CRM: The new levers of customer loyalty

The context

The race to the bottom in terms of acquisition, which was still the watchword two years ago and involved heavy investment to recruite new customers, has demonstrated limits. At a time when consumers are being downgraded in terms of purchasing power and digital acquisition costs have rocketed, customer assets are once again taking center stage in marketing plans. Brands, particularly DNVBs, can no longer invest massively in Google for customer acquisition. In addition to transactional offers aimed at triggering a purchase, retailers are also entering a new territory of “post-purchase” to keep discussing with their communities.

For the past 2 years, with the introduction of consent on e-commerce sites, retailers have been designing loyalty-building policies against a backdrop of reduced knowledge about a customer. In many sectors, the amount of customer data collected has fallen by around 40% or even 50%. As a result, C.R.M. action plans involve a higher degree of extrapolation, and 1st party data has become key.
The territory of loyalty is also changing. Discount retailers have entered this field with full force, launching loyalty programs backed by apps. An example is Lidl, offering Lidl Plus since October 2021 then Action (October 2022) and Aldi (November 2022).

The same is true of B2B, with initiatives from Bricoman (Club M) and ManoMano. In the grocery sector, a hotly contested market in Europe, retailers have been revamping loyalty programs every year or every two years. As discount retailers have gained market shares – in the U.K., Aldi became the 4th largest food retailer ahead of Morrisons for the first time in 2022 – paid subscription offers have multiplied since 2021.…