Loyalty marketing is continuing to grow in the age of brand advocacy and digital engagement, and a recent report from Research and Markets has the numbers to prove it. The report, titled, “Loyalty Management Market by Type of Solution (Customer Loyalty, Employee Retention and Channel Loyalty), by Deployment Model, by Organization Size, by Vertical and Region - Global Forecast to 2020,” offers insight into how the loyalty management sector has grown, and where it stands moving forward into the year 2020.
Loyalty management software is forecast to shoot upward in value moving forward, with the report forecasting that the market will grow from its current value of $1.4 billion to $4 billion within five years. This staggering estimated growth reflects the rising importance of building brand loyalty and effectively engaging consumers. Customers have more options available to them now more than ever, across all industries, and customer retention has consequently become a crucial part of setting a brand apart.
What’s perhaps most interesting about the report is what kind of businesses are benefiting most from loyalty management solutions. The report estimates that large enterprises hold the largest market share of loyalty solution users, but SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) are expected to grow at a faster rate over the five-year forecast period. This is indicative of an exciting trend in loyalty marketing; loyalty management solutions are becoming more accessible to progressively smaller companies, expanding the range of brands that are able to effectively build loyalty. As these techniques begin to spread into smaller companies, the consumer stands to benefit significantly. 
As for which industries are making the most use of these loyalty solutions, the largest market share is estimated to be held by BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance); unsurprising, given the data-driven nature of these industries. However, the highest CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is found in the manufacturing, healthcare, and life science sectors.
Loyalty management solution vendors, while continuing to grow at a rapid rate, are faced with several hindrances. Perhaps most challenging is a low customer awareness of loyalty program benefits. While a brand might look into deploying a loyalty program, the idea of customers being unaware or unenthusiastic about the program’s benefits is sometimes enough to scare the company off of executing the plan.