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What Do Brands Look for in a Loyalty Solution?

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on May 10, 2021

With global economies embarking on the slow process of re-opening and brands looking to gain competitive advantage from their customer engagement solutions, the Customer Strategy Network (CSN) took the opportunity to conduct market research amongst its global partners to understand what brands are currently looking for from those vendors offering customer engagement solutions.

The criteria CSN Partners used for their vendor evaluation research was wide ranging, including fit with operating models, technical stack, commercial objectives, regulatory requirements, and budgets. The research itself was conducted across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

The findings detailed some common desires and also differences among the regions. The desire for a dashboard report to effectively summarize loyalty stats and the ability for segmentation to do targeting and retargeting was a desire shared among all regions.

Among some of the values unique to each region, the US valued cyber security policy and process; the EMEA region highlighted value in systems, including ERPs and eCommerce platforms; and, the APAC region highlighted a unique desire for gamification and open architecture.

In summary for each region:

Brands in the US clearly favour vendor credentials and industry accreditations, along with an option for input into the overall vision and strategy for customer loyalty.

In EMEA, brands appear to value 3rd party system connectivity including marketing automation tools, CRM, ecommerce, and point of sale systems.

Whilst those in Asia Pacific are far more focused on pricing for vendor licenses.

A visual summary of the findings can be seen in this infographic:

What do brands look for when reviewing a customer engagement and loyalty vendor solution?

The Customer Strategy Network has helped shape the collaborative landscape in loyalty marketing since launching in 2006 and has established itself as a trusted, independent forum for those working in the loyalty sector. Through their collaboration, CSN Partners seek to identify and promote innovation within an ever-changing global marketplace. They represent a focal point for those organisations, either brands or technology vendors, who seek to understand the ongoing dynamics of this diverse sector and its widespread international and regional variances. 

For more information contact the CSN Partners directly.