CINCINNATI -- The rate of decline in fuel/convenience store customer loyalty programs slowed significantly to 3% in 2015 from 21% in 2013, according to the 2015 Colloquy Loyalty Census, for a total of 24.5 million members.
"Fuel and convenience stores have struggled to find their footing in the loyalty game and create value propositions and reward structures that appeal to consumers," said the report.
U.S. consumers hold 3.3 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs, the census showed, a 26% increase over the number of memberships reported in Colloquy's last census study in 2013.
Colloquy's biennial report on the scope of U.S. customer rewards programs shows that American households hold memberships in 29 loyalty programs spread among the retail, financial services, travel and various other economic sectors, but are active in just 12 of them. (Colloquy defines an active member as one who earns or redeems at least once a year.)
The corresponding household membership figures in the 2013 census were 22 and nine.
Those numbers add up to a drop of two percentage points in the active membership rate, from 44% to 42%, a 4.5% decline. That marks the beginning of a trend, as the active rate declined for the first time in the 2013 report.
Operated by LoyaltyOne, Colloquy is a leading provider of loyalty marketing research, publishing and education. The Colloquy Loyalty Census previously has been published in 2000, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013.
The 2015 Census shows that specialty-store loyalty memberships now total 434 million, exceeding airline frequent flyer memberships (356 million) for the first time, placing second only to credit-card reward programs, which account for 578 million memberships.
Other highlights:
- Drugstore memberships rose 88% to 268 million, the highest rate of growth of any census category other than restaurant programs (107%);
- Drugstore activation rates rose to 66% in the 2015 census versus 50% in 2013, while other retail and credit card program activation rates were mostly flat.
- *Grocery program memberships declined for the second consecutive census, with memberships dropping at twice the rate in 2015 (2%) compared with 2013 (1%).
- Memberships in airline frequent flyer programs declined (4%) for the first time and stand at 356 million. They had risen 14% in the 2013 census.
- Credit-card reward program memberships grew at a significantly slower pace, 5% in 2015 versus 28% in 2013.
- While restaurant loyalty program memberships rose 107% to 55 million in 2015, that's down from 171% growth in 2013.
The retail, financial and travel categories traditionally have offered two loyalty program types, proprietary and partnership. But the lines are being blurred by a group of emerging programs that were non-existent five years ago, including large e-commerce loyalty programs, daily deals, cash and discount online platforms and mobile loyalty programs, among others, which now account for 13% of nationwide memberships.
"Think of the U.S. loyalty market in terms of a crowded party where half of the party-goers are standing in the corner without mingling," said Jeff Berry, research director for Cincinnati-based Colloquy and census report author. "Companies and brands that understand the key touch points in the relationship, pay attention to how best customers respond and optimize the overall experience can turn the party up so that people will join in the fun and never want to leave."
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.