The number of digital loyalty programme memberships that offer consumers rewards and incentives such as discounts, vouchers, cashback and reward points will grow by 33% from 24bn worldwide in 2022 to more than 32bn in 2026, according to a forecast by Juniper Research.

The research also predicts that the value of consumer credit card rewards globally will increase by 15% —  from US$92bn in 2022 to US$108bn in 2026 — but that the traditional loyalty cards market “will stagnate, with growth in the number of cards in circulation of only 5% between 2022 and 2026, reaching 7.6bn in 2026 globally”.

“The research identified digital loyalty programmes as critical to customer retention within highly competitive verticals, in particular in the grocery and QSR (quick service restaurants) areas,” the researchers say.

“To date, innovation has been constrained to the largest vendors in these verticals. However, the proliferation of digital loyalty vendors means that smaller businesses now have access to digital loyalty platforms.

“To take advantage of this opportunity to improve customer loyalty, the report recommends that digital loyalty vendors must provide the ability to customise and personalise all aspects of the communication and checkout processes.”

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