©Foolproof 2015 London | Norwich | Singapore
Apple Pay and loyalty
Author: Peter Ballard
December: 2015
Apple Pay’s adoption
Early signs from both the US and UK indicate that Apple Pay’s adoption
has been lacklustre. However, Foolproof research suggests that the solution
to unlocking this change of payment behaviour may lie in another
type of card often found lurking in our wallets and purses, our loyalty cards.
When Tim Cook announced Apple Pay back in September 2014, describing the magnetic payment card as a
“vulnerable and out-dated payment interface”, it seemed that the might of Apple and its highly tuned ‘roll-out’ machine would herald the long awaited arrival of a truly ubiquitous mobile payment eco-system.
However, Apple Pay’s adoption has been lacklustre and a huge number of iPhone 6-owning consumers (97% in the UK) have never used the service. And more than half of those that tried the mobile payment service did so only once, (60% in the US forgot about the service after using it for the first time.)
So it seems that we might not yet be totally ready to leave our wallets at home (or in our pockets) and abandon our plastic payment cards just yet. It seems the perceived benefit of paying contactless via the phone just isn’t enough to make us change our existing payment habits. Apple may have failed to ignite the mobile payments
are some significant barriers to adoption due to the number of loyalty cards we end up carrying. Foolproof has witnessed that without an integrated approach to mobile payments, marketing and loyalty; consumer attachment to the wallet is unlikely to be broken.
Too many technologies start life as a solution looking for a problem, but years of Foolproof research illustrates that it is the moment where a real life user problem finds its solution in technology, that human behaviour starts to change.
Foolproof believe that our mobile devices have the potential to become the replacement one-stop wallet for consumers’ wants and needs in relation to loyalty, because of the challenges and limitations of managing multiple schemes and cards from one physical wallet. And if that opens up the opportunity to link loyalty rewards and mobile payments more seamlessly, we may finally see
The loyalty market today:
Foolproof carried out research in August this year which
provided a window in to the UK loyalty market. One thing is
clear, UK consumers embrace loyalty initiatives.
Our survey of 1000 respondents revealed that 85% of consumers have some kind of loyalty card that sits in their wallet,
with over 50% of them having more than three cards
The survey also highlighted how often these cards are being used. 85% of respondents said that they used a physical loyalty card at least once a week, demonstrating that once a card has been deemed valuable enough to earn it’s place in the
consumer’s wallet, it will become a fixture of their shopping habits.
These statistics show that there is a healthy appetite for loyalty initiatives, a
model commonly managed via a physical card that sits in
the wallet. These cards, be it plastic or the
stamp-filled cardboard varieties, are being used regularly by consumers and the brands offering these schemes are using them to encouraging repeat footfall and increased sales.
1 2
What is wrong with
the current loyalty market?
Foolproof asked respondents for their thoughts about the current pain points associated with loyalty schemes and uncovered some interesting insight for
loyalty initiatives of the future, mobile or otherwise.
65% of our respondents admitted to declining the offer of adding another loyalty card or app for the following reasons:
⎯ A quarter of customers (26%)
felt the reward offered was not valuable enough compared to their spend.
⎯ Some consumers felt that the rewards
offered did not adequately reflect the value of their custom. Many schemes are focused on frequency of relationship rather than the value of the individual customer.
⎯ Some consumers have concerns around the amount
of personal data required upfront for registration, and many are deterred by complicated sign-up
processes.
⎯ People struggle to carry all
the loyalty cards they have with them at all times. Only those that get used daily or weekly get
carried. For other schemes, people often forget they have a card or don’t have the card on them when they need it. Of people surveyed less than 50% had a loyalty app that they used occasionally or often.
⎯ And some simply just didn’t have room
in their wallet or purse for another card.
65%
of our respondents
admitted to declining
the offer of adding
another loyalty card
Will mobile loyalty
be any different?
Consumers have embraced the mobile phone as their digital companion, 82% of people say they never leave home without their smartphone, and more people say they would rather forget their wallet than forget their phone.
Many brands have already seen mobile as the opportunity to transform the traditional loyalty model into something that is more intuitive and valuable for consumers. Some brands have already started to offer mobile apps that help consumers redeem and manage their loyalty programs all from their smartphone.
23% of the respondents we surveyed had more than 2 loyalty apps on their current phone with 47% of them saying that they use the app regularly (daily or weekly).
50% of respondents said that if they could carry all their loyalty schemes on their mobile phone, and it prompted them to earn or redeem rewards at the till, it would make them more likely to use them.
We can see by these results that there is an appetite for mobile loyalty, so why do more than half of smartphone users still not have any loyalty apps on their phone? Foolproof research (Going mobile - 2012) highlighted that customers are intolerant of a poorly executed mobile
platforms, with nearly half of mobile users saying that they would discard a brand following a bad mobile experience. Too many loyalty apps have convoluted sign up processes, or make the process of collecting and redeeming rewards unnecessarily complex, as the physical technology in the store doesn’t join up with the digital technology in the app. For many shoppers, the perceived effort of using the app is greater than the benefits on offer.
Managing loyalty schemes on the phone also creates opportunities for brands to think more imaginatively about the rewards they can give to customers.
Phone based schemes can access more personal data about customers, and be a better way of monitoring and measuring shopping behaviour. Brands will be better placed to identify the most valuable and loyal customers, and have the ability to tailor rewards to these individuals. Synchronising rewards and payments could create even more opportunities for brands. If a brand can access what frequency of spend is being made in a certain category, or with a competitor brand, this data could be used to make targeted offers and enhanced loyalty rewards to attract more of that spend.
Is mobile the answer?
With the renaming of Apple’s ‘Passbook’ to ‘Wallet’ the loyalty market has the chance to take on a new, agile and intuitive interface. But as a standalone piece of
technology, the success of a brands future loyalty adoption will be down to the creation of an ecosystem of connected technologies to better serve both consumer and business objectives.
When Foolproof conducted a study of mobile tapping and contactless technology in South Korea - a market that is considerably more advanced in its adoption of mobile proximity technologies to help engage and incentivise consumers than the UK – we observed how the action of
using your phone to tap, bump or swipe technology to get an interaction has been adopted as part of the norm in this market.
But it was also clear from the ‘graveyard’ of dead technology that there are some clear lessons for other markets, and indeed brands, to learn if this technology is to truly become part of our day-to-day lives.
We learnt that educating consumers about how to use new technologies and the benefits associated with using them is key to long-term adoption of new tech initiatives.
Advice to brands
Apple Pay has raised the profile of mobile payments but it is the Wallet that could actually drive the behavioural change for consumers, as the benefits of managing loyalty and payments in one place has tangible rewards for consumers.
But it also provides an opportunity for brands to up their game when it comes to loyalty. Collecting and redeeming points is an idea from the 90s. Digital technology will give brands the opportunity to reward customers for their loyalty in new ways, and to use the data that they have about us in smarter ways to deliver more relevant and personalised rewards to us.
The larger retailers will play first, because they have the financial resources to embrace the technology, and have the footprint and customer bases to make that
investment pay off.
But the payments and rewards infrastructure will quickly become ubiquitous, opening the way for smaller retailers to play in this space too.
However none of this will happen if the customer
experience isn’t right. Brands need to be ruthless in their pursuit of offering a frictionless sign up process, and the collection and redemption of rewards should be effortless and easy to manage. Apple are experts in this area, and their user experience will challenge other companies in the mobile payment and loyalty market to do it better too.
So what can brands do to help incentivise
consumers to migrate their loyalty initiatives
to their smart phone?
1. Ensure that the customer experience for signing up to, and managing, the loyalty rewards scheme on a mobile is simple, intuitive, and frictionless. Brands need to remember, that they are dealing with a broad spectrum of society, from the 18-year old tech-savvy to the 65-year old tech novice.
2. BLE beacons and NFC provide new and interactive ways to engage and notify customers whilst in or near to store and the use of these technologies present a huge opportunity for brands that are looking to rethink their approach to loyalty and close the loop between the physical and digital shopping experience.
3. The ability to add automatic prompts to the loyalty initiative at point of sale is something that the standard swipe or stamp card in the wallet will never be able to offer. This is a massive opportunity for brands to build a bridge from the physical experience at the till to the digital home of the loyalty relationship.
Top Tips for brands thinking about loyalty
⎯ The move to mobile opens the way for brands to offer
more personalised, tailored, and more valuable, loyalty offerings to their customers. Shopping habits, payment histories and the mechanic to collect and redeem rewards are for the first time all in one place.
⎯ Think about the point-of-sale experience as an
extension of the mobile app. The phone wallet might be the mechanic that people use to pay and tap to collect or redeem rewards, but the app is where the scheme will be managed. Smart use of beacons and NFC technology can use alerts and reminders in store about offers and loyalty rewards.
⎯ Consider the most appropriate device for
management and redemption of rewards. A great mobile experience is vital, but wearables might be even more appropriate for some brands.
⎯ Invest in designing elegant, frictionless experiences,
that are a pleasure to use and simple to set up.
⎯ Managing loyalty and payments in one place allows
brands to better identify their most loyal customers in terms of value. Customers want this to be recognised and valued accordingly. Allocate rewards to the most profitable customers, not just most frequent.
⎯ And don’t just think in terms of points and discounts -
address customer pain points and look for things that are cheap for you, but valuable to the customer. Cheaper delivery, fast track the queue, upgrades, flexible check-in and free internet access are highly
