Research reveals 70% of loyalty program members in 2022 are taking advantage of most of their rewards and benefits, up from 63% in 2020 (pre-pandemic) and up from 54% in 2016
Results from the 10th edition of the annual Australian customer loyalty and loyalty program research study, For Love or MoneyTM 2022, reveals 70% of Australian loyalty program members are taking advantage of most rewards and benefits their programs offer.
This is a significant increase since it was first researched in 2016 when only 54% indicated they were taking advantage of most of their rewards and benefits.
Commissioned in the first quarter of 2022 by customer loyalty consultancy – The Point of Loyalty, For Love or MoneyTM 2022 also reveals how brands who invest in loyalty programs also benefit.
Report author and CEO of The Point of Loyalty, Adam Posner said “With increasing inflation and economic uncertainty, it’s not surprising members are more engaged with programs they know and trust to earn more savings and rewards.”
Adam added “At the same time, brands with programs also win. Their members interact and transact more, and the business is rewarded with retention and repeat business”.
Loyalty programs’ impact on brand engagement increases
The research highlights the impact programs have on brand engagement with 71% of members indicating the program has an impact on how much and how often they purchase (up from 56% in 2020).
Adam Posner added “A program’s influence on their members’ motivation to engage with a brand has increased significantly since first measured in the pre-pandemic 2020 For Love or MoneyTM study, proving the power of programs these days for brands who invest in them”.
NEW: Collecting data increases expectations
The research also reveals for the first-time the expectations members have of loyalty programs collecting their personal and purchase behavior data with 45% of members having higher expectations of the use of their data if they are a member of a loyalty program.
Posner said, “As brands focus on their zero- and first-party data strategies, loyalty programs are becoming a go-to strategy to interact with their customers in a personal, consented, and compliant way. This places an expectation on brands to use this personal and behavior data to add value to the lives of members”.
Earning cryptocurrency as rewards appeals to Gen Z and Gen Y
The report tracks new ways for members to be rewarded. 32% of members revealed that earning cryptocurrency as a reward is appealing. For Gen Z and Y their desire to earn cryptocurrency as a reward is significantly higher (44% and 47% respectively).
Adam Posner said “The commentary on Cryptocurrency and NFTs is vibrant right now and it was interesting to understand how appealing these new ways of being rewarded are to loyalty program members. The younger generations are showing more appetite for these digital currencies as rewards”.
‘Subscription guilt’ – a watch-out for subscription programs
The report also highlights an increasing trend in ‘subscription guilt’. First benchmarked in 2019, the % of members who indicate they have a feeling of guilt for not using or accessing enough of the benefits offered by a subscription has increased from 30% (2019) to 36% in 2022.
Posner said, “Subscription programs are very popular for some categories of business with entertainment streaming services, food delivery, meal kits and even QSRs taking advantage of the subscription program model. However, members are indicating their ‘guilt-factor’ when not taking advantage of the benefits offered and this is watch-out for managers of subscription programs”.
2022 ranking of Australian loyalty programs most mentioned unprompted by members, as ‘doing a very good job’
Flybuys achieves number one ranking in 2022 as the loyalty program ‘doing a very good job’ and has had a significant increase from 29.7% in 2021 to 48.4% in 2022.
Posner added: “It was surprising to see the significant increase in the popularity of Flybuys, although from what members revealed in the research, the addition of Bunnings and Officeworks as partners late in 2021 has added so many more options for members to earn rewards”.
A complimentary Executive Summary of the full report is available here with a comprehensive report available for purchase at www.thepointofloyalty.com.au.
By Adam Posner, CEO – The Point of Loyalty
About the research
The For Love or MoneyTM 2022 research is the 10th edition of the annual research study. It was commissioned by The Point of Loyalty and conducted independently by First Point Research and Consulting in the first quarter of 2022 through a national online panel of 1,010 Australian consumers of men and women aged 18+ who are members of at least one loyalty program. The research was structured to gain quantitative results with comparative analysis as well as qualitative insights.
About The Point of Loyalty
The Point of Loyalty is a strategic customer loyalty and loyalty program consultancy dedicated to driving business growth from existing customers through valuable loyalty and rewards programs. CEO Adam Posner is a customer loyalty strategist and has been involved in the design, development and deployment of customer loyalty and rewards programs across industries including entertainment, pharmacy, hotels and accommodation, trade, education, hospitality and retail (various).
