July 15, 2025
You only shop at Woolies, not Coles. Loyalty, or just the closest supermarket to your house?
You go to the same coffee shop every day. Devoted customer, or is it just on your route to work?
You only go to Pilates with Abby. Loyal to the teacher, or does her class timetable fit your schedule?
Brands love to claim they’ve won customer loyalty, but more often than not, they’ve just landed in someone's autopilot space. What looks like loyalty is often habits of convenience.
Habit is routine, familiarity, and can even be muscle memory. We’re creatures of habit, grabbing the same brand of yoghurt or pasta sauce from the supermarket shelf without thinking. It’s easy to confuse repeat purchases with real brand connection. Habits don’t necessarily come from emotion; they come from ease and are mindless. They continue, but only until disrupted.
The likes of loyalty cards at the café, giving you one free coffee after ten paid, and discount codes sent to your inbox post-purchase are strategies designed to create your habit loops and keep repeating behaviour. These strategies keep people coming, sure, but they don’t create real connection. A new coffee shop opens around the corner, a shift in your routine, or a better discount code appearing in your inbox - the spell breaks, and the habit is dropped.
“What advertisers call brand loyalty is merely the consumers' defence against the need to waste energy differentiating among things that barely differ.” - Ellen Goodman.
Loyalty, by contrast, is highly emotional. It’s intentional, value-driven, associated and built through the way the brand, product or experience made you feel. Loyalty survives when obstacles appear.
Customer loyalty is when people defend their product, convince and persuade family and friends to become consumers. It’s continuously choosing the Apple Watch over the Samsung Galaxy, regardless of technical differences. Or walking the extra 15 minutes past five other cafes for the one barista who remembers you like your coffee extra-hot.
“A loyal customer doesn’t consider alternatives. They won’t mind paying a premium for their valued loyalty. A repeat customer will consider options.”
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True loyalty comes when consumers feel seen, understood and part of something bigger. Here’s how some of my favourite brands sparking loyalty, rather than repeat purchase.
LSKD’s heavy involvement in their physical community
Staff from activewear brand LSKD are expected to show up at local events where their community and future consumers would be found, handing out vouchers, connecting and chatting with them. It’s not about selling the product, but more about showing up and making the community feel looked after by LSKD.
Nike - Rewarding connection, not purchase
Nike’s apps, like Nike Run Club, reward people for their activity and movement, not spending. The brand celebrates your progress, and you feel rewarded and connected to Nike through lifestyle and value alignment.
The Ordinary - Consistently communicating their values
From packaging to social posts and OOH campaigns, beauty brand ‘The Ordinary’ sticks to its core message: truth, transparency, and science. Every touchpoint reinforces the same story, building consistency, which builds trust and ultimately loyalty.
Humans are creatures of habit, so by all means, habit building is an effective and essential part of repeat customers for many brands. But in saturated markets, to stand out, brands should foster and be creatures of meaning.
