them with information about products or services. Youths aged 18-24 are the most receptive to e-mail, with 23 percent calling it a good way to reach them.
· Nearly one-third of Canadians find fliers and marketing materials that come in the mail of interest. Only one-quarter of consumers indicate that they discard fliers and ads that arrive in the mail before reading them.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
