Antavo’s 2025 Loyalty Report shows AI transforming programs, enhancing CX, boosting ROI, and driving satisfaction. Insights from 2,600 execs and 10,000 consumers!
Antavo, the AI-powered Loyalty Platform, announces today the launch of its Global Customer Loyalty Report 2025, the most comprehensive report in the market examining perspectives on the current landscape of customer loyalty programs, upcoming trends and opportunities, including customer preferences, budget allocation, and ROI benchmarks.
Antavo’s annual Global Customer Loyalty Report surveyed over 2,600 CMOs, Marketing, IT and Loyalty experts and 10.000 consumers worldwide and analyzed more than 230 million customer interactions to help guide brands and retailers with data-driven investments in the age of AI. EPAM was the key partner in the report’s development, providing expert insights and sponsoring the research with 10,000+ consumers worldwide. This effort was further enriched by additional insights from VML (formerly Wunderman Thomspon), Capgemini, Deloitte, Havas CX helia, Acxiom, stratLX and Miltton Insights.
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Key findings include:
- AI is here to stay: 37% of loyalty programs use some form of AI, and 50% plan to use it – so when added up, over 9 out of 10 program owners will use AI in the future. Also, nearly 7 out of 10 program owners (67%) feel comfortable using AI-powered agents to support the management of their loyalty program.
- Almost 30% of program managers still need to learn how to use AI, risking being left behind and losing customers to the competition.
- More than half of respondents see AI as an essential tool for handling consumer inquiries and providing support, enhancing and optimizing loyalty programs, and providing deeper insights into their performance.
- Most program owners agree that AI will allow them to save time by enhancing team productivity and program performance and save money through increased efficiency.
- Loyalty marketing investment peaked, with 31% of marketing budgets dedicated to customer loyalty and CRM to improve customers’ experience in 2024 (22.8% in 2022). Belgium (39%) has the highest spending, followed by Brazil (36%), and the US and UK catch up with 30% and 26%, respectively.
- Given market inflation and the rise in the cost of living, this also aligns with Forrester’s 2025 predictions that even though brand loyalty will decline, usage of loyalty programs will increase, and investment in unifying data for the loyalty and marketing tech stacks will triple.
- 83% of loyalty program owners reported a positive ROI, averaging 5.2x ROI. Germany saw the highest ROI with 6.2X, followed by Canada (5.4X) and the US (5.3X).
- Ease of management is the #1 priority for companies when choosing a loyalty technology. Coupled with innovative features, this shows that companies prioritize long-term value from technologies rather than quick implementation and highly value ease of use and independence from IT.
- Poor integration was identified as a major challenge for 71% globally: 100% for the US, 75% for Germany, followed by the UK (70%) and Canada 66%.
- A booming 69% of companies are satisfied with their loyalty program, rising from 56% in the past 3 years. The leading cause of dissatisfaction is loyalty programs not aligning seamlessly with the brand’s overall customer experience, presenting many opportunities for loyalty managers to invest in programs that prioritize the customer experience to drive satisfaction and beat the competition.
- Reward customization impacts customer engagement: 82% of loyalty program owners who offer reward customization features report a positive impact on customer engagement. Businesses need to act quickly because the competition already plans to tap into this opportunity, with almost 80% of businesses planning to launch a loyalty program with reward customization in the next two years.
- Opportunity to invest in rewards and family benefits: 85% of program owners let members select rewards, but only 44% of loyalty program owners reported offering point pooling and family accounts; 7 out of 10 loyalty program owners who offer account sharing believe that the benefits of this feature outweigh the costs.
- Gamified data collection is gaining traction. When done right, gamified data collection delivers ROI. Seven out of 10 loyalty professionals think the benefits of gamified data collection outweigh the costs, and 76% plan to implement gamification for data collection or enrollment in the next two years.
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Attila Kecsmar, CEO and Co-founder at Antavo, said: “Our report explores the best investment opportunities for loyalty programs and how AI can be used to improve the experience not just for the consumer but also for the brand. Brands are doubling down on loyalty spend as a significant part of their growth and there is a clear focus on retention and offering consumers more personalized rewards, easier access to benefits and a seamless experience across brands. The time is ripe to capitalize on the massive promise of AI to save on resources, and drive hyper-personalized loyalty programs at scale, profitability, and stay ahead of the competition.”
Andrew Doyle, Managing Principal & Practice Head at EPAM, said: “This year’s Global Customer Loyalty Report is much anticipated and more important than ever. AI is moving beyond the hype and into practical use. The focus is moving from ‘what’ to ‘how’, allowing brands to better enable hyper-personalization, contextual engagement, and perceived value management for every member.”
Antavo powers the loyalty programs for brands including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Benefit Cosmetics, Whittard of Chelsea, Yeo Valley and Flying Tiger Copenhagen. The company recently launched Timi AI, the world’s first AI assistant for loyalty programs modeled after a real human employee, to give brands and retailers across industries their own loyalty assistant.
