Lasting Loyalties

07/06/21 • 32 min

Panic buying, impulse shopping, and the growth of online spending - in the past 18 months, customer behaviour has been wildly unpredictable. Or has it?

In this episode of Retail Reawakened, we examine the psychological impact of the pandemic on consumers and what it takes to win their loyalty today. We’ll also explore how businesses are embracing new technologies to elevate their loyalty programs and increase their adoption in store and online.

Since the start of the pandemic, customers' priorities have changed. Personal hygiene and safety became top of mind, and feelings of altruism ran high as the nation banded together to support people in need. Consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale explains how numerous lockdown measures impacted customer behaviour, and why restrictions forced many to re-evaluate their expectations of brands. We look into what consumers really want post-pandemic and how businesses can best serve them moving forward.

We also delve into one of the most important factors in building loyalty - knowing your customer. Expert in Chinese consumer trends, Domenica Di Lieto, discusses how retailers can best engage with the UK's burgeoning Chinese customer base.

And we examine a case study in customer loyalty excellence as we hear how coffee chain Joe & The Juice nurtures relationships. We’ll discover how the brand adapted during the initial lockdown to continue serving customers while still meeting their safety and convenience needs. And we’ll learn how the brand uses the Joe app to let customers buy how they want while enjoying a tailored loyalty experience wherever they are.

If you want to find out more about building customer loyalty, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research.

Panic buying, impulse shopping, and the growth of online spending - in the past 18 months, customer behaviour has been wildly unpredictable. Or has it?

If you want to find out more about building customer loyalty, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research.

Previous Episode

Wake Up Call

In 2021, it's not enough just to have a website anymore. You need a full ecommerce strategy. That means online stores, social media presence, seamlessly integrated online and in-store customer journeys and more.

In this episode of retail reawakened, we explore exactly what it is that brands need to do to remain competitive in a retail landscape where customers demand multiple ways to shop. We examine the ways that brands are constantly innovating their online experience and how they’re creating more sales channels while simultaneously unifying them.

Since 1707, Fortnum and Mason has been at the forefront of luxury retail, showcasing the finest products in lavish London locations with the help of passionate and knowledgeable salespeople. Over the centuries the brand has been able to capitalise on its heritage and prestige; but how you bring that luxury experience to an online platform? We speak with Fortnum and Mason’s chief transformation officer Jon Weg and former director of IT, Tony Longhurst, to find out how this historic brand translated its top-tier customer experience to ecommerce in just a few short months in order to continue serving new and existing customers as high street stores were forced to close their doors.

We also hear how international food and beverage retailer, Joe and the Juice, utilised their app to provide its customers a truly omnichannel experience, allowing patrons to order food, pay for meals and collect loyalty points however they want. And we talk with Saad Usman of Miniso UK, one of the newest variety retailers to hit British high streets, about how this previously brick-and-mortar-only brand went from focusing solely on stores to placing ecommerce at the centre of its business strategy.

And Adyen’s own product manager for data, Quirijn Meulenberg, and head of retail and hospitality solutions, Jan-Pieter Lips explain why it’s crucial for brands to know who their customers are and how businesses should integrate their sales channels to create frictionless experiences for shoppers.

If you want to find out more about unified commerce and frictionless experiences, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.

Next Episode

Standing out

In March 2019, the nation was placed under house arrest. No eating out, shopping, or socialising meant retailers and restaurants had to pull down their shutters and to pivot to e-commerce or risk never opening their doors again. But in 2021 as brands welcome back shoppers in-store and online, how can they satisfy their customers' renewed appetite for the retail experience?

In this episode of Retail Reawakened, we dissect the shopping experience. On the macro level, we find out why high streets need to evolve and break away from the decades-old model they've followed for so long. And we get granular and ask what it is that makes for a top-notch shopping experience, whether online or in-store. Plus, we reveal why brands should never assume what the consumer wants and why they must prioritise understanding the needs of their customers above all else.

Brands don't stick around for 300 years out of sheer luck, they harness a winning recipe of great staff, excellent products and thoughtfully curated shop floors to attract and retain a loyal customer base. Former Director of IT at Fortnum and Mason, Tony Longhurst, shares with us the iconic London brand's formula for delivering the best customer experience. He explains what it is that turns a sales associate from good to great, why the layout of a store should be as thoughtfully considered as the products it is stocked with, and why brands need to recognise the diversity of their customers' expectations in order to meet their needs.

When Arcadia group went into administration in 2021, many wondered if this was the death knell of the high street. But rather than heralding the end of town and city shopping districts, the turmoil of the last eighteen months may actually mark an evolution in our high streets. And no one is a bigger proponent for the evolved high street than Stockton Town Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Nigel Cooke. He tells us about Stockton's "bold new vision" for the high street and why it's doing away with a shopping centre in favour of more green and communal spaces. And he imparts a word of warning to those who think the key to a successful high street is a reliance on shops.

Retailers and restaurants had to rapidly adopt e-commerce at the start of the pandemic to keep trading, but now it has become evident that digital retail is here to stay. But how do you bring an amazing in-store shopping experience online? CEO of digital transformation specialists, Red Badger, David Wynne, believes the key to offering great e-commerce solutions is knowing what customers want. He explains why brands should never offer digital solutions just for the sake of it and he reveals the one thing all customers are after when shopping online. And we hear from Adyen's own Conversion Expert, Sam Allan, about how retailers can extend the in-store feel online and how they can make their customers feel safe and secure at the checkout.

If you want to find out more about enhancing customers' in-store and online shopping experiences, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.