About 18 months ago, Ed Braswell, president and CEO of edo, a leader in personalized card-linked offers, told Loyalty360 that industry research estimated there would be 450 million credit cards linked to card-linked offers in the next three years, generating $3.5 billion in annual revenue.
“There is great momentum in the card-linked offer space,” Braswell said in September 2013. “We continue to see the acceleration of cards and banks participating and the acceleration of merchants participating.”
Braswell was prescient because a new study from CardLinx shows that card-linking is growing rapidly and, along with it, customer engagement levels.
More than 50 of the largest companies in the space participated in the new study, and a whopping 92% reported increases in the consumer use of card-linked offers in the past 12 months. CardLinx will present its research at a forum in New York on April 28 called, “From Search to Purchase: Card-Linked Commerce.”
Card-linking—the practice of associating deals, offers, and loyalty rewards with a consumer’s choice of payments card—eliminates the need for paper coupons or promotion codes.
Here are some key takeaways from the study:
More than 92% report more consumers using card-link offers in the past 12 months.
More than 95% report more merchants using card-linked offers in the past 12 months.
Nearly a third report card-linked offers growing at more than 30% annually.
More than 40% report conversion rates higher than 10% for card-linked marketing campaigns.
What’s more, the research sheds light on merchant categories, consumer preferences, and reward program approaches.
“The results from this new study demonstrate the accelerating momentum in card-linking, and the real value it delivers to consumers and merchants,” said CardLinx President and CEO Silvio Tavares. “Major advancements in payments over the past year and heightened expectations among consumers and merchants have drastically increased card-linking’s value proposition of better targeting, measurable ad spend ROI, and a seamless customer experience.”