THE FUTURE IS SEAMLESS: NEW REPORT SIGNALS A WAVE OF ON AND OFFLINE CUSTOMER LOYALTY INNOVATION AS BRANDS ADAPT TO THE POST-COVID WORLD

• The report, which collected data from 25 million member actions and over 300 organizations, has been developed by loyalty technology provider, Antavo
• 71.6% of companies with an existing loyalty program plan are now planning a near-term revamp
• A seamless omnichannel experience, personalized rewards, and loyalty-enhanced data collection will be the most important features

LONDON, Dec. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Antavo, a loyalty technology provider recognized in the APAC region, with clients such as Lagardère, Kathmandu and Love, Bonito has launched a new report about the landscape of loyalty programs through the eyes of brands.

The report highlights the vital role customer loyalty programs have played throughout the Covid-19 crisis, and how the pandemic-induced acceleration of eCommerce looks set to usher in a wave of brand loyalty innovation over the next three years.

According to the Global Customer Loyalty Report 2022, more than six in ten (62%) businesses report that their loyalty program has helped to keep customers engaged during the Covid-19, with the effect most pronounced for brands running tiered programs. Program members who had a higher tier level also had a 30% higher purchase frequency over the course of the global crisis, compared to members with a lower tier.

"During the pandemic, brands running loyalty programs consistently found it easier to keep their audiences engaged – particularly when it came to their highest value customers," said Attila Kecsmar, CEO & Co-founder of Antavo. "While the global crisis certainly dampened many customers' spending power, what we observed is that those who were halfway through their journey to a higher loyalty tier, or were sitting on unspent points, were far less likely to abandon these favored brands."

The report also revealed that many brands are planning to rethink their loyalty strategy. While 61% of brands invested in the development of their loyalty strategy during the pandemic, more than two thirds (72%) of respondents are now planning a further revamp within the next three years.

Maciej Kroenke, Partner at PwC said, "Covid-related market turmoil has brought even more attention to the topic of customer loyalty. Brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as a number of eCommerce retailers, focused their activities on better understanding and loyalising the customer base. Looking ahead, loyalty programs are expected to play an even more significant role in marketing activities, especially those that involve a mobile app. "

Predicted to be worth $15.5 billion by 2025, the loyalty market is shifting from a purely transaction-based model to a more personalized and emotionally engaged model which focuses on long-term customer engagement and satisfaction. In fact, the report found that 77.3% of companies who have a loyalty program that doesn't reward member behavior outside of the buying cycle, plan to change that within the next three years.

Love, Bontio, Southeast Asia's leading digitally native direct-to-consumer ("DTC") womenswear brand boldly launched its first loyalty program (powered by Antavo) in a similar sentiment.

"Our loyalty program, LBCommunity+ serves as a love letter to our customers, whom we affectionately refer to as our #LBCommunity," said Vanessa Yeo-Barger, VP of Brand at Love, Bonito. "Listening and responding to our customers' needs, integrating them as part of our community through engaging content and perks is what we believe in. With Antavo, we are thrilled with the platform's ability to continuously adapt our loyalty program to the changing and growing expectations of our customers."

Antavo's report compiles data from 25 million loyalty program member actions and over 300 corporate organizations, and aims to support program development and decision-making for brands and businesses across a range of sectors, from fashion to food and drink.    

The full Global Customer Loyalty Report 2022 is now available for download: https://bit.ly/3sB7grh

Watch the Global Customer Loyalty Report 2022 video for more exciting discoveries: https://youtu.be/hvywVTB2dSg

For more information please contact Eva Bacsi, Marketing Director at Antavo: eva.bacsi@antavo.com

About Antavo Antavo is a pure-play loyalty technology provider that builds comprehensive loyalty programs to foster brand love and change customer behavior for brands, retailers, and shopping malls. With a scalable and holistic loyalty logic, Antavo supercharges the marketing strategy of omnichannel and e-commerce companies, and delivers a next-level shopping experience with best-in-class in-store capabilities. Antavo was listed as a Representative Vendor in Gartner's 2020 Market Guide for Loyalty Management and was included in Forrester's Now Tech: Loyalty Marketing Q4 2020 and Now Tech: Promotions And Offer Management Providers, Q3 2021 reports. As a global company, Antavo empowers clients like BMW, Lagardère, Benetton Group, Jimmy Jazz, Telarus, Luisaviaroma, the N Brown Group and BrewDog. For more information, visit antavo.com.