Customer loyalty means big business. loyalty programs may mean a free cup of coffee or a discount on a shirt to one individual, but to the overall marketplace, such plans deliver seismic influence on companies’ bottom lines. Data analysis firm Statista predicts that the global loyalty management ecosystem will be worth $24 billion by the end of 2029, up from about $5.6 billion in 2022. That’s a lot of people signing up to be repeat customers. And businesses have taken note, offering loyalty programs that span the consumer landscape, crossing sectors with similar offers of discounts and freebies. With so many ways to show your brand loyalty, though, discerning which programs are worth the sign-up can be a confusing task. To make things easier, Newsweek has partnered with Statista to rank more than 300 loyalty programs across 40 categories in our fourth annual ranking of America’s Best Loyalty Programs. Our team scoured supermarkets, bagel and sandwich shops, footwear companies, cosmetics makers and nearly every other corner of the country’s shopping terrain to rank each offer for your loyalty on a scale of 1 to 10. We parsed the offers and benefits to distill the programs most worthy of your repeat business. We hope you find your shopping experience very rewarding. ▸ Nancy Cooper, Global Editor in Chief
Methodology
THE 2024 RANKING OF AMERICA’S BEST Loyalty Programs was compiled based on the results of an independent survey of more than 4,000 U.S. customers who are members of loyalty programs of retailers or service providers in the United States. Customers were given the opportunity to evaluate various loyalty programs; in total, around 17,900 evaluations were collected. The survey period ran from October to November 2023.
We defined loyalty programs as all reward programs that provide the customer with a benefit when purchasing or using the products or services of the associated brands. The survey was conducted on retailers and service providers from 41 categories, providing results for a broad spectrum of loyalty programs in traditional retail, online retail and service segments. The awarded loyalty programs each received an above-average overall score. Rankings for ties in the scores below were decided by rounding decimal places up.
▸ ASSESSMENT CRITERIA The final assessment and rankings were based on six criteria:
1 _ Ease and enjoyment: measures the value of the perks of being in the rewards program. (5%)
2 _ Benefit: measures whether the rewards are—in the customer’s perception—worth being part of the program. (20%)
3 _ Overall satisfaction: measures whether personal expectations were fulfilled and whether the customer is satisfied with the experience of the loyalty program overall. (25%)
4 _ Customer support: measures the level of assistance provided
