Few US and Canadian loyalty program members are very satisfied with their program experience, per results from a Bond Brand Loyalty study [download page] produced in association with Visa. Based on a survey of 12,000 US and 7,000 Canadian consumers, the study details the top 5 drivers of program satisfaction across various sectors.
Overall, the top attribute is the loyalty program fitting with brand and company expectations, though only 39% of members feel that this applies to their program. Leading brands on this measure include Amazon Prime and Nordstrom Rewards.
The level of effort needed to earn a redemption is also a key factor, ranked 4th overall. It’s especially important for banking cashback/rebate programs, where it is the second-ranked driver. It’s also of above-average importance in the travel, pharmacy/grocer, and CPG sectors, where it ranks as the third-most important factor in program satisfaction.
The ease of redemption is a closely-related factor that rounds out the top 5 drivers. Its importance is particularly acute in the travel sector, where its the second-ranked driver.
Meanwhile, some other program attributes fall outside of the top 5 overall, but are within that list for specific sectors. Those include the ease of participation in the program (#15 overall; #3 for the co-brand credit sector) and the program/brand reps making the member feel special/recognized (#22 overall; #4 in the CPG sector).
The results are based on an evaluation of 58 attributes across more than 280 loyalty programs. More results from the study are available for download here.