CINCINNATI, Ohio – According to a new survey by LoyaltyOne, today’s consumers – especially the all-important Millennials – are willing to pay for fee-based loyalty programs. In the survey results released this week, 62% of respondents said they’d consider joining a fee-based rewards program if their favorite retailer offered one. The number was even higher among Millennials, with 75% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 77% of 25- to 34-year-olds saying they’d consider joining a fee-based rewards program.

“These results should attract the attention of brands considering a shift to fee-based loyalty programs as marketers look for ways to create competitive differences and lock in customer spend against a backdrop of waning program effectiveness and engagement challenges,” LoyaltyOne Consulting associate partner Lance Du Chateau said, in a news release. “The traditional spend-earn-redeem reward program doesn’t make sense for all companies and customers, and fee-based value propositions increasingly are a topic of conversation. More marketers should explore this approach.”

Other notable findings of the survey include:

• Nearly half of respondents (47%) said rewards in fee-based programs are better than rewards in free programs. A significantly larger number of Millennials – 61% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 54% of 25- to 34-year-olds — said fee-based rewards are better.
• Of the respondents who already participate in fee-based loyalty programs, 69% said they were enticed by free shipping, followed closely by special discounts at 67%.
• Women (67%) are slightly stronger than men (64%) in their belief that rewards are worth paying for.
• When asked which category would be most appealing if compelling benefits were available through a fee-based program, respondents ranked grocery and mass merchandise highest (35%), followed by credit card rewards (26%), specialty retail (13%), travel (18%) and restaurants (9%).