Census shows 45% growth in drug store membership, but fuel and convenience membership fell.
U.S. retailers—led by department, drug and specialty stores—have captured the spotlight in the 2013 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census.
Department Stores achieved 70% growth in loyalty program memberships since the 2011 COLLOQUY Census, far surpassing the 26.7% rate of growth in loyalty programs across all sectors tabulated in the 2013 Census. The number of Department Store memberships is 193.9 million.
Drug Store memberships grew an impressive 45% since 2011 to a total of 142.4 million. Grocery loyalty programs, conversely, are wilting, with 172.4 million memberships that represent a 1% contraction from 2011.
Gas prices are up but memberships in fuel and convenience store loyalty programs are not. Fuel and convenience program membership plunged 21% to 25.3 million in the 2013 Census.
Memberships in Specialty Retail programs rose to 360.5 million for a 26% increase since 2011, and Specialty Retail is positioned to pass Airline programs (at 371.2 million memberships) to take second place, behind only Financial Services, in the rankings of loyalty program memberships by sector.
COLLOQUY’s latest count shows that the average U.S. household holds 21.9 memberships in loyalty programs but is active in 9.5 of those. In the 2011 Census, the numbers were 18.4 and 8.4.
The 2013 Census shows that total membership in U.S. loyalty marketing programs across all sectors is 2.647 billion, a 26.7% increase over the 2.089 billion memberships in 2011.
“As the economy slowly breathes new life, loyalty programs have gained increased awareness,” said Bulking Up author Jeff Berry, senior director, knowledge development and application at LoyaltyOne, and COLLOQUY research director. “We expect continued growth as increasingly sophisticated programs revitalize engagement with existing members and attract new participants.”
In other significant findings, the Financial Services sector has blossomed again, reaching 548.3 million memberships, representing a 27.9% growth rate over 2011.
For sheer growth, the Restaurant sector impressed in 2013, reaching 26.5 million memberships for an explosive 171% gain over 2011. Hotel loyalty memberships rose 26% to 223.6 million, Airline programs achieved a 14% gain to 371.2 million.
COLLOQUY is the research arm of LoyaltyOne, a global leader in the design and implementation of coalition loyalty programs, customer analytics and loyalty services. The COLLOQUY Loyalty Census previously has been published in 2000, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
