Research reveals number of mobile loyalty schemes to double by 2020

As consumers increasingly use mobile and mobile wallets for payments, so brands and retailers are responding by enabling loyalty cards to be stored on a mobile device. In 2015, 1.4 billion loyalty cards were mobile-only or integrated into mobile apps. Juniper Research forecasts this will rise to 3 billion by 2020.

However, the research highlights huge differences between retailers and other reward card providers regarding the extent of their digital loyalty integration. Examples were given for both the UK and US.

In the UK, 40% of Nectar Card holders had acquired the mobile loyalty app by late-2015 whereas for the popular Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme that figure was just 4%. In the US, while Walgreens boasts 61% of cardholders who have linked their card to an app, Target has only 27% linked.

Dr Windsor Holden, author of the research, says the disparities between loyalty schemes "are likely to result from a number of factors".

"While in part they may reflect the level of satisfaction with the app and, or the features it offers, they may also be attributable to a greater degree - or greater success - of retailer marketing of their digital loyalty options," said Holden, adding that those retailers who do not offer mobile integration of their loyalty schemes were likely to have "far lower levels of visibility on consumer activity".

A study of 1,000 smartphone users in the UK by Apadmi found that 7 in 10 felt there was room for improvement in retail apps. Specifically, 34% said such apps could provide for a loyalty scheme.

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Tags: Apadmi, apps, Juniper Research, loyalty marketing, mobile, retail