Customer Loyalty
The likelihood that customers will continue to do business with you and recommend you to others.
Category
Customer Experience
Full Definition
Customer loyalty refers to a customer's commitment to repeatedly purchase from and advocate for your brand. It goes beyond satisfaction β loyal customers actively prefer your brand and resist competitive offers.
Types of Loyalty: - Behavioral Loyalty: Repeat purchases, continued usage - Attitudinal Loyalty: Emotional connection, brand preference - Advocacy: Willing to recommend and defend the brand
True Loyalty = Behavior + Attitude A customer who buys repeatedly but would switch for a better deal has behavioral but not attitudinal loyalty. True loyalty requires both.
Common Use Cases
Real-World Examples
Scenario
A customer has bought the same brand of running shoes for 10 years, even when competitors offer similar products at lower prices.
Outcome
This is true loyalty (behavioral + attitudinal). The customer posts about the brand on social media and convinces two friends to switch.
Scenario
A SaaS customer has used the same software for 5 years but rates NPS as 6 and says "I'd switch if something better came along."
Outcome
This is behavioral loyalty only (habit or switching costs). When a competitor launches, this customer churns within 3 months.
Scenario
A hotel chain tracks that members of their loyalty program book 4x more nights and spend 2.5x more per stay than non-members.
Outcome
They invest heavily in the loyalty program, adding perks like room upgrades and late checkout. Member enrollment increases 40%.
Related Terms
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A metric measuring customer loyalty based on likelihood to recommend your business to others.
Customer Retention
The ability to keep customers over time and prevent them from switching to competitors.
Promoter
A customer who gives a 9 or 10 on NPS, indicating high loyalty and likelihood to recommend.