Best and Worst Loyalty Schemes of 2024: Winners and Losers

At Loyalty Works, loyalty is our business, and we have spent well over a decade crafting the best methods and strategies to ensure our clients garner real engagement, deepen their connection to their customers and truly enhance the loyalty those customers feel towards them.

But as with every great strategy, some do it well and honestly, and then there are those who don't do it so well and aren't so honest. Unfortunately, loyalty schemes are no different.

The year 2024 saw one of the biggest years on record for active loyalty schemes and several loyalty programme memberships, but that also came with many downfalls, missed opportunities, poor execution and occasionally, simple dishonesty.

Let’s round up the good, the bad, and the ugly and see what 2024 taught us about loyalty schemes and how we might do better as an industry in the future.

Evolution of Loyalty Programmes in 2024

In many ways, 2024 was a breakthrough year for many things, but one of the greatest advancements is the mass proliferation and adoption of AI assistants and AI-assisted tech. And this played a huge role in the development of loyalty schemes across 2024.

With the adoption of AI into the mainstream, it became easier than ever to parse through customer data, derive highly accurate and effective data analytics and apply those findings to create better personalisation and customisation for our customers, two key areas which drive effective customer engagement and customer retention.

We also saw a marked shift towards experience-based and eco-conscious rewards, where the majority of people now value an experience over a product, and if they do receive products, they want that product to be in alignment with eco-conscious values and the protection of the environment.

Finally, subscription-based loyalty models have come into full swing, and many businesses are finding success in offering exclusive benefits to members in exchange for a small fee. From the contracts of phones to the contracts of cars, from the renting of movies to the streaming of services, this shift was inevitable and still gaining momentum. But the subscription based model is here to stay.

Winners: What Made These Loyalty Schemes Stand Out?

So, looking now at a business that provided the best loyalty scheme in 2024, we can’t talk about anyone but Amazon Prime.

Amazon has had it almost perfect from the get-go and has only enhanced and maintained what makes its loyalty scheme so great over the years.

A subscription-based model, Amazon Prime is the perfect partner to the Amazon Marketplace, a one-stop shop for practically everything you need. The biggest deterrent to purchasing through an online marketplace is, of course, the shipping and delivery fees, which can take a purchase that sits within budget outside of that intended range. The sudden realisation is often called ‘sticker shock’ and marks that moment of ‘oh no, I probably can't afford this.’ This sudden new cost interrupts the flow of consumption and shocks a person into deciding against the purchase. To combat that, Amazon Prime's key feature is that all deliveries are free.

Secondly, not only that but waiting for your product is a second key downfall to online retailers, so Amazon Prime can guarantee next-day delivery for free.

Now, pile on top of all of the bonuses, with access to Amazon Video, Music and Kindle, and the small fee for Amazon Prime stacks up into big rewards for the customers.

Honest, straightforward, relevant, and useful. Amazon Prime gives its customers exactly what they need, so it stays at the top of our list for now.

Losers: Common Mistakes and Lessons Learned

Unfortunately, we can lay out a list of losers as long as our arm, and the majority of them come from brick and mortar retailers who are household names up and down the country. So what dubious tactics have these well-known and once loved brands been employing to make it onto our losers list?

Well, from Tesco to Boots and Superdrug, the consumer group Which? has been investigating what it describes as ‘dubious discounts’ offered to members of these retailers' loyalty programmes.

From Tesco Clubcard to Boots Advantage, the premise is simple; by joining our loyalty scheme we will give you better discounts. But has this really been the case?

Which? have found multiple instances of prices being artificially raised for a short time before the ‘exclusive discount’ is attached to distort people’s sense of value and make them feel they will be getting a bargain. They have also uncovered practices of raising the normal price the same day the loyalty discount is applied so that loyalty customers are still paying full price and ordinary customers have to pay an inflated rate, all in the hopes that customers will think they are getting a good deal.

This kind of deceitful tactic gives loyalty schemes a bad name and is a deeply shameful tactic to deploy on a nation which is struggling with a cost of living crisis.

So, can we do it better?

How Loyalty Works Would Do It Differently

At Loyalty Works, we pride ourselves on our desire to improve things not only for our clients but also for their customers. We believe that a good loyalty scheme is based on transparency and relevance. We don't want to hide anything from our customers, we want them to know exactly what they are getting and see that the quality of the programme speaks for itself.

We are improving loyalty programmes by doing our research into your customer base and considering the best opportunities to reward customers in your industry. Loyalty Works will implement a relevant loyalty scheme with relevant prizes. Whether that’s offering real discounts to loyalty members or exclusive and useful perks for signing up to a subscription-based model, we will use our years of expertise to ensure your customers are satisfied and your loyalty aims are met.

Loyalty Works will support you and your business in running a loyalty scheme your customers can truly get on board with. This includes creating transparent and honest reward structures, implementing effective customer retention strategies, and offering personalised experiences through data-driven insights. Additionally, we ensure comprehensive management of the scheme once implemented, along with ongoing customer support.

Key Takeaways for 2025

As we move through 2025, we must be aware of dubious tactics to make more profit, it will only breed distrust in customers towards your brand and loyalty schemes in general.

Instead by offering honest, and clear rewards that provide true value to your customers, and by placing them at centre stage and providing great opportunities for personalisation and a clear communication channel for customer feedback, we can craft a loyalty scheme that will restore people’s faith in loyalty programmes, and build their trust in you.

So, what will it be? Will you be a loyalty programme winner or loser in 2025?

To find out all that Loyalty Works can do for you, get in touch today.