Consolidation of customer loyalty as the most important target of contemporary companies

Moksliniame kontekste įsigali požiūris, jog siekiant vartotojų poreikių tenkinimo, ilgalaikiai įmonės santykiai palaikomi su įvairiais rinkos dalyviais ir vedantys lojalumo link, tampa svarbiausia šiuolaikinių verslo įmonių siekiamybe, kuri įpareigoja jas daugiau dėmesio skirti santykių palaikymo principų išmanymui, santykių rinkoje identifikavimui ir segmentavimui pagal lojalumo lygius ir vartotojų lojalumo programų kūrimui. Siekiama atskleisti vartotojų lojalumo stiprinimo svarbą įmonės veiklai. Straipsnyje analizuojama vartotojų lojalumo samprata ir esmė, išryškinami vartotojų lojalumo lygiai, nagrinėjamos vartotojų lojalumo programos kaip vartotojų lojalumo stiprinimo instrumentas.Big dynamic changes in the 20th century determined emergence of relationship marketing as a new phenomenon in the science of marketing. Significance of relationship marketing is predicated on the fact that it emphasizes the importance of building and developing relationships with different groups of participants of the market and thus reveals a long-term interaction between the company and the customer, creating the preconditions for strengthening customer loyalty. Hence, creation of beneficial and long-term relationships obligates contemporary business undertakings to create relationship systems in business-to-business market, seeing how companies can offer unique solutions to the customer, while adapting the marketing concept, thus seeking the ultimate result - customer loyalty. This issue is discussed in this article. The analysis of customer loyalty levels indicates that the emphasis recently has been laid on customer segmentation that is based on their relationship with the enterprise. Moreover, the analysis highlights that one of the segmentation ways is segmentation by the levels of customer loyalty. Thus, aiming at strengthening the customer loyalty, an enterprise has to identify the levels of their loyalty in the first place. Since each level is characterized by different features and needs of customers, an enterprise is able to better select the adequate means for strengthening customer loyalty. The customer loyalty programs as instruments for strengthening customer loyalty establish the situation where both the customer and the enterprise benefit. The product of the enterprise launched together with the loyalty program stands out against the competitors and creates the possibility to improve customer loyalty with financial and/or non-financial benefit for the customers. It has been noted that customer loyalty programs become an instrument for strengthening the customer loyalty, customer loyalty firms build an instrument that ensures that their co-operation is based on commitment, trust - key principles of relationship marketing