The recent recession was both a challenge and an opportunity for the loyalty market, as it forced Canadians to try to reduce their spending, but also forced them to look for ways to save money on the spending they had to do. For now, at least, it looks like consumers’ desire to save money is winning.

The economy seems to have stabilized a bit and unemployment is trending down, but loyalty programs are a staple now and consumers are used to being offered – and even expect – rewards even for purchasing items they would have purchased anyway. Now the question for loyalty marketers is how to get customers to join their program, a challenge made more difficult by the fact that many of the programs look so much alike that it is sometimes hard to differentiate among them.

The answer for the industry lies in technology. With so many changes happening in social media, social Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and mobile and digital technology, the opportunities for loyalty program marketers seem limitless. Many customers, especially young ones, want to take advantage of the new technology to provide marketers with the information they need to create more personalized incentives and purchase opportunities. Getting self-reported information about purchase behavior and attitudes could be a dream come true for marketers, but many are not yet taking full advantage. Those who can put the resources behind new technology will capture the young and growing segments of the population and get to know them well enough to be able to give them what they want.

Topics covered in this report include:

• Who is participating in the different types of loyalty programs?

• What are they looking for from their program(s)?

• What can loyalty marketers do to increase redemption rates?

• What can loyalty marketers do to attract the young consumers who comprise their future customers?

This report draws on previous reports including Multicultural Marketing for Financial Services – U.S., April 2013.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer usage of, and attitudes toward loyalty programs of financial services companies in Canada. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in February 2013 among a sample of 2,000 Canadian adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire Canadian adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Note that Mintel’s exclusive survey was conducted online and in both English and French.

Note: All currencies in this report are Canadian dollars (CAD or C$).

All estimated mail volume data and consumer direct mail marketing creatives found in the Marketing Strategies and other sections are provided by Mintel Comperemedia. Mintel Comperemedia is a searchable competitive database tracking direct mail, print, and online advertising in the U.S. and Canada, as well as email in the U.S. Comperemedia tracks information across eight sectors: Banking, Credit Card, Investments, Insurance, Mortgage and Loan, Telecom, Travel and Leisure, and Automotive.

For more information, please contact Account Services Management at 312.450.6353 or www.mintel.com.

The following abbreviation is used in this report:

CRM Customer Relationship Management