Antavo Report: Loyalty Programs Now Account for Over Half of Marketing Budgets
MARKETING
According to Antavo's Global Customer Loyalty Report 2026, marketers are spending more than half of total budgets on loyalty.
For years, customer loyalty was a line item in the marketing budget, a nice-to-have secondary to the aggressive pursuit of new customers. But as we enter 2026, the data confirms a seismic shift: loyalty has officially moved from the sidelines to the center of the stadium. According to the Antavo Global Customer Loyalty Report 2026, marketers are now allocating more than half of their total budgets (51.5%) to loyalty and CRM.
The ROI of Retention
The primary driver behind this massive budget reallocation is the compounding return on investment. Antavo’s survey of 3,000 marketers and 10,000 consumers revealed that 92.7% of program owners reported a positive return, with an average ROI of 5.3X.
Furthermore, 83.0% of loyalty program owners expressed satisfaction with their program's performance, leading nearly 6 in 10 marketers (59.8%) to state they would shift even more budget from short-term promotions into loyalty if given the chance.
The Experience Economy
From the consumer perspective, the "points-for-pennies" model is maturing into something more sophisticated. While 70.8% of consumers still value savings, expectations are shifting toward:
Frictionless Experiences: 31.3% of consumers are more likely to stay with a brand that offers a seamless loyalty journey.
Personalized Rewards: 41.6% see personalized offers as a sign of a mature, valuable loyalty scheme.
Experiential Value: Moving away from pure discounts toward free products, services, and exclusive access.
Loyalty Data is the New Gold
Perhaps the most strategic finding in the 2026 report is the role of loyalty data in the AI revolution. With third-party cookies now a relic of the past, loyalty programs provide a steady stream of structured, permissioned, first-party data.
“Loyalty data is emerging as one of the richest seams for both AI training and deployment,” said Attila Kecsmar, CEO and Co-founder at Antavo. This data, tied directly to repeat purchases and referrals, makes loyalty programs the safest and most effective training ground for AI pilots, which in turn generates more responsive and profitable programs.
The Shift Toward Keeping Customers, Not Just Finding Them
Antavo's finding that marketers now dedicate over half their budgets to loyalty programs marks a notable shift in strategy. The data suggests that brands are prioritizing retention as acquisition costs continue to rise across digital channels.
The underlying logic is straightforward: it's typically more cost-effective to keep an existing customer engaged than to constantly pursue new ones. By investing heavily in loyalty infrastructure, rewards programs, personalized experiences, ongoing engagement, companies are building deeper relationships that can withstand competitive pressure and economic uncertainty. In a marketplace where customer attention is fragmented and expensive to capture, the brands that focus on strengthening connections with their current base may find themselves with a more sustainable advantage than those still chasing growth primarily through new customer acquisition.