Pet owners and brand loyalty

Customer loyalty

A pet is defined as any domesticated or tamed animal that is kept as a companion and cared for affectionately. For most pet owners, the emotional bond between owner and pet is so strong that the decisions regarding its welfare transcend simple economics. And so why do almost all loyalty programmes aimed at encouraging pet owners to become loyal, to the brand of pet product or retailer, focus almost entirely on discounts?

There are many definitions of customer loyalty. Consider who you yourself are loyal to. Surely you will answer family and friends. Why? Because of the emotional bond you have with them. Your family and friends can do things you may not like, but you stay loyal because of that bond. Pets are no different, and we are, in general, very loyal to our pets. The same applies to the general principles of creating customer loyalty. To encourage customer loyalty, you must build an emotional bond with your customers. Most accept that retaining customers is less expensive than acquiring new ones, and customer experience management is the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction, customer retention and customer loyalty. Not only do loyal customers spend regularly, they are also more likely to purchase additional more profitable products and services. Loyal customers require less effort in respect of consumer education and marketing, especially when they become advocates for your organization. And then there is brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty

The main difference between brand loyalty and customer loyalty is that customer loyalty mainly relates to the overall spending power of consumers. It is about what you can offer them in terms of regular prices and money-saving offers. Brand loyalty, however, has very little to do with prices or money.