Shoppers Buy More With Incentive Programs

Online market researchers NFO said that almost 53 percent of e-consumers were willing to buy more online with some kind of rewards program and 47 percent would return to a specific e-commerce site if they knew rewards or loyalty incentives were offered. A mere 15 percent of those surveyed said such programs would not influence their buying decisions.

The interactive survey results by the Greenwich, CT marketers are based on responses from a representative sample of 1,905 online consumers. Participants in the study were acquired from the NFO//net.source, a large representative online consumer panel of over 450,000 people. Among online shoppers, the data collected possesses a statistical accuracy of +/- 2.3%.

“Web site effectiveness was once measured by the number of hits. Today, it’s measured by purchases. Online consumers have the ‘gimme’ factor. That is, ‘I’m here at your Web site. Now make it worth my while to buy something,'” said Lee Smith, vice president at NFO Interactive.

“Rewards and incentive programs, when used strategically online, are among the most powerful tools marketers can use today to drive customer retention and develop customer loyalty. And they are particularly effective with consumers under 35 years of age,” Smith said.

The NFO Interactive also found that over half the respondents would be willing to provide personal information in return for an incentive or reward. However consumers indicated they do not care for sweepstakes, but instead prefer products or gifts (28 percent); airline miles (18 percent); gift certificates to retailers (16 percent); or electronic cash (14 percent).

“Just as offline retailers are looking to create life-long, profitable customers, online retailers desire the same type of relationship. Rewards and incentive programs are proving to be a successful tool to cultivate customer loyalty on the Web,” said Smith.

Reprinted from internet.com’s E-Commerce Guide.