The loyalty paradox in 2026
According to the EY 2025 Loyalty Market Study, 92% of consumers belong to at least one loyalty program, and nearly half belong to more than five. Sign-up numbers have never been higher. Yet people feel less attached to brands. How they feel about them is getting worse, and so is their willingness to spend, year after year.
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According to the EY 2025 Loyalty Market Study, 92% of consumers belong to at least one loyalty program, and nearly half belong to more than five. Sign-up numbers have never been higher. Yet people feel less attached to brands. How they feel about them is getting worse, and so is their willingness to spend, year after year.
That's the 2026 paradox: the more points we hand out, the less loyalty we build. Discounts, points collection, and cashback are now taken for granted, and by themselves they no longer make a brand stand out.
We've put together a practical guide on the three shifts reshaping loyalty: transactional to emotional, purchases to lifestyle, brand-centric to value-aligned. It also includes the Maturity Ladder, to see where your program stands today, and a six-step framework to help it grow.
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