How retailers can maximise brand loyalty in 2025

In 2025, consumers’ post-purchase expectations are vastly different to just five years ago.  

Many shoppers are quick to click unsubscribe after relentless exposure to often irrelevant digital ads.¹ Meanwhile, the social media titans that retailers have leaned on for years are falling out of favour with consumers.² 

Against this backdrop of rapidly shifting consumer preferences, brand loyalty continues to decline, with 38% of European consumers saying they have become less loyal to a brand in the past year.³ 

Marketers must focus less on quantity and more on quality to stand out in the crowd

Yet, according to Post-Purchase Power: Building Lasting Loyalty – a new Think Forward with PayPal report – if brands truly listen to what consumers want post-purchase, they can develop deeper relationships with customers, boosting loyalty.

In 2025, this means taking a more mindful approach to marketing, and meeting customers in fresh new spaces, both on and offline.

Mindful marketing

The top reason customers unsubscribe from marketing emails is receiving too many messages from a brand,⁴ however, 44% of Australian consumers said not receiving relevant information makes for a negative post-purchase experience.⁵

So, how can brands deliver enough post-purchase communication to keep customers satisfied without overwhelming them?

In 2025, marketers should focus less on quantity and more on quality to stand out in the crowd. Instead of bombarding customers with post-purchase emails, retailers should craft precise, personalised follow-ups that are genuinely relevant and helpful.

Retailers should consider: 

• Sending tailored promotions and deals
• Promoting loyalty apps with personalised online and offline rewards
• Providing order status updates that include bespoke offers or product recommendations
• Sharing useful information about relevant products, services and events
• Delivering smart receipts that contain similar products, styling guides and sustainability information

For example, in November 2023, Swedish fashion retailer Asket launched impact receipts, which break down the environmental footprint of each item ordered.⁶

This smart post-purchase innovation builds brand loyalty and reputation, without increasing the volume of communications sent to customers.  

Case study: GameStop

International gaming retailer GameStop has invested in AI-powered post-purchase platform Narvar to improve order status updates for customers in Europe, Australia and North America.

Since this innovation, customers have visited GameStop’s delivery tracking pages an average of five times per order.^7-9 Once on their tracking page, customers are served additional marketing content, which has led to a 29% click back rate¹⁰ to the website, generating a ‘healthy amount’ of incremental revenue each month.

Changing channels

Engaging customers on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) has been central to most brands’ post-purchase strategies for over a decade.

However, in 2025, consumers are looking for more intimate connections with brands both on and offline.¹¹

To build relationships that go beyond products, retailers must direct customers to – and meet them in – fresh, specialised gathering spaces post-purchase, such as closed groups and direct messaging platforms.

While customers may be more reticent to engage publicly on social media, 78% of consumers in the UK have messaged a brand through Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messenger, or WhatsApp.¹² Consumers and brands are also turning to alternative channels like newsletter platform Substack.¹³

Retailers eager to strengthen brand fandom can also consider creating their own digital forums where advocates can interact with the retailer and each other, or even live and play in virtual worlds. 

For example, in 2021, US skateboard shoe company Vans teamed up with online game platform Roblox to launch an interactive virtual skatepark called Vans World.

As well as honing their digital skateboarding skills, users could buy exclusive Vans clothing, shoes and accessories directly from a storefront in the virtual location.¹⁴ 

The 2023 launch of Vans World 2 offered users early access to the brand’s latest footwear innovation, ‘the Mixxa’, marking the first time a shoe had launched on Roblox before its real-world release.¹⁵ By August 2023, some 100 million people had visited Vans World,¹⁶ making Vans the first fashion company to reach over 100 million Roblox visitors.  

Case study: The North Face

The North Face’s XPLR PASS membership programme offers all the online benefits you would expect from a loyalty scheme, including discounts, free delivery and early access to products.

Crucially, it also gives members invitations to exclusive Basecamp events in France, Italy and Germany, such as ski camps and running meets, where they can trade tales and explore with like-minded people.^17,18

This combination of online and offline benefits has proven wildly successful; The North Face added more than 1 million users to its loyalty programme in Q4 of 2022 alone,¹⁹ with over 3,000 attendees joining 25 events in-person.²⁰ 

Download PayPal’s Post-Purchase Power: Building Lasting Loyalty report to find out more about the four post-purchase trends retailers can tap into to build deeper relationships with their customers and boost brand loyalty.

Footnotes

1. Key Takeaways from Sinch Mailgun’s Email and the customer experience 2024, Sinch Mailgun, January 2024
2. 2024 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, Rival IQ, February 2024
3. 2023 European Brand Loyalty Report, Marigold, 2023
4. Key takeaways from Sinch Mailgun’s Email and the customer experience 2024, Sinch Mailgun, January 2024
5. The State of Australian Customer Loyalty & Retention 2023, Yotpo, 2023
6. Retail Week, Innovation of the week: Swedish fashion retailer Asket launches climate impact receipts, November 2023
7. Improving Customer Loyalty and Delivery for Gamestop, Narvar, 2024
8. Slyp Smart Receipts, National Australia Bank, 2024
9. Our Story, Slyp, 2024
10. Improving Customer Loyalty and Delivery for Gamestop, Narvar, 2024
11. Instagram Adds Live Streams for Close Friends Only, Social Media Today, June 2024
12. State of Social Conversational Commerce 2023, Spectrm, 2023
13. Substack User and Revenue Statistics, Backlinko, March 2024
14. Forbes, Roblox Partners with Vans to launch interactive skatepark, September 2021
15. The Drum, Vans & Roblox open a virtual skate paradise with the launch of Vans World 2, July 2024
16. The Drum, 100m people have now visited Vans World. Here’s how to do a brand experience in Roblox, August 2023
17. Loyalty Program, The North Face, 2024
18. Basecamp, The North Face, 2024
19. EXEC, The North Face Posts Double-Digit Fiscal Year Sales Growth In All Regions, All Channels, SGB Media, May 2023
20. Sports Insight, The North Face invites you to Basecamp, September 2023