In 2025, loyalty programmes will continue to evolve, integrating advanced technologies, centring on customer experience and adapting to new engagement models. Transforming legacy structures will be crucial to unlocking the full financial potential of these programmes, making loyalty a key driver for business growth.
Navigating the evolving discourse of customer loyalty: Top five trends uncovered
Loyalty as a catalyst for profitability
A growing number of companies are reporting on the effectiveness of their loyalty programmes, demonstrating how these initiatives directly support sales growth. When executed strategically, loyalty schemes can drive significant financial success, measurable through membership growth, increased frequency of purchases or bookings, revenue generation and enhanced profitability. Innovative loyalty formats are also gaining traction to drive revenue. These include diverse subscription models, such as seasonal subscriptions, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) options and curated subscriptions such as subscription boxes reflecting consumers’ preferred or personalised items or delivery timing.
Well-structured loyalty initiatives and programmes drive significant business benefits. During the 2024 6.18 Shopping Festival, Tmall's 88VIP membership grew 65% year-on-year, with over 1,100 brand shops surpassing CNY10 million in member sales. Mercado Libre’s meli+ programme boosted profitability, raising its operating margin from 3.2% in 2020 to 14.6% in 2023. Both players also rank highly on the Euromonitor Engagement Index for Q3 2024, scoring 112 and 158, respectively as part of as part of the Loyalty Competitor Tracker.
Optimise rich data at scale with GenAI
Despite uncertainties related to data protection and fraud detection, among others, fuelling frenzy, GenAI, machine learning and automation hold transformative potential to greatly enhance loyalty propositions and long-term business performance. For loyalty programmes, GenAI can boost the real-time reward proposition, offer hyper-personalised experiences and services and, ultimately, drive scale at much lower cost which then can boost efficiency.
Simplified loyalty: Seamless and embedded
Participating in a loyalty programme should be a simple and efficient experience. However, it often becomes cumbersome, requiring members to take extra steps to access benefits or rewards. Embedded loyalty integrates rewards directly into products or services, removing the need for separate interactions or sign-ups. As embedded loyalty becomes more prevalent, consumers will increasingly expect brands to provide seamless and rewarding interactions, raising the standard across industries. While these user experience enhancements are mostly online, the next step for players will be to incorporate embedded loyalty checkout through the entire omnichannel experience.
In a landscape where many players offer similar transactional schemes, such as points, with limited loyalty features, it is crucial for earning and redeeming mechanisms to be executed efficiently in order to create real value.
Empowering loyalty with participatory experiences
True reward programmes extend beyond simple transactions. They enhance customer experiences by resonating with their values and aspirations. To effectively deliver such rewards, companies must prioritise the customer at the core of their strategy.
Participatory experiences build trust and foster a sense of belonging beyond transactions. Brands can integrate into consumers' lives by offering experiences that align with their lifestyles, like promoting daily exercise. Engaging consumers in active participation within loyalty programmes helps them connect with and embrace the brand's identity.
For example, Adidas's adiClub is evolving into a lifestyle brand by offering members engaging experiences. Recent examples include interactive games, such as a live quiz for fans watching a UEFA Nations League match between Germany and the Netherlands, competing against stadium attendees.
Customising brand memberships for FMCG success
FMCG companies are using localization and brand-specific loyalty programs to align with consumer trends and strengthen connections. As e-commerce competition grows, many are shifting to direct-to-consumer platforms and business models. In 2024, Morinaga & Co launched an online marketplace for Hi-Chew with a rewards scheme offering points for purchases and exclusive merchandise, while PepsiCo's Gatorade introduced the Gatorade iD membership, rewarding purchases and referrals. With limited access to detailed customer data, FMCG brands are also exploring retail media opportunities to enhance B2C loyalty strategies.
In 2025, loyalty programmes must remain dynamic, evolving to deliver engaging experiences tailored to consumer preferences. Leveraging customer journey data and disruptive technology is essential for sustained success, while scalability ensures efficient growth.
Read our report, Top Five Trends in Loyalty, for more analysis on the drivers set to shape customer loyalty in 2025.