Amazon named the UK's favourite retailer

One in four consumers name Amazon as their favourite retail brand, according to a new survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association to discover what relationships customers have with retail brands.

Amazon topped the survey with 25 percent of consumers naming the online retailer as their preferred brand, while department store John Lewis came second with 14 percent, followed by Marks and Spencer with 10 percent.

Other fashion retailers in the top twenty included Asos, Debenhams, Primark, Next, House of Fraser, New Look, Matalan, TK Maxx, Zara, Topshop, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

The Direct Marketing Association surveyed 1000 people, asking them to name their favourite brand and instead of offering a shortlist they placed an open and unprompted textbox for the consumer to write their favourite retails brands.

The report also discovered that most consumers fall into one of three types of brand loyalty, with 40 percent being ‘actively loyal’, 28 percent ‘actively disloyal’ and the loyalty of the remaining consumers depending on the context.

In addition, 24 percent of those surveyed currently take part in loyalty schemes, with almost half (46 percent) of respondents not in loyalty schemes, but would like to in the future. While more than three-quarters (77 percent) of consumers were interested in joining a loyalty scheme after buying a product.

Commenting on the results, Direct Marketing Association managing director Rachel Aldighieri, said: “Trust is a key element of building customer loyalty for all brands, retail or otherwise. That’s one of the reasons we’re seeing loyalty schemes evolve beyond traditional formats.

“By taking a more personal approach to these programmes, brands can forge a two-way conversation with their customer that builds genuine loyalty beyond simply collecting points. When loyalty rewards are made to feel well earned and unique to each customer, bonds can potentially grow even stronger between retailer and shopper.”

Image: screenshot of Amazon.co.uk