Ask most business owners how to keep a customer loyal, and the answer usually involves a discount code or a points program. These methods have been the default for a long time, but they’re also getting harder to rely on.
How the Definition of Loyalty is Changing
Loyalty has often been measured in repeat purchases. A customer bought again, so a business counted them as loyal, then rewarded that behavior with points, tiers or a discount to keep it going. This worked well enough when switching brands took effort: fewer choices, less price transparency and more friction in finding an alternative. But that friction has mostly disappeared.
Kearney Consumer Institute lead Katie Thomas told Retail Brew that a repeat purchase does not always signal attachment to a brand. Sometimes it just means a customer has not gotten around to looking elsewhere yet. Rising prices, the growth of private label goods (or “dupes”) and the ease of trying a new brand are pulling that assumption apart.
A DOSS survey cited by Retail Brew found most consumers now say they feel less loyal to the brands they buy from than they did a year ago. That gap explains why repeat purchases alone are a poor way to track loyalty. A person who keeps buying purely out of habit will leave the moment something more convenient or less expensive shows up. A person who trusts a brand is less likely to do the same.
A Brand That Gets Loyalty Right
According to McKinsey’s Australian Consumer Loyalty Survey, the strongest predictor of customer behavior was whether the brand stayed present and relevant in their day-to-day life. Points and programs can still play a role, but they are not the reason someone chooses to stay.
Chewy, the online pet supply retailer, offers one of the clearest examples of this in action. It competes directly against Amazon, which can usually beat it on price and delivery speed. Chewy has built its reputation on something else entirely: how it treats people.
When a pet passes away, Chewy customers have reported receiving a full refund for unused food, a suggestion to donate it to a local shelter and flowers signed by the customer service representative who handled the request. Over the years, many customers have also received custom portraits of their pets, some as a way to offer condolences for a passing, and others for no reason at all other than to surprise and delight.
Chewy’s actions are quite the opposite of a traditional loyalty program. The company understands what truly matters to pet owners on an emotional level, and it chooses to consistently show up for customers in a way that resonates and builds relationships rather than focusing on achieving the next transaction. This is exactly what makes customers stick around for the next purchase and spread the word.
Building a Brand a Discount Can’t Undercut
A business doesn’t need Chewy’s size or budget to build this kind of loyalty. What it takes is attentiveness: remembering details about a customer, responding like a person instead of a script when something goes wrong, following up because it’s the right thing to do rather than because you’re chasing the next sale.
Rural businesses are often already positioned to do this well. Relationships tend to be closer, word of mouth carries more weight and customers notice when they are treated like they matter. This is a strength many rural businesses already have, and it becomes an advantage the moment it shows up consistently, before and after a purchase.
Loyalty built this way does not disappear the moment a competitor runs a sale, because price was never the reason the customer stayed. It’s built through attention, consistency and treating people well, and it compounds the same way a brand’s reputation does.
At Callis, we help businesses understand what keeps their customers coming back and build a full marketing strategy around it, from digital touchpoints to in-person experiences. Explore our integrated marketing services to see how we can help.
Sources
https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/keys-to-establishing-brand-loyalty-today
https://fortune.com/2022/06/17/chewy-dog-personal-gifts-viral-tweet-pet-paintings
https://www.today.com/pets/pets/chewy-sends-flowers-woman-pet-food-dog-dies-rcna33956
