Food Business News

A new "census" by COLLOQUY (an association of publishing, education and research resources devoted to the global loyalty-marketing industry) reports membership in U.S. loyalty rewards programs reached 1.808bn.

The figure is 24% more than the tally in 2007. The categories surveyed were Car Rentals, Cruise Lines and Mass Merchandisers. The average U.S. household belongs to 14.1 loyalty programs but is active in only 6.2. In 2007, those figures stood at 12 and 4.7 respectively. This translates to 792.8MM active memberships in U.S.-based loyalty programs. What constitutes an “active” membership varies across companies, but typically includes some participatory involvement in the past 12 months, including earning points on a purchase or redeeming them for a reward.

While the number of loyalty programs per household rose, active membership remained essentially flat at 43.8% ( compared with 39.5% in 2007). A billion inactive memberships means that many company databases are essentially useless. The report suggests the emphasis switch from sheer numbers to adding value. One of the editors writs “Conditions are ripe for marketers to use loyalty data across the enterprise, enhance value propositions and adopt innovative loyalty models such as coalitions, as they seek to revive lapsed members and turn engaged members into profitable, loyal customers.”

Other industries covered in the 2009 census include Airlines, Drug Stores, Department Stores, Financial Services, Fuel Convenience, Gaming, Grocery, Hotel, Restaurant, Specialty Retail and the always-popular “Other.” Membership rankings by industry (in millions):

• Financial Services 422.0
• Airline 277.4
• Specialty Retail 191.3
• Hotel 161.8
• Grocery 153.3
• Mass Merchants 124.8
• Gaming 106.0
• Dept. Stores 92.8
• Drug Stores 73.9
• Fuel Convenience 51.2
• Restaurant 13.7
• Car Rental and Cruises 10.7
• Other 127.9

The entire census was provided to subscribers of this service.

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