South Africa, June 8 -- The reality is that retaining an existing customer costs far less than winning a new one. Loyal customers already trust you, buy more often, and recommend you to people they know. In South Africa, where community and word-of-mouth carry real weight in consumer decisions, that kind of loyalty has always mattered. What has changed is how you earn and keep it.

A discount voucher sent to your entire database is not a loyalty strategy. Modern South African consumers expect communication that feels relevant to them; messages that reflect what they have bought, what they care about, and when they actually need to hear from you.

This is one of the central findings from The Loyalty Effect, a research report published by E...