New Research Proves Customer Loyalty Is the Lifeline Companies Need
January 10, 2023
Antavo launches its latest 2023 Global Customer Loyalty Report and reveals almost 90% of businesses trust that loyalty initiatives will help them overcome the global inflation crisis.
London, UK – Antavo, the Enterprise Loyalty Cloud platform, has released its 2023 Global Customer Loyalty Report, highlighting an increasing reliance on loyalty programs to overcome concerns around inflation and potential recession.
The research serves to help decision makers navigate and identify the investment opportunities of loyalty programs, with a focus on business, customers and wider global issues. Based on the behavioural data from more than 290 million loyalty member actions*, over 600 minutes of qualitative interview and data from over 260 industry professionals:
- 88.5% of respondents trusted loyalty initiatives to help them overcome the current inflation crisis
- 67.7% have plans to increase or significantly increase their investment in customer retention over the inflation crisis and possible recession
- 78.6% of companies with existing loyalty programs are looking to revamp or make significant changes in the next three years – growing from 71.6% last year
- 93.7% agreed that customer loyalty should be the primary focus over customer acquisition due to the current economic climate
Insightful and actionable guidance is provided from leading customer loyalty experts, alongside case studies from global brands including Virgin Red, adiClub by Adidas and American Express.
Key decision makers looking to invest in or revamp their loyalty programs are also able to understand how best to achieve the best ROI, as the data reveals, through the 290 million member actions executed via the Antavo platform in 2022:
- The lifetime value of members who spend points in a loyalty program is 6.3X higher
- Members who redeem personalised offers spend 4.5X more annually
- Program members who redeem partner rewards have 3.4X higher spend
Zsuzsa Kecsmar, Antavo’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer said:
”We are facing a time of great uncertainty. Struck by the looming financial crisis and economic recession, brands and retailers need to invest in loyalty marketing and technology more wisely than ever. Even in such a turbulent economic climate, customer loyalty can be the way out. Companies plan to focus much more on their existing customers and studies from this year forecast that the loyalty management market will grow to $18.2 billion by 2026. But, first, businesses will have to weather the storm of the current economic downturn by investing in their customer retention efforts – and that starts with loyalty.”
Personalisation of customer interactions and experiences was identified as a key requirement for maintaining and future proofing loyalty schemes. Upcoming trends point towards increased strategic partnerships for extended program reach, more environmental social governance (ESG) influenced causes and greater use of card linking for continuing success.
The full report is available to download here.
*Member interactions include actions related to a loyalty program and the wider business logic that is connected to the loyalty program, like earning and burning points and benefits, purchases, challenge completions, advancing in tier structures, referring friends etc.
What is Antavo?
Antavo is the AI loyalty and incentives platform that brings together loyalty, promotions, and agentic AI to turn customers into regulars: the customers who come back on their own, buy more often, and bring others with them. For more than a decade, Antavo has powered identity-led loyalty strategies for brands including SKIMS, Paul Smith, KFC, Flying Tiger, and Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection. Marketers build, change, and launch programs and promotions themselves, without waiting on engineering. Learn more at antavo.com.
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Frequently asked questions about Antavo
What can brands build with Antavo?
Brands use Antavo to run the whole loyalty and incentives program on one platform: points, tiers, challenges, streaks, referrals, clubs, and rewards beyond discounts; promotions and incentives for members and non-members alike, from bonus points and promo codes to bundles and cart-level offers; and agentic AI built in. Everything runs online, in store, on mobile, and in wallet, and marketers launch it themselves.
Who uses Antavo?
Antavo works with mid-market and upper-mid-market brands across fashion, retail, beauty, travel, hospitality, restaurants, and sports in North America and Europe: multi-market, omnichannel brands with a strong identity and customers worth keeping, including Paul Smith, KFC, SKIMS, Rip Curl, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hyatt's Inclusive Collection.
How long has Antavo been around?
Antavo was founded in 2012 and has been building loyalty programs for more than a decade, with teams across Europe and North America serving brands worldwide.
Why do brands switch to Antavo?
Most loyalty programs get stuck: reduced to a discount engine, generic to customers, or too rigid to evolve. Antavo removes those compromises. Brands get a program that feels unmistakably their own, loyalty and incentives on one platform, and the depth to handle tiers, expirations, refunds, and many markets at scale. Their own marketers run it: a tier change in an afternoon, live when they press the button.
How does Antavo use AI?
Antavo's agentic AI is built in, not bolted on. Two named agents do the work: the AI Loyalty Expert, which turns your ideas into a build-ready program, and the AI Analyst, which turns your data into clear answers and reports. Both work inside Antavo or connect to Claude and ChatGPT, and every answer is grounded in your own program and data.
What does Antavo integrate with?
Antavo is API-first with real-time webhooks and deep pre-built integrations, from Shopify, Klaviyo, Braze, and Bloomreach to the CRMs, CDPs, ESPs, and POS systems you already use. Antavo plugs into the stack you already run rather than replacing it.
