July 27th, 2022, Christien Pheby
Will PlayStation’s new loyalty programme win over customers?
On July 14, PlayStation unveiled a new loyalty programme that will offer points for playing games, completing activities, and making purchases. The points can be redeemed as funds on the console’s online storefront or as “digital collectibles” – “figurines of beloved and iconic characters from games and other forms of entertainment, as well as cherished devices that tap into Sony’s history of innovation.”
With the company unveiling its Game Pass competitor in May, and with Microsoft having its own “Game Pass Quests” reward service, it would be easy to assume that the new “PlayStation Stars” scheme is just aping its competitor. But data from YouGov Plan & Track shows that a loyalty programme could be a logical step for the brand.
Looking at American PlayStation customers, 63% say they’re currently subscribed to a loyalty programme, compared to 57% of the general public. And only 19% say they have never subscribed to one of these programmes, compared to 24% of the wider nation.
As for why they subscribe to loyalty programmes, three in five PlayStation customers say they do so to benefit from in-store/online discounts and offers (59%) - that’s next to half of the general public (48%). Over a third (36%) say they do so to get discounts or rewards from other brands and retailers compared to three in ten (29%) of the public – so strategic third-party partnerships could be a potentially profitable avenue for Sony. A similar proportion of PlayStation customers (34% vs. 28% of the public) sign up to loyalty programmes to get free products, services or experiences.
Nearly a fifth say they want to be among the first to know about promotions/discounts/news from a brand (17% vs. 15%) – so exclusive announcements, gameplay previews, and other offers of that nature could go down well. But with this opportunity comes potential problems: the same proportion say that they want better services (e.g. 24/7 support, faster delivery) from a brand when they sign up to a loyalty programme (16% vs. 13%). Though PlayStation Stars is set to be free of charge, customers who join the scheme could be less willing to put up with network outages or other everyday inconveniences.
Methodology
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative of the population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
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