As someone keenly interested in human behavior and a veteran of buy now, pay later payments, Nico Perdomo started the alternative payment and rewards company Catch. Over the past few years, the company has garnered hundreds of thousands of primarily Gen Z shoppers.
Through its network of beauty brand partners including Living Proof, Saie, Rare Beauty, Kosas, Ouai, Summer Fridays and more, Catch has gained access to large amounts of data and Perdomo shared insights from this data.
With a bird’s-eye view of the beauty industry, Catch has seen the strength of the direct-to-consumer model — especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the growth is categorically a positive given other industries not doing as well, Perdomo said that often lead brands to turn a blind eye to warning signs of other issues.
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Notably, Perdomo sees that “the rate at which first-time shoppers” become second-time purchasers is decreasing. Contextually, while the DTC channel and beauty industry are growing, lifetime revenue in millions of dollars and retention is being left on the table.
“There’s a lot of noise out there,” Perdomo said. “Positive affinity for a product has never had such a short life — and it’s only getting shorter.”
After speaking with several leaders in the DTC business, Perdomo said they noticed the problem and saw the solution in loyalty programs. Moreover, he asked the question: What loyalty programs actually changed your behavior and made you take an extra step?
A statistic that particularly stuck out to Perdomo is that 95 percent of Gen Z consumers are going to fewer than five loyalty programs. In many ways, it’s hard for DTC businesses to compete for consumers’ attention who are mainly involved with household name brand loyalty programs.
“It’s no surprise that consumers are going to optimize where they can get the most value with loyalty programs,” Perdomo said. “Either high ticket items like airfare or frequent purchases like CVS.”
Consumers value “simplicity and dollars” — instant gratification that’s easy to access and understand. Perdomo has seen how a majority of Gen Z customers have a limited attention span and strong preferences in the way they pay. The payment system works similarly to how Gen Z pays back their friends without any debt or credit card fees.
By cutting out the credit card fees when paying with Catch, brand partners then give Gen Z dollar value store credit. There’s no point system to decipher and it’s easy to understand. Shoppers can use it socially by trading or gifting it to others — another added value that will help DTC brands maintian consumer loyalty, Perdomo said.
“The key to engaging with customers is not only an amazing product and brand, but also these little nudges that during the customer life cycle can go a long way.”
