A survey conducted by Criteo has revealed that consumers are more likely to remain loyal to specific retail brands if they are offered a compelling reason to carry out safe shopping online with them.

Internet Retailing reports that loyalty to brands is determined by a number of different factors, with almost two-thirds of the British shoppers questioned in the study admitting that they are always on the lookout for different outlets and products to experiment with.

Half of respondents said that they saw the availability of a fast, smooth e-commerce site as being especially impactful in terms of holding their attention. A similar proportion said that they would be more loyal if they were able to access offers and discounts which were personalised according to their tastes and interests.

In terms of the factors which will reduce loyalty, 37 per cent said that problems with customer service were their biggest bug bear. A fifth said that they would be put off by inadequate policies covering returns and refunds, while 17 per cent cited delivery issues as signalling that a retailer was not worth returning to in the future.

Report spokesperson John Gillan said that while bargain-hunting consumers would usually put low prices at the top of the agenda, this was not the only thing to consider when thinking about brand loyalty. He pointed out that as more people shop online, there will be a broader range of expectations to meet and so driving down prices should be just one strategy that retailers adopt to boost loyalty levels.

The final pertinent finding of the survey is that retail sites trump all other channels when it comes to e-commerce experiences. This meshes with the view that while social media is increasingly important in this respect, it is still necessary to have a slick website to win over shoppers.