Customer loyalty is no longer “distributed”: it is earned, interaction after interaction. In 2025, indicators of the exclusive CXIndex LineUp7 study are still progressing (average score 6.7/10; perceived quality of the relationship 7.2/10), a sign of massive investment by brands on the subject and increasingly keen relational competition.
Faced with consumers who want to be understood, considered, listened to, the points program shows its limits. THE CXIndex 2025 illuminates a way out: moving from a purely transactional mechanism to a measurable, data-driven and emotionally involving relational contract.
Why your loyalty programs are plateauing.
Successful loyalty programs share two attributes that customers spontaneously value: clarity and concrete benefits likely to influence their choice. It is these elements in particular that contribute to overall satisfaction with the program.
However, on average, only 31% of customers of the brands analyzed in the 2025 edition of the CXIndex say they are members of a loyalty program; and the share of programs deemed “very advantageous” remains in the minority (between 6 and 18% depending on the sector).
The lesson is not cosmetic: the readability of the rules determines the perceived value and therefore the business impact. Conversely, opacity and uniformity sterilize commitment.
From the program to the relational contract.
A relational contract shifts the value of reward toward proof of connection: recognition, relevance, “just-in-time” attention, and surprises that create a positive memory.
The CXIndex study offers customer relations stakeholders a management framework around 4 pillars, Personalization, Interaction, Propagation, Consideration and 2 accelerators, the brand’s ability to positively surprise its customers Surprise and perceived interest in the benefits or loyalty program offered by the brand.
- Personalization : adapt the intention (not just the message), the channel, the offer and the pace of communication.
- Interaction : make access to the brand easy and the response useful, not just quick.
- Spread : Earn the recommendation by creating “remarkable” experiences.
- Consideration : make the customer feel that they exist in the eyes of the brand.
This year again, the Champion brands (CXIndex score > 7/10) to discover within the white paper CXIndex 2025 have high scores on each dimension.
Discover the study
What the leading sectors have understood… and are doing better.
Brands in the Beauty-Cosmetics sector outperform by combining personalized diagnosis, sensory experiences, human advice and a smooth on/off customer journey. For their part, players in the Travel-Tourism sector capitalize on emotion and the creation of “memorable experiences”, by systematically seeking to eliminate the irritants resulting from multichannel interactions.
In all sectors we see the exhaustion of “always more points” approaches. Performance comes from the ability to more generally manage customer value, their commitment and the adequacy of the actions implemented with behavioral signals. The challenge today is to segment more finely and orchestrate better differentiated paths. To achieve these objectives, the CDP (Customer Data Platform) is a pillar. It powers real-time decision engines as well as scenarios and contextual triggers. AI increases its effectiveness by allowing the identification of micro-moments with high potential. In summary, the architecture of increased fidelity is based on the combination of “data + AI + real time. The loyalty program becomes a living system, continuously monitored, under agile governance.
Measure what matters (beyond operational KPIs).
Membership rate or reward cost is no longer enough. We must monitor more closely the perceived quality of the relationship, the perceived value of the advantages imagined by the brand, as well as their weight in the purchase decision. This is precisely what the CXIndex 2025 compares it by proposing a benchmark of the practices of 163 brands and by illustrating the correlation between efficient loyalty program and perceived quality relationship.
Roadmap translation:
- Benchmark your relational strategy based on the CXIndex benchmarks.
- (Re)design your program around a relational contract (moments of truth, fine personalization, omnichannel, customer co-construction, etc.).
- Activate data more efficiently : CDP + real-time decision + AI to capture micro-moments.
- Prove the link : deploy gestures and attention with high memory value on a selection of key moments.
- Loop : continuous monitoring, agile governance, monthly review of gains, attrition, NPS, propagation, etc.
From analysis to action. These leads only have value if they are translated into a coherent operational system. This is precisely where LineUp7 expertise comes in: bringing together advice, data, tech and innovation to transform data into a competitive advantage. The agency supports you from structuring the data ecosystem to omnichannel orchestration.
Loyalty is no longer a “program”, it is a daily discipline: human, contextualized, data-driven. The best brands combine emotion, personalization, omni-consistency; and convert each interaction into link proof. With an appropriate strategy and good orchestration of technologies that amplify relational effectiveness, loyalty becomes increased.
To evaluate your performance factors and redesign your system, contact LineUp7 here.
