With 80% of shoppers visiting multiple supermarkets each month, discount-based rewards are failing. The solution is creating emotional connections that turn routine shopping trips into memorable family moments
The UK grocery market is facing something of a ‘loyalty crisis’ as customers shop at multiple stores, not out of choice or mission, but increasingly to chase discounts, reduce spend on non-essentials and manage tighter household budgets [The Grocer].
Smaller baskets, fewer treats, and more frequent top-up shops have become the norm.
Combined with a proliferation of member-only pricing, instant discounts and app-only offers, retailers are investing more in their loyalty programmes than ever and for good reason, yet shoppers are as promiscuous as ever.
While we may not see this in swipe rates and sign-ups, we are facing something of a paradox: increasing investments in loyalty and decreasing levels of shopper loyalty.
Store location, assortment, pricing and convenience remain fundamental and the UK is an almost uniquely competitive market, but how can grocers go beyond this to create meaningful differentiation through experiences that feel rewarding and fun?
Winning with collectible campaigns
The answer to that is to create emotional loyalty; something that so many grocers overlook in pursuit of member-only pricing, traditional promotions and discounts.
Retailers can differentiate, drive sales and create true moments of emotional loyalty through collectible campaigns that tap into nostalgia and shared family experiences.
Consider the power of collectible campaigns. Woolworth and Big W in Australia and New Zealand used licensed Disney characters and the celebration of 70 years of Disneyland Resorts California to offer the chance to shoppers to collect 40 unique collectible discs and cards whether they shopped in-store, via the app or online. The approach encouraged repeat visits and boosted engagement, all while reinforcing the retailer’s role in family life.
TCC Global has 30 years of experience in developing loyalty campaigns for retailers that give shoppers a compelling reason to choose one store over another, week after week.
There’s no doubting the power of nostalgia, storytelling and shared family moments as drivers of loyalty. Campaigns that bring iconic characters or collectible items into the everyday shop create anticipation and emotional engagement that pricing can’t replicate. Rewards also harness the ‘power of free.’ Discounts are a great reason to purchase, but a free ‘gift’ can make a customer feel valued and that drives repeat custom time and time again.
The campaign also creates exclusive, gamified experiences with unique, ultra-rare collectibles that only a few lucky winners will receive, featuring the iconic Sleeping Beauty castle
Unlock moment of innovation and fun
Shoppers engage with these types of campaigns directly through the shopping trip, but a rich playable experience, such as a 3D board game, featuring 3D replicas of the Disneyland Resort’s most iconic attractions, can unlock extra moments of innovation and fun.
This makes them more than collectibles; they become something the entire family can play and share together and thiscreates memories that will be forever associated with the stores that rewarded them.
The rewards can also feature cutting-edge sustainable design and manufacturing.
One criticism of collectibles is the use of plastics; however, some programmes such as the Disney Discs now use 100% recycled aluminium discs and are curb-side recyclable.
And the results speak for themselves. Following a post campaign study of shoppers in Australia, research found that 31% of participants reported spending more or visiting more frequently at Woolworths as a result of the campaign across the six weeks it was active [Snipp].
The campaign also showed strong levels of advocacy, with 50% of shoppers reporting that they have or would recommend the campaign to others [Ipsos]. We expect the result of this advocacy and awareness to be ‘long tail’, where, so long as the shopping experience is positive and the store can offer competitive value, the loyalty remains.
Add an extra dimension of engagement
Benefits also go beyond the store, with in-app activations adding an extra dimension of engagement with digital content and gameplay advice for the discs featuring on Woolworths’ owned Everyday Rewards platform. Consumers who form habits around engaging with the campaign in-app are also more likely to engage more widely with Woolworths’ everyday offerings both online and in-store.
Successful campaigns often layer additional incentives for existing loyalty members, such as bonus points for purchasing campaign-related items or limited double rewards during specific promotional periods. This approach goes beyond the transactional scanning app at the till type engagement that member-only discounts achieve; it lands real engagement and provides more opportunity to promote products and engage customers outside of their regular shopping habits.
In today’s landscape, offering good food at a good price is no longer a competitive advantage. It’s the baseline.
Every retailer is delivering value, but what sets a retailer apart is how it meets shoppers’ other needs. It should help customers live better by sometimes seeking to create moments of joy that bring families together; emotional loyalty. It’s more than a reward, it’s a ‘thank you’ from retailer to customer, in an age of enormous choice and switching.
To learn how TCC Global can help you build a campaign that provides a meaningful reason to choose one store over another, visit www.tccglobal.com
