With many retailers, including Tesco, Morrisons, Boots and Superdrug, offering members’ pricing within their loyalty programmes, the ubiquity of loyalty pricing means it could be losing its appeal as a perk among shoppers, according to the latest research by the Retail Technology Show (RTS).
With Co-op the latest retailer to announce it was extending membership pricing to its Deliveroo customers earlier this week, original research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by RTS suggests that over half (54 per cent) of consumers feel that, because so many retailers now offer ‘members only’ loyalty pricing, they now regard it as the ‘norm’ and no longer consider it a true loyalty perk.
However, despite loyalty pricing fatigue setting in and widespread ‘members only’ pricing being available, a growing number of consumers now expect this perk to be offered by retailers. Over a quarter (28 per cent) will only shop with retailers who offer special discounts for loyalty members, up +5 per cent year-on-year.
Almost three quarters (72 per cent) agreed that members’ pricing is an effective way of encouraging them to sign-up to loyalty schemes, and a further 50 per cent would be less likely to sign up if loyalty programmes didn’t offer members only pricing. A further 48 per cent said lack of these discounts would make them less likely to use their loyalty card or retain their membership.
While the validity of loyalty discounts had previously been called into question, with consumer groups warning that discounts were being offered on overinflated ‘normal’ prices, the CMA ruling in November 2024 found these offers did provide ‘genuine’ deals. However, 48 per cent of shopper still felt by offering such large discounts to loyalty members, normal shoppers were being ‘ripped off’, highlighting the need for transparency and trust between the retailer and shopper to ensure customer loyalty isn’t eroded.
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