Loyalty programme usage soars as cost of living bites

Cash-strapped consumers are using loyalty programmes more than ever before to combat the impact of rising food and energy costs each month. The latest South African Loyalty Whitepaper by Truth and BrandMapp shows that 82% of South Africans are using loyalty programmes — up from 76% in 2023 — while 35% of consumers say they are using loyalty programmes more than last year.

The whitepaper is a comprehensive annual snapshot of the loyalty habits of more than 35,000 South African adults with a gross monthly income of R10,000 or more, combined with 8,000 South Africans whose monthly household income falls just under R10,000.

Amanda Cromhout, founder and CEO of Truth and the author of the whitepaper, says there is no question that loyalty programmes are playing a significantly bigger role in the daily spending patterns of South African consumers. “Using loyalty programmes more is the third most likely initiative that consumers will use to deal with the rising cost of living,” she says.

Clicks ClubCard has regained its position as the most used loyalty programme in South Africa for the fifth year since the whitepaper series began in 2015, with 80% of consumers who use loyalty programmes claiming to use the ClubCard programme.

The whitepaper says loyalty programmes help consumers alleviate financial strain, with 26% of economically active South Africans and 19% of mass market consumers using loyalty programmes to deal with the rising cost of living.

Clicks Group chief marketing officer Melanie Van Rooy says the success of ClubCard lies in its simplicity, accessibility, easily redeemable rewards, relevance and differentiated positioning. Members can earn up to 10% cashback, one of the highest earn rates in the retail vertical. These rewards can be accessed across a network of 14 partners, including Engen, Discovery, Sorbet, ARC and Spec-Savers.

Since the inception of the programme, ClubCard has returned more than R7.5bn to members in cashback. More than 90% of this cashback is redeemed, says Van Rooy. “We’ve seen a shift in cashback redemption in recent years. ClubCard members don’t spend their cashback on luxuries but rather on staples such as soap and toilet paper, and often delay making purchases until cashback has been issued.”

Cashback is the preferred loyalty benefit, followed by birthday offers, points and double points, says the whitepaper. This latest study shows that South Africans still don’t like their points to expire.

Economically active South Africans use an average of 10.3 programmes, with women using slightly more at just over 11. Mass market consumers use on average 8.3 programmes.

The whitepaper confirms that loyalty programmes do influence behaviour, including where consumers shop (77%), buy fuel (51%), bank (46%), shop for clothes (32%) and shop for health and pharmaceutical products (30%); which restaurants and coffee shops they frequent (26%) and which airlines they use (18%); the hotels they stay at (16%); and where they buy insurance (10%).

In the retail sector, the most used loyalty programmes are Clicks ClubCard (80%), followed by Checkers Xtra Savings (76%) and Pick n Pay Smart Shopper (68%). In financial services, FNB eBucks is the most used programme among economically active consumers, while Capitec Live Better ranks the highest among mass market consumers.

In the restaurant and quick service restaurant category, Spur Family Club is the most used, followed by Wimpy Rewards. In the telecoms category, VodaBucks Rewards enjoys slightly higher usage among all consumers than MTN YelloBucks.

In the fuel category, Shell V+ is the most used programme, followed by Sasol Rewards and BP Rewards.

The whitepaper also reveals the most valued loyalty programme. Economically active consumers say Discovery Vitality is the one programme they can’t live without while mass market consumers say for them it’s Capitec Live Better.

The 2024/2025 South African Loyalty Whitepaper can be downloaded at www.truth.co.za.

The big take-out: Loyalty programmes do influence shopping behaviour.