Customer Loyalty Memberships Top Three Billion for First Time

2015 COLLOQUY Census also reveals that the rate of decline in convenience store loyalty programs is 3% compared to 21% in 2013.

February 12, 2015

CINCINNATI – U.S. consumers hold 3.3 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs, the 2015 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census shows, 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, released today, 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.

The report found that convenience and fuel retailers saw membership numbers decline just 3% – the smallest part of the overall loyalty pie, not just among retailers but also among all industries surveyed in the 2015 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census.

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. Specialty retailers, such as Best Buy, Container Store and Radio Shack, concentrate on selling one line of goods to a particular clientele and offer a narrow but deep selection in their niches.

In other retail sector highlights:

Drugstore memberships rose 88% to 268 million, the highest rate of growth of any census category other than restaurant programs (107%).
Grocery program memberships declined for the second consecutive census, with memberships dropping at twice the rate in 2015 (2%) compared to 2013 (1%).

“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, COLLOQUY research director 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.”

The report is available free of charge, and an accompanying webinar is scheduled March 10, 2015, at 1:00 pm EST.