Loyalty rebuild: bringing back relevance after programme devaluation

Context

The loyalty programme has existed for 5 years. Accumulated points balance ~$8M. Redemption rate <2% per month. The CFO devalued points twice (explained as “catalog update”, in essence — value cut). Every devaluation — a wave of negative reviews and a churn spike.

CMO requested a restart without fully discrediting the programme.

Diagnostic (4 weeks)

• Redemption catalog: 80% — low-value generic items (keyrings, bags), 20% — relevant (mobile data, partner discounts).
• Partner ecosystem: 4 partners, 3 of them semi-active.
• Communication: generic “you have 5000 points”, with no context about value.
• Devaluation history destroyed trust. Customers see points as “they will likely zero them out”.

Approach (12 months)

Months 1-2. No-devaluation commitment. Public statement: “3 years without any devaluation, written guarantee”. Without it, no rebuild succeeds.

Months 2-5. Partner expansion. 4 → 18 partners in 6 months. Focus on high-frequency relevant categories (food delivery, transport, e-commerce).

Months 3-6. Personalised redemption nudge. Every customer with balance >threshold + idle 90 days receives a specific offer, not a generic “use your points”.

Months 6-9. Tier system. Bronze/Silver/Gold with distinct benefits. Bronze — everyone, Silver/Gold by spend.

Months 9-12. Birthday offers, surprise redemptions, partner exclusive events.

Results

After 12 months:

• Redemption rate: 1.8% → 11% per month.
• NPS post-redemption: +24 points.
• Loyalty-active customers (redeemed in 12 months): 12% → 47%.
• Churn in loyalty-active vs inactive: 2.3% vs 5.8%.
• Partner-driven engagement: 60% of redemptions via partners.

What is critical

No-devaluation commitment. Without it trust never recovers.

Partner relevance. A generic catalog does not work. Customers want food delivery discounts, not another keyring.

Personalised nudge. Generic “use points” — spam, ignored.

Tier system changes perceived value (Gold feels not like “I have a lot of points”, but like “I am in a premium club”).

What would not have worked

Another devaluation for financial balance. Trust would have been completely destroyed.

Replacing the programme with a new brand. Customers see the continuity, distrust transfers.

Loyalty without partners. Telecom-only redemption (mobile data) — not enough for engagement.

How SamaraliSoft engages

An engagement of this class — 9-12 months. Diagnostic 3-4 weeks, partner ecosystem build 4-6 months, ongoing operation.

Related

• /en/solutions/telecom-loyalty-platform/ — loyalty platform
• /en/insights/telecom-loyalty-economics/ — loyalty economics
• /en/use-cases/telecom-loyalty-redemption-nudge/ — redemption nudge
• /en/insights/telecom-customer-trust/ — trust