2026
9
UK Customer Loyalty in Retailing: 2026
2026-06-18T10:01:45+00:00
REPC5DA7C72_380E_4C0A_9A7C_72380EDC0AB8
2195
194170
[{"name":"Retail","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/retail"},{"name":"Market Intelligence Reports","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/report-type\/market-intelligence-reports"},{"name":"UK","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/markets\/uk-market-research"}]
Report
en_GB
While 55% of consumers belong to at least four schemes, 58% have only actively used three or fewer in the past six months, highlighting a growing challenge for brands to…
UK
Retail
simple

UK Customer Loyalty in Retailing: 2026

"As loyalty schemes become more complex with more rewards and tiers added, the most successful ones will simplify the user experience with hyper-personalisation at the fore as an enablement, creating a more intuitive and engaging journey for members."

Sam Nguyen, Senior Retail Analyst

Sam Nguyen, Senior Retail Analyst

Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for customer loyalty in retailing – UK
    • Opportunities
    • Balance instant rewards with progressive value exchange
    • Cultivate loyalty through hyper-personalised assistance
    • Simplicity is key for patronage
  2. THE MARKET

    • Persistent cautious mentality means price sensitivity continues
    • AI could reshape the loyalty experience
    • More loyalty schemes to be opened up to under-18s
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Overview of the loyalty scheme landscape
    • Nine in 10 are members of a scheme
    • Membership grows across paid and non-paid schemes
    • Consumers become more selective with the schemes they sign up to
    • Graph 1: repertoire of membership and regularly used loyalty/reward schemes, 2026
    • Grocery loyalty schemes continue to dominate…
    • Graph 2: year-on-year changes in grocery loyalty/reward scheme membership and usage, 2025-26
    • …with Lidl Plus being the standout performer
    • Graph 3: grocery loyalty/reward scheme membership and usage, 2026
    • Fragmented BPC market translate to BPC loyalty scheme landscape
    • Graph 4: year-on-year changes in BPC loyalty/reward scheme membership and usage, 2025-26
    • Improving the loyalty/reward scheme experience
    • Three in five have encountered issues with loyalty schemes
    • Increase engagement to reduce friction and unlock better data
    • Graph 5: repertoire of issues with loyalty/reward schemes in the last six months, by repertoire of schemes used recently, 2026
    • Instant gratification is important to boost engagement…
    • Graph 6: most important loyalty benefit types when shopping at…, 2026
    • …but not enough for long-term loyalty
    • Learn from global examples of tiered schemes
    • Boosting loyalty appeal through personalisation and AI
    • Personalised rewards make consumers feel valued, with them willing to share data for such rewards
    • Embrace personalisation to detangle…
    • …and enhance the loyalty experience
    • Consumers trust AI to inform but not yet to act
    • Driving loyalty with core retail strengths
    • Loyalty doesn’t stop at the scheme
    • Increase patronage by prioritising location and accessibility
    • Simplify pricing structure for peace of mind
  4. INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Grocers with the broadest range of outlet types have the highest loyalty
    • Graph 7: comparison of selected loyalty-based KPIs for leading grocery retailers among the SpendMapper cohort, 2026
    • BPC loyalty level correlates with retailer scale
    • Graph 8: comparison of selected loyalty-based KPIs for leading BPC retailers among the SpendMapper cohort, 2026
    • A slew of new launches across sectors…
    • …including within existing schemes
    • More ways to earn and spend points
    • Meaningful rewards
    • Streamline the loyalty experience
  5. APPENDIX

    • Report scope
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Repertoire analysis methodology
    • TURF methodology
    • How to read: TURF analysis
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Snoop SpendMapper methodology
    • Abbreviations

While 55% of consumers belong to at least four schemes, 58% have only actively used three or fewer in the past six months, highlighting a growing challenge for brands to keep their members engaged.

The loyalty scheme experience is far from seamless, with nearly three in five encountering issues within the past six months. As members diversify their loyalty across multiple schemes, their engagement with any single one likely diminishes, which means slower point accumulation and less data for personalised offers. At the same time, an over-focus on instant gratification through discounts, a popular feature of loyalty schemes, can reduce emotional loyalty and increase price-led switching.

Progressive loyalty structures that reward spend and engagement over time offer a meaningful way to increase brand stickiness, catering to a demand for status-driven recognition and differentiated value. Meanwhile, improved personalisation capabilities can reduce the effort required to engage with loyalty schemes, moving from shoppers actively managing rewards to retailers delivering value seamlessly.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Membership and use of leading UK customer loyalty/reward schemes across sectors
  • Key trends in new launches and innovations within loyalty/reward schemes
  • Opportunities to improve the loyalty experience, focusing on common issues and the types of rewards in demand and how those vary by typical basket
  • How to leverage a demand for personalisation to boost schemes’ appeal, including the role of AI
  • Motivations for loyalty to a retailer besides loyalty/reward schemes

Download Report Summary
£ 2,195 (Excl.Tax)
  • Pay via credit card or invoice
  • PDF, PPT and Excel download delivered instantly
  • Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us

Trusted by global industry leaders

Deutsch logo

One of the biggest challenges we face is the need to get smart on a business or category real quick.

We are talking to clients who live and breathe their category every day and the expectation is that we will be able to get caught up very quickly, and bring the thinking that can help them.

We need to do that often in a matter of days, so it’s not a small ask. Mintel gives us a very articulate view of category conditions and does so at the speed we need it.

Jeff White, Business Development Director, Deutsch
Epsilon logo

We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.

By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.

For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.

Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon
Amazon logo

Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.

Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.

Ngozi Ngonadi-Nkwoji, Senior Marketing Manager, Amazon
Tenth Wave logo

Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.

When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.

The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.

Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
Mediacom logo

Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.

It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.

Pauline Robson, Managing Partner, Mediacom

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us