Top 10 Loyalty Apps of 2022

Do you wish to own a loyalty program app? Are you looking for the best loyalty apps to get an idea of your own?

If so, then you have landed at the right platform!

A study of the 1970s performed by European researchers researching B2B marketing stated that businesses that successfully form close working relationships with their customers tend to perform better than others. Said that, a loyalty program app was developed with the objective of building strong relations with customers. Fast forward to 2022, according to Statista, one consumer in the USA belongs to at least 14 rewards programs. 

Thus through the rewards apps, the businesses run their loyalty programs digitally that enable the customer to receive reward points in one or the other way. As a result, the customers tend to become more loyal to a brand and bring a more significant share of profit to the business holder.

Thus, having a mobile loyalty solution app is a win-win arrangement for both; supplier and customer. We at Idea Usher master the skill of creating such apps that unleash the maximum profitability for businesses. Before getting into the developing phase, let’s analyze what the top loyalty programs embed that makes them successful and unique.

Let’s get started!

Do loyalty apps boost sales?

A study by Bond revealed that over 70% of consumers recommend a brand if it has a good loyalty program. Also, several market researchers attested that loyalty card members tend to spend more. The underlying reason for this are the incentives through which users earn free stuff and discounts. 

So, being a business owner who wants to upsell his sales, knowing the benefits of the rewards program apps is a must. 

Check out the Benefits of Loyalty apps:

Get your customers back 

According to eMarketer research, 58.7% of internet users believed that rewards programs are one of the most critical aspects of the shopping experience. So, we can say customers expect rewards from the businesses for their loyalty. Having a loyalty program app is one way to retain and gain customers. 

Existing Customers Buy More

A report by Markinblog reveals that the probability of making a sale to the existing customer is 3x to 35x higher than driving to a new one. According to top marketers the existing customers tend to spend 67% more than new customers. 

As per Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 principle, 80% of a business’s profit is earned from 20% of its customers. This 20% are the loyal customers who time and again come back whenever an incentive is offered. 

Creates Brand Advocates

A good loyalty program gives customers a great brand experience. Customers will suggest their family and friends about the business if they are pleased with it. Thus, brands must thank their existing customers for bringing in new clients by offering them incentives. The consumers become unpaid marketers as a result of this inducement. 

To attest this, a study by Business Wire says that an average American consumer is likely to tell 11 more people his positive shopping experience.

Increases Sales

Increasing customer retention by 5% can boost business sales by 25% to 95%. A loyalty app’s primary goal is to boost customer retention and persuade customers to choose a brand over its competitors.

Free Customer Insights

Having holdover customer insights is critical for a business to stay ahead of its competitors in the long run. A loyalty app can be used to keep track of the customers. By looking at the sales figures, one can figure out what the highest sales period is. Brands can take advantage of all of this without devoting business resources to customer research. Customer insights, when utilized correctly, can form the foundation of a good growth strategy.

Customers’ email addresses and phone numbers are obtained when they sign up for loyalty apps. This can be used by businesses to build a customer database for marketing emails and communications. 

Also Read: How to create a Loyalty Program App?

Overview of 10 Top Customer Loyalty Apps in the Market

Speaking of the top-performing loyalty program apps, let’s have a quick review on such top 10 customer loyalty apps known for being perfect solutions that have successfully turned their visitors into loyal customers.

Let’s check out:

Starbucks 

Launched in 2009, the Starbucks loyalty program app established itself as the trailblazer with its perfectly performing app among the gigantic restaurant chains. Twenty-four million active users in the USA alone, the industry observers rated the Starbuck loyalty app the most popular among the major restaurant franchises. Their solution is perceived to perform very well in terms of user engagement, customer experience, and the digital world. 

Key features: 

• Highly user-friendly user interface
• Easy signup, order, and payment process
• Great integration of other apps like Spotify.
• Simplified tracking insights to users regarding their reward points.
• Multiple payment forms
• Map of stores
• Share gifts and rewards with friends
• Inbox, History, and iMessage available
• Sale alerts

Pros 

• Occasional free food and free drinks
• Birthday rewards
• Access to earn stars outside of Starbucks coffeehouses

Cons:

• Earning new and regaining the old stars is not valid on all products
• Compulsory signup for promotional offers to gain access to special offers.

Nike

Joined the world of mobile apps when the first iPhone came out, Nike owns nine mobile solutions in the app store. Nike’s loyalty program app ranks ninth among the big online brands with the most loyal customers. Available on both iOS and Android devices, Nike’s rewards program app is reported to have added 70 million more users till 2020 who spent three times more than the guest customers on the websites.

The app goes beyond being just a loyalty program; it brings exclusive shopping privileges to members once they sign up and much more. From getting access to sporting events’ tickets to exclusive products to expert advice on exercise and training, the app offers an array of benefits.  

Key Features

• Straightforward user interface
• Integration to fitness tracking platforms
• Loyalty program can be accessed across Nike apps

Pros:

• Early access to new and exclusive products
• Invitation to member-only events
• Special rewards on birthdays
• Free delivery

Cons:

• Too many apps create confusion
• No opportunities for re-engagement

Domino’s

After Starbuck, Domino’s loyalty app is the second most popular in the restaurant industry. With more than 40 million app users, the app grabbed a huge slice of mobile sales in 2020. Other than offering exclusive discounts, the app is popular for its breakthrough technology and innovation. 

Embedded with the identification AI technology, the app identifies every kind of pizza that the member eats and then rewards them for doing so. Not just for Domino’s pizza, the app rewards for every pizza the member eats. 

Key Features

• Easily place orders via the app.
• Simplified navigation through the interface
• The multi-channel reward feature allows redeeming rewards from any channel.
• An inbuilt game named “Piece of the Pie Pursuit” to earn loyalty points.
• Gives customer insights.

Pros:

• Get exclusive pizza deals, promotions, and offers.
• Faster check out

Cons:

• Intensive competition of the same market
• Changing customer habits towards food

Sephora

The app has 17 million members in North America alone. Sephora’s “Beauty Insider” emerged as one of the genius marketing strategies that helped Sephora to boost its customer engagement and retention rate incredibly. 

Listed in the most downloaded apps, Sephora’s loyalty program app empowered Sephora to carve a niche for itself in the gigantic market. The program resulted in driving 80% of sales for the brand, and year-over-year, it continues to expand its string of loyal customers and powerful brand advocates. 

Key Features

• An easy-to-use and highly appealing user interface
• Integration with the retail stores and its website
• Conventional point system( rewards the customer on every purchase they make)
• Three-tiered rewards programs named Insider(free), VIB(paid), and VIB Rouge (paid), each offering different rewards and benefits. 
• Available on both iOS and Android

Pros:

• Easy to redeem points for gift cards, discounts, etc.
• Birthday gifts, special recommendations, free delivery, and many more perks
• The simplified buying process with reviews available

Cons:

• Paid rewards program
• Benefits are not the same for all the members.

Amazon

Needing no introduction, the Amazon app has loyalty members spread over different parts of the globe. The industry analysts found that the Amazon prime members spent four times more than other Amazon customers producing the lion’s share of Amazon’s revenue. Available on both Android and iOS, the Amazon loyalty program app offers thousands of benefits to its members. 

Even with the annual membership fee of $119, the first-year retention rate was as high as 93% giving a great boost to Amazon’s Prime member loyalty. Also, analysts observed that 85% of users visited the platform every week, out of which 45% made a weekly purchase. 

Key Features

• Highly user-friendly interface
• Tracking insights of rewards is very easy 
• Inbuilt comprehensive security features
• Other platform integration

Pros:

• No annual fee or foreign transaction fees
• 5% back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases
• Easily redeem rewards on Amazon.com or for cash, gift cards, or travel  

Cons:

• Only available to Amazon Prime member
• Potentially high APR

Barnes & Noble

The next app that made to this list is the Famous book retailer Barnes & Noble loyalty app. The app is a paid program that offers value to its customers with attractive discounts, free shipping, and other benefits. Known as the “VIP program,” users have to pay $25 to join the loyalty program of Barnes & Noble. Other than offering a bestseller’s collection, the app brings several offers and discounts for users. Users can easily locate stores through the app.

Key Features

• Highly-friendly user interface
• Available on iOS 
• Early access to sales and book events

Pros:

• Free shipping to members without any minimum purchase prerequisite
• Special birthday offers
• $50 in coupons for signing up
• 2-month free trial membership

Cons:

• Not available on Android
• Membership discounts are not good at any on-campus stores. 
• Restrictions do apply. Make sure to read the terms of service.

Dunkin Donuts

Introduced in January 2014, the Dunkin Donuts rewards loyalty program app surpassed the milestone of 10 million downloads. Dunkin’ Donuts rewards app offers rewards, gift cards, menus, nutritional facts, store locators, and on-the-go Ordering. The app has a highly powerful interface whose look and feel remain consistent with the brand characteristics.

Key Features

• Easy to user interface
• Coupons overview, Menu & nutrition tables
• Map of stores with “near me” function 
• Order On-The-Go 

Pros

• Registration is not required to enter the app
• Informative tutorial by application first launch

Cons

• No low inventory indicator

Fivestars 

With more than 30 million users, FiveStars’s app has helped local businesses to drive more customers. The app allows users to get rewarded at more than 12,000 local brands through this one app. Embedded with powerful, intelligent automation technology, the app makes the rewarding process easier for users. The app keeps track of all customers to automatically send them rewards once they reach a threshold in their reward journey. 

Key Features

• Dedicated Fivestars Dashboard
• Earnable points and gifts on purchases
• Insights into customer’s preferences
• Easy tracking

Pros:

• Fully integrates with POS, signup, rewards
• Customers are automatically recognized
• Simplified navigation
• On-screen tipping (touchscreens)
• Customers have the option to choose their reward

Cons:

• No notifications to use the collected points 
• No online pricing

The Body Shop

Available in more than 2600 locations across the world, “The Body Shop” app adds great value to the shopping experience. The app users receive tailored offers, invitations to special events, and several vouchers. Not only does the app have deeper value systems for its customers, but it also values the protection of the environment.

The loyalty program allows the shoppers to donate their rewards to “Born Free USA”, an esteemed charity for animal welfare. Also, environmentally-conscious customers can make donations to the USA’s “National Parks Conservation Association” (NPCA) as well.

Key Features

• Available on both iOS and Android
• User-friendly interface
• Push notifications feature available in the app
• Easy to locate stores and view product lists on the app.
• Notifies the customer of offers when they are near the store using the location data.
• Widget to check the rewards without opening the app.

Pros:

• Easy tracking of reward points
• Faster and user-friendly checkout journey

Cons:

• Intense competition
• Search functionality can be improved

Shopkick

Entered the market in 2009, Shopkick’s app now entertains more than 6 million users. The customers discover new products scan receipts to earn rewards making Shopkick the most utilized shopping app. The app is partnered with major retailers such as Amazon, Starbucks, Huggies, Walmart, and many more. 

With Shopkick, customers get rewards also called kicks just on entering a store. Further, they get kicks for checking and purchasing items.

Key features

• Easy to redeem digital gift cards
• Earnable reward points online and in-store
• Rewards earned on entering the store.
• Simplified navigation through the app
• Easy to use

Pros:

• Sign up bonus
• Get more than $1 at each store visit
• Referral bonus
• Low minimum withdrawal threshold 

Cons:

• Rewards are not the same for all payment channels
• Very low payout for watching videos 
  

How is a loyalty app rated?

As discussed above, loyalty apps come in different shapes and features. 

To determine how successful a loyalty app does in the market, here’s a quick rundown through the factors:

• User reviews
• Demos & trials availability
• Price range
• Product features & functionality
• Points & payment
• Levels & engagement
• Hidden offers
• Special offers
• Rewards & points
• Achievements & Rewards

Future of Loyalty program apps 

Loyalty programs began in the 1700s when shops offered consumers copper tokens that they could redeem for future purchases. Like this, many other sectors and categories followed in the footsteps of the initial “frequent buyer program.” Over 200 hundred years later, fast forward to 2022, 80% of businesses have a loyalty program, with members accounting for 43% of yearly sales.

But with technology transforming at such a rapid pace, owning the conventional loyalty apps can make the business stagnate. As the concept of loyalty is evolving, thus evolution is necessary. The kind of unwavering brand loyalty that drives customers to go out of their way to spend more of their hard-earned money is shifting dramatically.

It’s a simple fact that more brands are vying for your client’s loyalty. Experiences that formerly distinguished a brand as “best in class” are now outmoded and serve as early warning signs of a brand’s demise. Brands are being judged across industries, devices, and continents.

A study by Bond revealed that 95% of loyalty program members wish to engage with a brand’s program through emerging technologies. Thus, the future of loyalty program apps depends on how well a business can induce personalization, the right technology, utility creation, and brand transparency in the app. Leaving no stone unturned in customer experience is the way businesses can keep the ball in their courts. And for developing such a future-oriented loyalty program app, there is no better place than Idea Usher. 

Do you want to have your own loyalty app? 

Brands employ loyalty applications to run their loyalty programs online, resulting in increased sales, simplicity of use and reach. It also encourages customer interaction by allowing businesses to send push alerts or text messages to customers about special offers and other information.

This list’s top ten loyalty apps for 2022 have shown to have innovative concepts and inject some new life into loyalty programs. However, developing such apps can be highly complex and expensive. 

Getting help from a development partner like Idea Usher can take off the load from your shoulders easily. Having years of expertise and the right skill set, we tend to deliver what is expected from us at the right time following the right process. We deliver the best because we have the greatest backend developers and end-to-end solution makers. Our passion and experience speak words about the viral and cost-effective applications we’ve created.

Connect with Idea Usher today to become an owner of a highly functional and profit-generating loyalty app!

Final thoughts

Businesses are redefining their connections with customers as they adapt to meet ever-changing consumer expectations, which have been affected by the epidemic and the market’s ongoing digital change. While some pandemic tendencies from the previous two years will definitely persist, and new technologies will undoubtedly provide new obstacles, brands can prevail by being agile and cultivating deep, one-to-one consumer relationships.

As we look forward, despite the pandemic’s lingering disruption, brands and agencies will continue to respond in imaginative and sensitive ways. We believe that loyalty apps will be a viable technique for obtaining excellent business outcomes in the coming years. Therefore to experience outcomes, contact Idea Usher and get the best loyalty app developed. 

For more information and a detailed understanding of the application development process, you can contact them at.

Email: [email protected]

Phone Numbers : (+91)9463407140, (+91)8591407140, and (+1)7329624560

FAQ

How to build a loyalty program app?

To design a loyalty solution app with a lot of helpful functionality that allows you to reward your loyal clients. 

To do so, follow these steps:

1. Make a thorough project specification.
2. Recruit and train your development staff
3. Construct the necessary infrastructure
4. Make a task list
5. Get things started.

How do you promote a loyalty app?

You must first get your word out, whether you have established a loyalty app for your eCommerce firm or any other form of business. To attract people to the app, use email marketing campaigns, social media, SMS, and traditional advertising. Make sure your pricing is competitive, and use user feedback to improve your software.

How do mobile apps aid in customer retention?

Mobile apps not only aid in the development of strong client relationships but also create data and provide insights into customer preferences and behavior. Track in-app activity helps in determining the kind of content an app’s consumers are most engaging in and liking. As a result, this generated data is used to improve sales and marketing efforts.

How important is having a loyalty app?

Customer loyalty boosts earnings, enhances sales performance, and allows for long-term expansion. Therefore, a well-designed and well-implemented loyalty program may help you keep current customers, recruit new ones, reduce turnover, and increase revenues.