Customer insight: Loyalty myth

New research programme ONTrack aims to get closer to the views of pub customers than ever before. Daniel Pearce reports.

How close are you to your customers? Do you know why they choose to drink in your pub rather than the one over the road? Do you know how far they have come to visit your pub?

Do you care? Customer research specialist Harris International Marketing (HIM) certainly does, and it is hoovering up the views of customers from across the country in ONTrack, a new research programme aimed at fully understanding the pub-goer.

The company is already an authority in the retail world, where it specialises in the convenience sector and claims to have carried out more than 14 million interviews with shoppers over the past 36 years. Its clients range from Diageo to Scottish Courage and Coors Brewers, and retailers such as Sainsbury, Somerfield and Spar.

Earlier this year, HIM began work in the on-trade for the first time, talking to 800 pub customers after linking with three major pub companies. Interviews were carried out on entrance and exit from the pubs, which were located in a variety of suburban and city centre locations in the South, London and the North West.

And the first stage of the ONTrack programme, unveiled at The Publican Marketing Conference last month, has already thrown up some interesting results.

Promiscuous pub-goers​

A picture of the average customer at the pubs involved emerged quickly in the initial study.

The customer is:

• Predominantly male
• Three out of four are ABC1
• Just over half are aged under 34
• One in four is not working
• Seven out of 10 are single.

No major shocks there then. But perhaps rather more surprising is the promiscuity of pub customers. The study appears to shatter the illusion that customers like to drink in their local and stay loyal to it. When asked how many pubs they visited regularly, 45 per cent of customers say they use four or more pubs in a typical month.

Moreover, six out of 10 (59 per cent) of customers said they were going to move to at least two other pubs on the evening the survey was conducted.

As Noel Reidy, client services director at HIM and author of the ONTrack report, says: "Customers are transient and less loyal than we think. Far from the customer being loyal to one pub, it is more likely that they call on a regular repertoire of up to four pubs a month for different occasions and company."

Customers are particularly likely to switch venues if their favourite tipple is not available or to try different product ranges, continues Noel, however strong their link to their local might be.

"Quality is still very important to beer drinkers and up to 10 per cent will leave the outlet if their preferred brand is not available," he says.

The statistics underline the importance of pubs keeping fully stocked.

The survey also points out the extra services that can make all the difference when it comes to winning loyalty from pub-goers. More than four out of 10 customers, for example, say they would be willing to use an ATM in a pub if it was available - a factor which could boost their pub spending power once they are there, as well as getting them into the pub in the first place.

Detailed questioning of customers also reveals customer dissatisfaction with wine. In the off-trade, wine currently has a 40 per cent share of drink sales, highlighting the growing opportunity for wine sales in pubs, where it has no more than a 10 per cent share in the average boozer.

Price power​

Another surprise comes in the form of value for money. As underlined in The Publican's comparison of supermarket and pub prices last week, pricing simply isn't seen as a major issue when it comes to going down to the pub.

Asked to point out their most important considerations when choosing a pub, pub-goers rank value for money 10th on the list, after factors such as quality of drinks, the convenience of the location and range of beers.

The most important factor for customers, however, was staff friendliness, suggesting that it really is the simple things, such as greeting customers with a smile and a hello, that can strike the biggest chord with pub customers.

Although televised sport was ranked surprisingly far down the list, coming in as the 12th most important factor, the survey threw up some sharp regional differences. Televised sport was shown to generate far more footfall at suburban pubs in the North West, for example, than it did in the South.

Ultimately, licensees should know their customers better than anyone. But research such as the ONTrack programme can provide answers that customers wouldn't always be happy to give over the bar.

• For more information on Harris International Marketing, visit www.him.uk.com.

How wide is your customer net?​

Reasons for choosing a pub​

• Staff friendliness
• Quality of drinks
• Speed of service
• Convenient location
• Cleanliness
• The brands I want
• Atmosphere
• Range of beers
• Internal appearance
• Value for money

Other considerations included televised sport, clean toilets, car parks and children's facilities.

Trade Talk: Noel Reidy, Harris International Marketing ​

Report author Noel Reidy picks out some of the key findings from the ONTrack report.​

Licensees talk about "regulars", as in customers, who are seen frequently in their outlet and fondly regarded as the backbone to the business.

But the reality is far removed from this legendary preconception.

After quizzing 800 pub customers our ONTrack study reveals that one in three customers will visit a pub more than three times a week, but 60 per cent of those customers will visit more than four different pubs in a month.

Furthermore, 60 per cent of customers spent less than 50 per cent of their total pub expenditure in the pub they were visiting when interviewed.

ONTrack also identified how far customers travel to visit the pub.

Within the off-trade, two-thirds of a typical convenience store's turnover originates from households within half a mile of its front door.

Within the pub sector, while there is a degree of local convenience, the majority of customers selected the outlet they were in as a destination to spend time and money in because they were seeking an enjoyable leisure experience.

So while just about half of the customers live within half a mile of the pub's front door, nearly a third had travelled over two miles to get to that particular pub. Why?

If pubs understand why customers use them for that particular visit, be it lunch or evening, weekday or weekend, they can ensure that likely products and services are prepared and promoted to the right audience at the right time.

If pubs can find a link between the reasons for visiting a pub and the amount of time and money a customer spends there, it will also ensure that their marketing strategy and tactics are aligned to meeting customers' needs more appropriately.

ONTrack demonstrates that one in three customers visiting a pub on any given day are choosing an outlet either to meet friends or because it is local.

The secondary reasons are because of the food offering or for meeting work colleagues.