GroupOn’s counterparts in India are taking different approaches to customer loyalty -- reawaking the classic debate about the relative importance of customer experience vs reward programs when it comes to driving loyalty.

The story with respect to customer experience changes depending on the industry.  What differs is the range of customer experience that can be achieved and which specific buyer priorities are affected.  Key buyer priorities include:  achieving value, convenience, efficiency and discount opportunities.

In some industries, customer challenges can only be addressed by focusing on CX -- in particular, customers require that they can achieve the value they are paying for.  Companies have to decide whether their investment focus will include CX and to what degree based on the relative ROI versus other marketing investments.