Customer Engagement in the Digital Age
Last week in Dallas, Texas, the Engagement & Experience Expo welcomed industry thought leaders to openly discuss customer, brand and channel challenges — and of course, solutions. DataCandy’s own Luc Garneau was a featured speaker at the Loyalty360 event to outline why customer experience must be the driver of customer engagement and how brands who leverage loyalty programs across all touch points will succeed at providing a truly cohesive brand experience.
Following the presentation, a complimentary whitepaper was shared with attendees offering a different perspective on the customer engagement challenge: technology.
As technology pushes new engagement criteria to the forefront, brands are struggling to keep pace with the digital age. Many retailers and restaurants have been quick to roll out loyalty programs, but slow to integrate certain features and functionality, which has led to a high number of non-active program members.
Brands don’t seem to be capitalizing on new data-driven innovations to better engage their highly-valuable, tech-savvy customers. Yes, loyalty programs have become more common place, but the tech boom has consumers wanting more from their favourite brands.
Consumers are demanding convenience across all touch points, more personalized offers and rewards for showing loyalty beyond the point of sale (POS). In order to remain relevant in the 21st century commerce experience, consumers are pushing retailers to exceed the traditional loyalty program structure.
While innovation and progression are, of course, required and encouraged when it comes to customer engagement technology, there is a danger in rushing to embrace new opportunities without having a strategy to compliment the latest tech trend. A multitude of traditional, social, and digital customer channels, combined with constantly emerging loyalty technologies, is making successful customer engagement both difficult and daunting for brands of all sizes.
So, can technology overload be blamed for lackluster loyalty programs at the retail level? The whitepaper offered some excellent examples of loyalty programs that are successfully leveraging technology rather than being ruled by it.