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As consumer loyalties evolve, TCC Global’s Seb Hill examines why retailers should be looking beyond price in 2025 to ensure shoppers keep coming back
In the UK, the role of loyalty cards has shifted. Gone are the days of shoppers receiving rewards in exchange for showing loyal behaviours and repeatedly coming back to a certain retailer.
Now the focus is on offering member-only discounts to anyone who’ll share their personal info, and collecting ‘points’ that can be exchanged for money off a future shop.
But isn’t this missing the point? Isn’t loyalty supposed to be about… loyalty?
Undoubtedly, price-based schemes have their uses – boosting shopper registrations, improving acquisition and providing customer data that is ever more valuable in the days of retail media.
The key to unlocking real loyalty lies in creating emotional connections. This is where the new KPIs of retail come in
When every player in the market has its own version of member-only pricing and shoppers are signed up to multiple schemes, there’s no real incentive to show loyalty to any one retailer.
The key to unlocking real loyalty lies in creating emotional connections. This is where the new KPIs of retail come in.
By measuring new KPIs that focus on data quality rather than quantity, and shopper engagement and sentiment, retailers can once again start to connect with shoppers and create experiences that stand out from the rest.
This approach aims to create lasting value and improve long-term performance, moving beyond the ‘sea of sameness’ that currently plagues the loyalty market.
Understanding motives, not just actions
In the retail media age, data is key to success. Retailers have sent data collection into overdrive, exchanging discounts for registrations and giving themselves huge capacity to track transactions and behaviours.
But what happens when retailers go beyond the transactional and begin to unpick the motivations of their customers?
Retailers are now delving deeper into shopper motives, enabling them to personalise campaigns and foster loyalty on an emotional level
By engaging shoppers away from the checkout, using gamified challenges or rewards that help shoppers achieve their everyday goals, retailers can begin to get a greater understanding of their shoppers.
For example, TCC recently reran United Albertson’s 28-Day health challenge, which supported shoppers in meeting their New Year health goals through articles, quizzes, dietician-created videos and rewards centered on healthy eating and recipes.
The new approach to loyalty goes beyond analysing transactions, retailers are now delving deeper into shopper motives, enabling them to personalise campaigns and foster loyalty on an emotional level.
This shift from transactional data to emotional insights allows retailers to create more meaningful connections with their customers.
By adopting a data-driven approach that builds trust and relevance with customers, retailers can enhance customer relationships and deliver greater ROI.
This innovative strategy allows supermarkets to showcase the very best of their business to customers, for example directing customers towards an exceptional fresh produce or dairy offering, encouraging repeat visits through exceptional experiences.
Through gamification and engaging rewards programs, this continues beyond checkout to engage shoppers across multiple touchpoints.
Going beyond price in 2025
The new KPIs of retail go beyond mere transactions and treating people as numbers: sentiment and emotional analysis have become crucial in creating great customer experiences and improving retention rates.
Retail is fundamentally a human business. While technology is essential for smooth and efficient processes, let’s not forget that shoppers are emotional beings.
While 2024 was the year of price-based loyalty, 2025 might be the year retailers go beyond price wars to create emotional connections and deliver personalised, meaningful experiences.
By focusing on these new KPIs and strategies, retailers can differentiate themselves in a crowded market and build lasting relationships with their customers. What’s more, by competing on battlegrounds away from price, grocers also protect their margins better – so it’s a win-win.
If all retailers compete using price-based rewards, then no customer has an incentive to visit one supermarket over another.
Only through campaigns that create a genuine emotional connection that impacts the customer in their lives, and not just at checkout, can retailers break through this sea of sameness and deliver lasting loyalty.
For the five loyalty game changers you need to know check out our free Playbook.
Seb Hill is chief marketing officer at TCC Global.
