DMNews: Survey: Many Loyalty Rewards Go Unclaimed

Customers love loyalty programs, as evidenced by their shopping habits, but often do not do anything with the points or incentives. I'm as guilty as anyone. I have thousands of frequent flier miles and other varoius points in various programs, but have yet to capitalize on them! Bummer.

A new survey from Maritz Loyalty Marketing claims almost 40 percent of longtime members of retail loyalty programs have never redeemed rewards. In a paradoxical finding, the survey also reported that 49 percent of participants said retail rewards programs influence where they spend their shopping dollars. It is clear retailers are not doing enough to bridge this disconnect, or to convince consumers that loyalty points are an effective proxy for money.

One of the best executions of how to engage loyal customers who have loyalty points but are not redeeming them on your products was a cross-marketing opportunity which was done by NorthWest Airlines where they sent me a flyer where I could sign up for number of magazine subscriptions, depending on how many miles I had. Now, every time I get my monthly issue of Wine Spectator, I remember NorthWest and how valuable their miles are, whether I'm flying or not!