LOYALTY SCHEMES

Three quarters of South Africans use loyalty schemes, white paper finds

By our News Team | 2021

Pick n Pay Smart Shopper has re-gained its position as the most used loyalty programme among SA shoppers

Cashback remains the number one loyalty benefit of choice among South African consumers, followed by discount vouchers. All ages, income and genders prefer cashback as a benefit.

Photo by LynxPro

The results are the latest findings of the 2021 Truth & BrandMapp South African Loyalty Whitepaper. The report is claimed to be the most comprehensive annual snapshot of the loyalty habits of over 33 000 South African adults with a gross monthly household income of R10 000 (US$677) or more. This BrandMapp study represents 100% of the country’s tax paying base and 80% of all consumer spend.

Amanda Cromhout, CEO of research company Truth and author of the whitepaper states: “Cash has never been more important than right now and throughout the past year in economically challenging times. Cash-strapped South Africans have used their loyalty programme benefits to survive.”

Pick n Pay Smart Shopper has regained its position as most used loyalty programme in South Africa, nudging the pharmaceutical chain, Clicks, and its ClubCard programme into second place.

Consumers need loyalty like never before

Overall, loyalty usage by consumers is up from 2019, taking the total number of respondents using loyalty programmes to 74%. The number of loyalty programmes per person has increased to 8.7 programmes on average. Males, for the first time, are using loyalty programmes more and at a higher rate than females in South Africa.

Pick n Pay’s Head of Loyalty & Strategic Partnerships, Melissa Hanley says Smart Shopper had its most successful year ever last year.

FNB eBucks is still the most used loyalty programme in the financial services space and has been the most used non-retail loyalty programme for the past six years

Surprisingly, consumers still prefer to swipe a plastic loyalty card than identify themselves via Apps. In a touch-less society driven by the global pandemic, it comes as a surprise that more South Africans prefer a card than in 2019, at a level of 76%.

“The 2021 loyalty whitepaper findings offer great insights for brands looking to become market leaders in loyalty,” says Cromhout.

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