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Variety, it would seem, is the spice of loyalty programs.
Collinson Latitude, an Internet marketing service dedicated to "value through loyalty," has released results of its latest study, which researched the habits of 2,250 airline and hotel loyalty members from all parts of the world.
The impetus of the study was to better understand member behavior when given varied degrees of variety in redemption stores.
If we might spoil the reveal a bit, people absolutely love variety.
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According to the study, having inventory in redemption stores outside the norm meant a six percent bump in return service.
A simple tweak to inventory really can mean a multitude in, well, loyalty. The press release states: "In fact, 77% of members continued to spend with the brand and earn further points following a redemption on non-core inventory. This was 6% higher than those who redeemed on core inventory (flights and hotels) alone."
Flights, free rooms and that much needed upgrade are important. Actually, it's wonderful, which explains why each have been at the center of loyalty returns for what seems like eons.
Guy Deslandes is the E-Commerce sales director at Collinson Latitude and he offered the following explanation: "What is clear from the data is that members want more choice of rewards in their redemption program. When the breadth of rewards is expanded (beyond the core product offerings of flights and hotel stays) we see that member loyalty and spending (earning) increases. This is the ROI that travel brands crave."
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Keeping your oh-so-lovely loyalty member is both well and good, but it's a pain to get new consumers to walk through the virtual door.
According to the study, it doesn't take all that much wooing. It just takes diversity in redemption offerings.
The study states that 61 percent of travelers scouring the loyalty landscape actually put diversity at the top of the heap of what they want in a program.
It speaks volumes to the marketplace in this day and age. We are a society that has myriad choices in all facets throughout a multitude of industries.
This desire hardly stops the moment we look for something like a loyalty program. Whether it's corporate or leisure travelers, the market is used to variety. It's been ingrained over years of selection offered all over the Internet. It's time loyalty programs take notice.
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