Rewards Card Program Participants Higher Spenders: Survey

Rewards
Card Program Participants Higher Spenders: Survey
Consumer rewards program particpants spend more on average than
non-particpants, according to a new survey by loyalty consulting
and implementation firm Maritz. Whether loyalty programs cause
greater spending or simply attract those already inclined to
spend is not clear, however. Customer loyalty program members
tend to be younger, female, from the Northeast or West, and
have children under 18 in their homes.

"It
is interesting to see that rewards program members are spending
more. However, we need to keep in mind that the programs might
not directly cause shoppers to increase their purchases,” said
Tim Crank, director of product management, Maritz Loyalty Marketing.
“It could be that those who spend more join programs to obtain
rewards for purchases they would have made even if they weren’t
members. But whatever the reason, enrolling shoppers who are
spending more is a great tool for retailers because it allows
them to mine the data collected from loyalty programs to identify
and create a dialogue with profitable customers.”

While
the demographics of reward program members are not particularly
surprising, one perhaps surprising statistic is that 54% percent
of men said they were involved in some type of loyalty program,
which is not that much different than the 62% of women who said
the same. Maritz suggested there may be more of an opportunity
to enroll men than many retailers think.

The
online survey included 2,178 adult shoppers who had made a purchase
in the prior six months.