Customer loyalty is evolving due to external factors and shifting preferences.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Becky Eldredge, VP commercial loyalty at 84.51°, Kroger’s  data analytics subsidiary, about how customer loyalty is changing and how retailers can adapt to shifts in the consumer marketplace.

How have customer loyalty patterns shifted in the last couple of years?

Customer loyalty doesn't mean exclusivity anymore. It’s based around either the brand that customers most prefer, or the retailer that they prefer to shop at. There are two external factors as to why that has changed.

One is the COVID-19 pandemic, from the standpoint of product availability. Customers were forced into changing their loyalty based on overall availability. The second external factor is the inflationary period that we have been experiencing over the last year. What Kroger hears from our customers is because of inflation, they are forced to make decisions.

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