Key Insights #1: Most Liquid vs. Least Liquid Loyalty Programs

Rewards Liquidity Score and the Data

The Score

The four main pillars by which the Rewards Liquidity Score (RLS) of loyalty programs is measured are the following:

1. Reward Liquidity Tax: The tax imposed on loyalty points when redeemed for other partner goods or services.
2. Reward Earning Freedom: How freely members can accrue points in a loyalty program.
3. Reward Spending Freedom: Members’ capacity to use points, influenced by the value of each point.
4. Reward Exchange Freedom: The ease of transferring or using points across various programs or partners.

These main categories are broken down into eight total sub-factors that are each measured on a scale from 0 to 100, where the higher the number, the better the score. With an equal weighting on all the sub-factors, the scores are calculated for each pillar. These four scores along with an additional factor, are then averaged together to get the final Rewards Liquidity Score of each loyalty program.

Here is an example:

Disney’s “Disney Movie Insiders” loyalty program has the following scores:

1. Reward Liquidity Tax Score: 60.00
2. Reward Earning Freedom Score: 16.98
3. Reward Spending Freedom Score: 10.00
4. Reward Exchange Freedom Score: 24.13
5. Additional Factor: 50.00

This gets them a RLS of 32.22, which is just about average on the leader board ranking.

The Data

In order to create the Rewards Liquidity Score and measure it to rank the world’s best and worse loyalty programs, we have gone through the public data available on each loyalty program’s websites, apps and sources linked by the brands, analyzing over 1100 data points across:

Rewards Liquidity Ranking

The Top 5 Most Liquid Loyalty Programs

Based on the data observed, it’s clear that programs which offered the highest number of earn/spend opportunities scored a 64-70% above average Rewards Liquidity Score. As well as having a high rewards exchange freedom score, which puts the top 10 loyalty programs at least 48% above the average RLS.

See the full list of the top 10 most liquid loyalty programs: Download the Global Rewards Liquidity Report 2023 here.

The Top 5 Least Liquid Loyalty Programs

From the data analyzed, it is evident to see that the bottom 10 loyalty programs are greatly impacted by having the lowest reward liquidity tax scores of all, as well as having a reward earning freedom score and reward exchange freedom score below 50.

View the complete list of the top 10 least liquid loyalty programs: Download the Global Rewards Liquidity Report 2023 here.

Conclusion – How to become a top 10 high liquidity loyalty program

The liquidity of loyalty programs, as represented in the Global Rewards Liquidity Report 2023, is of great importance in determining the perceived and actual value of a program to its members. The Rewards Liquidity Score (RLS), which evaluates programs on factors such as Reward Liquidity Tax, Reward Earning Freedom, Reward Spending Freedom, and Reward Exchange Freedom, helps you understand how customer centric and valuable your loyalty program can be.

To become a top high liquidity loyalty program, like Aeroplan and Cathay, focus on providing your members with a selection of opportunities to earn, spend, and exchange their rewards seamlessly. Making it easy for your members to collect and freely use their rewards will significantly increase their engagement and satisfaction with your loyalty program.

Our Global Rewards Liquidity Report 2023 is full of insights that can guide you to boosting your loyalty program. Check it out for free!