New research from ebbo shows that 72% of consumers use 50% or less of their loyalty program memberships and offers insights as to why – and what brands can do about it.

Loyalty program membership has been on the rise for the past five years. The challenge is getting members to engage.

To better understand the impact of loyalty programs and how consumers feel about them, ebbo, a leading provider of end-to-end loyalty solutions, surveyed 2,500 U.S. consumers about the factors that drive their engagement, including what they value the most in loyalty programs and where these programs fail to meet their expectations.

ebbo’s research found that 81% of consumers agree that holding a loyalty program membership to a brand influences their likelihood of making a purchase from that brand. Yet 73% of consumers agree that their loyalty is more difficult for a retailer to maintain than ever before – up from 68% in 2022.

The data study dives deep into why there is an engagement gap in loyalty programs, where consumers feel programs fall short and their expectations and what successful loyalty programs will look like in the future.

Key findings from the data study include:

• 81% of consumers agree that holding a loyalty program membership to a brand influences their likelihood of making a purchase from that brand.
• 90% of consumers agree that in general, when it comes to being personalized to their preferences, most loyalty programs have room for improvement.
• 91% of consumers agree that many loyalty programs feel similar and are not that differentiated from other programs.
• The No. 1 reason consumers don’t sign up for a brand’s loyalty program: It requires too much effort/it’s time-consuming.
• 74% of consumers agree that they would engage more with brands that offered different tiers in their loyalty programs based on how much they spend per year.

“There has never been a more important time to double down on your loyalty strategy,” said Tyler Haskins, EVP of Marketing at ebbo. “It’s clear from the data that consumers are willing to join loyalty programs, but if you want them to engage, you have to stand out from your competitors and give your members what they expect. Offering more attainable rewards, more options on how to use their points and different tiers are great places to start.”