{"id":10009,"date":"2026-07-24T16:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/?p=10009"},"modified":"2026-07-26T22:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:02:58","slug":"data-driven-loyalty-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build a data-driven loyalty program"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[355,352,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics","category-crm","category-e-commerce"],"acf":{"blog_custom_title":"How to build a data-driven loyalty program","blog_featured_image":10037,"blog_custom_excerpt":"\u201cIt scares me that in three months, you\u2019ve learned more about my customers than I have in 30 years,\u201d said Lord McLorin, chairman of Tesco\u2019s board of directors, following the presentation of the Clubcard test results. At that time, the plastic cards were in use in only a few stores, and the company itself wasn\u2019t particularly convinced by the idea. Competitors compared the cards to the paper coupons that stores had used decades earlier. However, following the nationwide launch of Clubcard, Tesco quickly overtook Sainsbury\u2019s and became the largest supermarket chain in the UK. Clubcard enabled Tesco to link individual purchases to specific customers, identify their habits, and better understand consumption patterns.\r\n\r\nModern loyalty programs operate on this same logic: they encourage repeat purchases while simultaneously providing businesses with data to inform decision-making. In this article, we\u2019ll explore the different mechanics of loyalty programs, how data enhances their effectiveness, and what to consider when integrating a loyalty program with a CRM.","blog_external_url":"","blog_categories":[352,355,46],"blog_tags":false,"blog_featured_post":false,"blog_author":9884,"blog_content_blocks":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text_block","text_content":"<h2>Why Do Businesses Need a Loyalty Program?<\/h2>\r\n<strong>What is a loyalty program?<\/strong> It\u2019s a rewards system that motivates customers to make repeat purchases and helps businesses collect data on customer behavior. <strong>A loyalty program is<\/strong> a mutually beneficial exchange: the customer agrees to share data about their behavior, and the business provides them with useful rewards and personalized offers. When this exchange is structured effectively, it can yield much more than just repeat sales.\r\n<h3>Statistics: The Cost of Retaining vs. Acquiring a Customer<\/h3>\r\nThe numbers speak for themselves. Depending on the industry, acquiring a new customer costs a business 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing one. Other studies show an even more striking effect: increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost a company\u2019s profits by 25\u201395%. Therefore, a loyalty program can yield significant returns, provided its mechanics are based on real customer data.\r\n<h3>Which Businesses Benefit Most from Loyalty Programs<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Customer loyalty programs<\/strong> are most effective in situations where there are regular repeat purchases and enough transactions to accumulate statistically significant data on customer behavior:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"list_block","list_title":"","list_type":"ul","list_items":[{"item_text":"Online stores and retail. Here, loyalty directly affects the average check and purchase frequency, and the collected data helps track 7 online store metrics, including conversion, repeat purchases, and customer value."},{"item_text":"HoReCa and entertainment services. For them, it is important to turn a one-time visit into a habit of returning regularly."},{"item_text":"Financial and telecommunications services: These companies interact with customers regularly and work with long-term contracts or subscriptions."},{"item_text":"B2B with a complex deal cycle. Here, loyalty works through personalized conditions and statuses rather than bonuses."}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_block","text_content":"However, for businesses dealing with one-time purchases (such as real estate sales), a <strong>full-fledged CRM loyalty program<\/strong> is usually less relevant. In such cases, it makes more sense to focus on referrals, after-sales service, and partnership mechanisms.\r\n<h2>Types of Loyalty Programs<\/h2>\r\n<strong>Loyalty programs differ<\/strong> in the logic behind how customers receive benefits. The choice should be based on the purchase cycle and the product\u2019s profit margin. What works for a coffee shop may not yield the same results in the high-end B2B segment.\r\n<h3>Rewards System<\/h3>\r\nThe most common format for <strong>a customer loyalty program<\/strong> is the rewards model, in which customers earn points for purchases and later redeem them for discounts, products, or other rewards. The mechanics are simple to implement and easy for customers to understand from day one, which is why this is the format most often used to launch <strong>a loyalty program for an online store<\/strong>. The main risk is the devaluation of points if the redemption threshold keeps rising: customers notice this and lose trust faster than you might think.\r\n<h3>Cashback<\/h3>\r\nInstead of virtual points, customers receive a portion of their spending back in cash or as a bonus credit to their account balance. The advantage of cashback lies in its transparent monetary value: customers don\u2019t need to convert points into discounts on their own. Without proper analytics, it\u2019s difficult to tailor cashback to product margins, the behavior of different customer segments, and the company\u2019s business goals.\r\n<h3>Tiered System (Levels)<\/h3>\r\nA current example of a tiered model is the 2026 update to Starbucks Rewards. After several years of operating without status tiers, the company reinstated three member categories with different benefits and reward accumulation rates. In this way, Starbucks aims to better reward active customers and give them additional motivation to advance to the next level. Starbucks Rewards now once again features three tiers with different star-earning rates. The lesson is simple: <strong>a loyalty system<\/strong> without tiers rewards everyone equally\u2014and therefore, no one truly.\r\n<h3>Coalition Program<\/h3>\r\nBringing together several independent brands under a single rewards currency looks appealing on paper, but in practice, it relies on a very delicate balance of interests. A prime example is American Express\u2019s Plenti, which initially included Macy\u2019s, AT&amp;T, Exxon, and several other major players. The program shut down in 2018 after several key partners withdrew. Among its problems were low member engagement, insufficient brand recognition, and the difficulty of reconciling the interests of different brands. For the Ukrainian market, the coalition model may be suitable for niche but complementary businesses whose target audiences truly overlap.\r\n<h3>Subscription<\/h3>\r\nThe customer pays a regular fee and, in return, receives ongoing perks, ranging from free shipping to exclusive content. This model works well when there is more to offer the customer than just a discount: the value of the subscription is based on a steady stream of clear and desirable perks.\r\n<h2>How Data Makes a Loyalty Program Effective<\/h2>\r\nThe mechanics are just the surface. What transforms an ordinary loyalty card into a full-fledged <strong>data-driven loyalty program<\/strong> lies beneath the surface: in how a business processes information about each purchase.\r\n<h3>Customer Segmentation<\/h3>\r\nWithout segmentation, all program participants receive the same offers, a significant portion of which do not match their interests or current needs. Categorizing customers by purchase frequency, average transaction value, and interest in specific categories helps ensure that relevant offers are shown to the right segments.\r\n<h3>Personalization of Offers<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Personalization of offers<\/strong> is a result of effective segmentation: a customer who buys children\u2019s products won\u2019t be offered a discount on alcohol. A prime example is the personalized recommendation system we built for the <a href=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/results\/planety-kino-app\/\">Planeta Kino<\/a> movie theater chain: instead of mass mailings, the algorithm selects push and email notifications tailored to a specific moviegoer based on their viewing history, which directly boosted conversion rates across communication channels. At this stage, Excel spreadsheets are usually no longer sufficient. <a href=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/service\/business-analytics-bi\/\">Implementing BI analytics<\/a> helps consolidate data and track customer behavior patterns over time.\r\n<h3>Predictive Analytics<\/h3>\r\nThe most advanced level is when <strong>loyalty program analytics<\/strong> don\u2019t just describe the past but predict the future: which customers are on the verge of churning, who should be offered an upsell, and whose interest in the brand is already waning. Today, such analysis can be performed using off-the-shelf BI tools, CRM platforms, and machine learning models integrated with transaction and communication data.\r\n<h2>Loyalty Program Performance Metrics<\/h2>\r\nBefore discussing how to create <strong>a loyalty program<\/strong> that actually impacts profits, it\u2019s important to agree on which metrics to use to evaluate its success. Without this, any <strong>CRM-based loyalty system<\/strong> becomes nothing more than a pretty facade, with no way of knowing whether it\u2019s actually working.\r\n<h3>Retention Rate<\/h3>\r\nThe retention rate shows what percentage of customers remained active during a selected period. The formula is as follows:\r\n\r\nRetention Rate = (customers at the end of the period \u2212 new customers) \u00f7 customers at the beginning of the period \u00d7 100%.\r\n\r\nThis is a basic metric to start with. An increase of just a few percentage points can significantly boost a company\u2019s profits.\r\n<h2>CLV (Customer Lifetime Value)<\/h2>\r\nCLV indicates a customer\u2019s projected value to a business over the entire duration of their relationship. A <strong>loyalty program directly<\/strong> influences this metric: the more precisely a business tailors its offers to a specific customer, the longer that customer remains active and the higher their lifetime value becomes.\r\n<h3>Redemption Rate<\/h3>\r\nThis is the percentage of accrued bonuses or points that customers have actually redeemed. The global average hovers around 50%, meaning that about half of the accrued rewards remain unused. A low rate may indicate complex rules, unattractive rewards, or a threshold for redeeming points that is set too high. A very high Redemption Rate should be analyzed alongside profitability to ensure that the cost of rewards does not exceed the revenue from additional purchases.\r\n<h2>How to Integrate a Loyalty Program with CRM<\/h2>\r\nWithout CRM integration, loyalty mechanics operate in isolation from the rest of the business processes: marketing sees one set of data, customer support sees another, and the business owner sees a summarized report from a month ago. Integration brings together purchase history, bonus balance, and customer communications into a single profile.\r\n<h3>Salesforce for Loyalty Programs<\/h3>\r\nOff-the-shelf solutions like Salesforce Loyalty Management are ideal for companies that need to get up and running quickly without having to build an entire system from scratch. Basic mechanics\u2014such as point accrual, tiers, and coupons\u2014are already available within the platform. At the same time, a ready-made platform can limit flexibility: non-standard mechanics and specific business processes must be adapted to its architecture.\r\n<h3>Custom Development<\/h3>\r\nWhen a business has outgrown off-the-shelf templates or has an atypical sales model, it makes more sense to build a system tailored to specific processes\u2014either from scratch or based on a flexible framework. It can be integrated with existing CRM and <a href=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/service\/e-commerce-solutions\/\">e-commerce solutions<\/a>. This type of development requires more time and investment upfront but allows for the implementation of mechanics not supported by off-the-shelf platforms.\r\n<h2>How IWIS Helps: From Mechanism Development to Performance Analytics<\/h2>\r\nAt IWIS, we develop <strong>loyalty systems<\/strong> tailored to specific business processes: we select the mechanics, integrate them with the CRM, and configure performance analytics. If a company has already accumulated purchase history but isn\u2019t yet using it for segmentation and personalization, we can implement BI analytics separately without a complete overhaul of the existing system."},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta_block","cta_title":"Free consultation from IWIS","cta_text":"If you are planning to launch a loyalty program or want to check how effectively your existing system uses data, request a free consultation. We will analyze your sales model, suggest appropriate mechanics, and define the first steps for implementation.","cta_button_label":"Find out","cta_button_url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/contact\/"}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Build a Data-Driven Loyalty Program 2026 | IWIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to create an effective customer loyalty program based on data. Types of programs, performance metrics, CRM integration. Planeta Kino and Good Wine cases from IWIS.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Build a Data-Driven Loyalty Program 2026 | IWIS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to create an effective customer loyalty program based on data. Types of programs, performance metrics, CRM integration. Planeta Kino and Good Wine cases from IWIS.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iwis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IWIS.UKRAINE\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T16:43:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T22:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Content Manager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Content Manager\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Build a Data-Driven Loyalty Program 2026 | IWIS","description":"How to create an effective customer loyalty program based on data. Types of programs, performance metrics, CRM integration. Planeta Kino and Good Wine cases from IWIS.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Build a Data-Driven Loyalty Program 2026 | IWIS","og_description":"How to create an effective customer loyalty program based on data. Types of programs, performance metrics, CRM integration. Planeta Kino and Good Wine cases from IWIS.","og_url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/","og_site_name":"iwis","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IWIS.UKRAINE\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-24T16:43:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-26T22:02:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Content Manager","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Content Manager"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/"},"author":{"name":"Content Manager","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e21d0700bedf0c2ef539d66b34969b6"},"headline":"How to build a data-driven loyalty program","datePublished":"2026-07-24T16:43:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-26T22:02:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/"},"wordCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png","articleSection":["Analytics","CRM","E-commerce"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/","url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/","name":"How to Build a Data-Driven Loyalty Program 2026 | IWIS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png","datePublished":"2026-07-24T16:43:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-26T22:02:58+00:00","description":"How to create an effective customer loyalty program based on data. Types of programs, performance metrics, CRM integration. Planeta Kino and Good Wine cases from IWIS.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/post_1-2-1.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/blog\/data-driven-loyalty-program\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to build a data-driven loyalty program"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/","name":"IWIS","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#organization","name":"IWIS","url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cropped-main-favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cropped-main-favicon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"IWIS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IWIS.UKRAINE\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/iwis-ukraine\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e21d0700bedf0c2ef539d66b34969b6","name":"Content Manager","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a531ea524f9920bc9042dfdc0e2cfbfbd2f1ad4a85a123cba057564614a25ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a531ea524f9920bc9042dfdc0e2cfbfbd2f1ad4a85a123cba057564614a25ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a531ea524f9920bc9042dfdc0e2cfbfbd2f1ad4a85a123cba057564614a25ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Content Manager"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/iwis.io"],"url":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/author\/iwis-content-manager\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10011,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions\/10011"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_profile\/9884"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/46"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/355"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iwis.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}