It’s been said before but bears repeating: it’s a fascinating time to be in the loyalty business. Consumers have more sway and authority than ever, and competition for their attention is fierce. Which makes it disheartening to see the rising costs of loyalty rewards force a large portion of loyalty programs to move away from what actually earns loyalty: getting people to redeem points and miles.
There are hundreds of thousands of loyalty programs in the US right now. Colloquy research shows that each American....