Ask a regular shopper about her loyalty programmes and she will find three apps on her phone, a few thousand points she has never quite got round to spending, and a vague memory of signing up for several more at various checkouts. Then ask which one actually keeps her coming back, and the answer is specific: the one where rewards come off automatically when she pays, and the one that lets members buy new releases a day early and replies to her questions within the hour. The points she has been saving for months don't come up at all.
That gap tells you most of what is changing in loyalty this year. The headline is usually "brands are moving from discounts to experiences", and it is half right. Loyalty in 2026 is splitting two ways: faster, everyday value on one side, and low-cost recognition, access and experiences on the other. The model losing ground is the one in the middle, where customers slowly collect points towards a distant, generic coupon. Discounts aren't dying; slow, forgettable ones are.
This trends piece closes our Retention & Lifecycle series. Choosing a programme model, and checking whether it really changes behaviour, is covered in loyalty programme design.
What shoppers actually value
Before redesigning anything, it helps to be clear about what the research says, because it contradicts the simplest version of the trend. LoyaltyLion's 2026 consumer research found that discounts remain the most valued loyalty benefit, rated important by 88% of shoppers. But experience and access-based benefits sit much closer behind than many brands assume: member-only pricing at 78%, birthday rewards at 76%, early access to sales at 75%, priority customer support at 69% and early access to new products at 66%. Exclusive online events and content were valued by 60%, and in-store event invitations by 55%.
So customers still want value. What they increasingly reject is value that is slow, complicated or identical to what every competitor offers. And the relationship behind the programme needs work too: one Emarsys survey found the share of consumers describing themselves as loyal to brands fell from 77% in 2022 to 69% in 2024.
Why the middle is dying
The classic points-for-a-coupon programme is struggling for several reasons at once. It's slow. Customers accustomed to instant everything don't want to wait months to reach a reward, and a large share of points go unredeemed. It's generic. When every competitor offers roughly the same percentage back, points stop being a reason to choose you and become a background price feature. It trains the wrong behaviour. Discount-heavy programmes teach customers to wait for offers and attract deal-seekers, eroding margin. And it builds little attachment, at exactly the moment emotional loyalty appears to be weakening.
That combination explains why programmes are moving in two directions at once, rather than simply swapping discounts for experiences.
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Direction one: faster, everyday value
The first shift is towards making rewards immediate and practical. As Forbes described in August 2026, loyalty is moving from aspirational rewards, saved up for something big, towards functional ones that reduce the cost of everyday purchases, with points increasingly used like a flexible currency at checkout. The model is shifting from "earn, earn, earn and redeem" to "earn and redeem".
In practice that means rewards that apply automatically at checkout rather than requiring codes, a first meaningful reward reachable within a purchase or two, member pricing on everyday items, and practical perks such as free shipping or free returns where margins allow. Consumer research regularly finds that people would use rewards more if they were applied automatically, which says a lot about how much friction existing programmes carry.
Direction two: recognition, access and experiences
The second shift is towards benefits that make members feel recognised and connected. For most brands, "experiences" doesn't mean concerts and travel; it means modest, well-chosen access and attention. The table below sets out the main reward types and the role each plays.
| Reward type | Examples | Cost to brand | Best role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generic discounts | Percentage off, coupons | High, scales with sales | Sparingly, as a tool |
| Instant, functional value | Auto-applied rewards, member pricing, free shipping | Moderate | Everyday reason to return |
| Access | Early access, restock priority | Very low | Status for regulars |
| Recognition and service | Priority support, surprises, birthday gifts | Low | Attachment and goodwill |
| Experiences and community | Member content, workshops, events | Low to moderate | Belonging for best customers |
Community is where this gets most interesting. Members who share content, answer each other's questions and feel part of something are far harder to lure away with a slightly better discount, and their content helps win new customers, as covered in getting customers creating content. Loyal members are also natural advocates, which is why loyalty and referral programmes work well together.
The shift Loyalty in 2026 is splitting two ways: faster, everyday value on one side, and low-cost recognition, access and experiences on the other. Discounts aren't dying. Slow, forgettable ones are.
The cost case for recognition
Part of the appeal of access and recognition is economic. Many of these benefits cost the brand far less than their perceived value to the customer, while discounts cost real margin on every order.
A regular member places 6 orders a year at $80 each, $480 in total.
→ Discount-led: 10% off every order = $48 a year in margin given away.
→ Recognition-led: early access to launches (almost free), priority support (a few dollars of staff time), a birthday gift costing $5 to produce, and free shipping on 2 orders at $6 each = roughly $20 a year.
The recognition bundle costs well under half as much. The research above suggests members value many of these benefits highly, although that does not make them worth the same as cash, which is why the point is to test the bundle rather than assume it.
A sensible design keeps some everyday value and replaces blanket discounts with access and recognition for regulars, then checks the result against a holdout group.
Matching benefits to customers
Not every member needs the same treatment. First-time buyers usually need reassurance and a quick early reward to reach a second purchase, the job described in customer onboarding after the sale. Regulars respond to practical, everyday value. Your best customers are often the least in need of discounts and the most receptive to recognition, access and community, as argued in value-based customer segments.
Personalisation makes the difference between a perk that feels thoughtful and one that feels generic, and it runs on data the programme itself collects: purchase history, preferences and engagement. That makes a loyalty programme one of the most valuable sources of first-party data a brand has. For consumables, practical perks such as well-timed replenishment reminders can be part of the member experience too.
One more reason: agents
There is a newer argument for building real attachment. As AI assistants increasingly help people shop, customers may simply tell their agent which brands to prefer, or let it switch to a better-value option, as covered in agentic commerce in 2026. A programme that offers only a percentage back is easy for an agent to beat with a cheaper alternative. Recognition, service and belonging are much harder to compare away, and are exactly the kind of thing a customer might tell their agent to protect.
Measure what actually changes
The same discipline applies as for any loyalty programme: judge it on behaviour, not enrolment. Compare members with a holdout group or with similar customers before and after joining, since the people who join and engage were often your best customers already. Track repeat rate and retention by cohort using cohort analysis, watch redemption and engagement with each benefit, and drop perks nobody uses. When members leave, find out why using churn diagnosis. Brands redesigning a programme often bring in an e-commerce marketing partner to connect the data, the member journeys and the measurement.
Loyalty sits at the end of everything else in retention, which is why it closes this series. As argued in retention is the new growth, the customers you already have are the cheapest growth available, and a good loyalty programme is how you tell them so.
The short version
Loyalty in 2026 isn't simply moving from discounts to experiences. Discounts remain the most valued benefit, rated important by 88% of shoppers in LoyaltyLion's 2026 research, but member pricing, birthday rewards, early access and priority support sit close behind. What is losing ground is the slow, generic middle: points collected for months towards a forgettable coupon, often never redeemed. Programmes are splitting two ways. The first is faster, everyday value, with rewards applied automatically at checkout, quick first rewards and practical perks, reflecting a shift from aspirational to functional rewards. The second is recognition, access and experiences, such as early access, priority service, surprises, member content and community, which often cost far less than blanket discounts. Match benefits to customers, give your best ones recognition rather than bigger discounts, and use programme data to personalise. Build attachment that AI shopping agents can't easily compare away, and measure behaviour with holdouts and cohorts rather than counting sign-ups.
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Explore E-commerce Marketing →Frequently asked questions
Are loyalty programmes really moving away from discounts in 2026?
Partly. Brands are moving away from generic, slow discount programmes, but discounts themselves remain the single most valued loyalty benefit for most shoppers. LoyaltyLion's 2026 consumer research found discounts rated important by 88% of shoppers, with member-only pricing, bonus points, birthday rewards and early access to sales each close behind at around three-quarters. What is changing is the shape of programmes. Many are splitting in two directions: towards faster, everyday functional value, such as rewards that apply instantly at checkout, member pricing and free shipping; and towards low-cost recognition, access and experiences, such as early access, priority service, member content and events. The model losing ground is the one in the middle, where customers slowly accumulate points towards a distant, generic coupon that many never redeem.
What are experiential loyalty rewards?
Experiential loyalty rewards give members something to do, access or feel rather than simply money off. For most brands they are modest and practical rather than lavish: early access to new products or sales, priority restock alerts, priority or personal customer service, member-only content or workshops, invitations to online or in-store events, personalised recommendations or styling, surprise gifts, and recognition of a customer's history with the brand. Some brands add values-based rewards, such as donating points to a cause or earning points for recycling or resale. Their appeal is that they signal status and appreciation, which builds emotional attachment, and many cost the brand far less than their perceived value to the customer. They work best when they fit the category and the customer, so fashion might offer early access to drops, a wellness brand might offer coaching content, and a specialist retailer might offer expert advice.
Why are points programmes losing effectiveness?
Mainly because many feel slow, generic and forgettable. Customers now belong to many programmes but actively engage with only a small share of them, and a large proportion of points are never redeemed, often because the first meaningful reward takes too long to reach or the rules are hard to follow. When every competitor offers a similar percentage back, points stop being a reason to choose one brand over another and start feeling like a standard price feature. Discount-led programmes can also train customers to wait for offers and attract deal-seekers rather than loyal customers, eroding margin. At the same time, surveys suggest emotional brand loyalty has been declining, so a purely transactional programme does little to rebuild attachment. The fix is not necessarily to abandon points, but to make value more immediate and to add recognition and access that give members a reason to feel connected.
How should a brand redesign its loyalty programme for 2026?
Start by looking at what members actually use and value, then redesign in two directions. On the functional side, make value faster and easier: let rewards apply automatically at checkout, shorten the time to a first meaningful reward, and offer everyday benefits such as member pricing or free shipping where margins allow. On the recognition side, add benefits that cost little but signal status and appreciation, such as early access, priority service, restock alerts, member content and occasional surprises, tailored to the customer's history using first-party data. Simplify the rules so members understand them in a sentence. Match the depth of benefits to customer value, giving your best customers recognition rather than ever-larger discounts. And measure honestly, using holdout groups or cohort comparisons to check whether the programme changes behaviour rather than simply rewarding customers who would have bought anyway.
