Accor: Loyalty schemes facing up the future
It is a fact: consumers love loyalty schemes! Nevertheless, due to our society evolution, their expectations are changing for a personalised, flexible and digital approach. Let's discover these new trends which will punctuate the daily life of loyalty schemes.
Customer loyalty has a bright future ahead of it. At least, this is what we can see according to a US study carried out last spring by CrowdTwist in partnership with Brand Innovators: over 234 respondents responsible for digital marketing within their companies, 57% plan to increase their investments in loyalty schemes this year. These future investments echo perfectly the profound change in the loyalty industry but mostly, the wish to respond to the new needs of consumers.
And to answer them, it is no longer possible to use the same strategies and loyalty schemes as before. Why? Simply because offering a system of points earned with each purchase and then reinvested in other products from the same brand is no longer enough to retain current customer's expectations. At least, over the long term.
Personalisation at the heart of loyalty schemes
According to a secondary study, published by Nielsen last December and carried out among 30,000 consumers in 63 countries: "77% of them take part in at least one loyalty scheme offered by a brand or a retailer and 58% say they go shopping more often and spend more in stores offering a loyalty scheme". The loyalty scheme concept is far from being over contrarily to the uniform customer approach for who the future isn't clear.
According to this same survey, 77% of customers who hold a loyalty card expect personalised discounts or promotional offers that match their buying habits.
An observation which isn't surprising because of younger generation, who are also naturally more interested in technological features such as their loyalty scheme being integrated into an app or a mobile payment system!
And the data appears
To move from a user experience to a brand experience, advertisers are now positioning themselves on exclusive services and benefits to avoid offering a similar experience to all users. By using the buying journey of any customers, it is possible to surprise everyone! This identification takes place using data, the cornerstone of a successful loyalty scheme.
By measuring each user's activity and subtly controlling it, the brand is able to monitor the performance of the scheme. This personalised approach must be cross-channel to reach customers in many ways and to identify which lever is most effective in their interaction with the brand.
It is in this context of improved recognition of customers that the ADP Group set out to overhaul its loyalty scheme last summer. This new scheme, free and open to all, is exclusively digital and offers both commercial offers and personalised information. Indeed, the "My Assistant" feature makes it possible for passengers to access all the information relating to their journey in real-time.
Some data whose the French startup Wipolo, an AccorHotels integrated travel partner, also allows access to all journey data within a single app.
Enriching the customer experience
The Group also making customer recognition a priority.
To illustrate it, AccorHotels as created a new operation : As of 2017, personnel in each establishment will have access to a digital card listing all the information pertaining to the customer.
The Hotel Group is also using its Le Club AccorHotels loyalty scheme to understand and analyse the buying journey and customer preferences to personalise the relationship.
To enrich their experience, the scheme has been including two new offers since April: "Collections", an e-gallery of 29 brands whose particular feature is that it that gives members direct access to their retail sites, and "La Collection by Le Club AccorHotels", an e-shop that allows members to earn loyalty points and spend them on more than 1700 products from 250 brands with a flexible payment system: 100% in points, 100% in euros or a combination of the two.
This offer is available in France, USA, Australia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, UK and Switzerland.
About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group
Accor is a world leading hospitality group consisting of more than 5,300 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues throughout 110 countries. The group has one of the industry's most diverse and fully-integrated hospitality ecosystems encompassing more than 40 luxury, premium, midscale and economy hotel brands, entertainment and nightlife venues, restaurants and bars, branded private residences, shared accommodation properties, concierge services, co-working spaces and more. Accor's unmatched position in lifestyle hospitality – one of the fastest growing categories in the industry – is led by Ennismore, a joint venture, which Accor holds a majority shareholding. Ennismore is a creative hospitality company with a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands with purpose at their heart. Accor boasts an unrivalled portfolio of distinctive brands and more than 260,000 team members worldwide. Members benefit from the company's comprehensive loyalty program – ALL - Accor Live Limitless – a daily lifestyle companion that provides access to a wide variety of rewards, services and experiences. Through its Planet 21 – Acting Here, Accor Solidarity, RiiSE and ALL Heartist Fund initiatives, the Group is focused on driving positive action through business ethics, responsible tourism, environmental sustainability, community engagement, diversity and inclusivity. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information visit group.accor.com, or follow Accor on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
