The holiday season presents a significant opportunity for loyalty leaders. Customers are shopping more frequently, searching for value, redeeming rewards, and, in many cases, interacting with brands at a higher rate than they do throughout the rest of the year.
At the same time, brands are competing for attention in a crowded marketplace, while increased activity can put added pressure on fulfillment, communications, and customer service.
The opportunity extends beyond driving another holiday transaction. Loyalty programs can help brands deliver more relevant value, make the customer experience easier, and give seasonal shoppers a reason to return after the holidays are over.
Loyalty360 asked leaders from Baesman Group, Comarch, Group O, Maritz, ITA Group, and FIS how brands can prepare their loyalty programs for the holiday season, create value beyond discounts, and turn seasonal engagement into longer-term customer relationships.
Contributors
- Sydney Shapiro, Strategic Account Executive, CRM & Loyalty, Baesman Group
- Paula Sierra, Business Development Manager, Comarch
- Paul Flemr, Senior Vice President, Incentive Marketing Solutions, Group O
- Amanda Christie, Director, Reward Experience, Maritz
- Matt DeVries, Senior Manager, Customer Loyalty Strategy, ITA Group
- Mladen Vladic, Head of Product, Payment Networks, FIS
Building a Holiday-Ready Loyalty Program
Preparing a loyalty program for the holiday season requires brands to look beyond the offers and promotions customers will see. Higher transaction and redemption volumes can put pressure on everything from technology and fulfillment to communications and customer service.
The months leading up to the holidays are an important time to identify potential friction and make sure the program can deliver the experience being promised to members.
Sydney Shapiro, Strategic Account Executive, CRM & Loyalty at Baesman Group, recommends pressure-testing the member experience across customer segments, offer strategies, lifecycle communications, data flows, and channels before volume increases.
“The holiday season is not the time to discover that an offer is confusing, a trigger is not firing correctly, or the customer experience feels disconnected,” said Shapiro.
That preparation extends beyond marketing. Paul Flemr, Senior Vice President, Incentive Marketing Solutions at Group O, points to execution as an area where brands can fall behind, particularly as increased activity puts more pressure on fulfillment, customer service, and other operational processes.
“A great offer can quickly become a poor experience if fulfillment is delayed, redemption is confusing, or customer questions go unanswered,” said Flemr. “The holidays put pressure on every part of the program, which makes end-to-end preparation critical.”
Technology also needs to support that experience without making it more confusing to the customer. Brands should test enrollment, earning, offer activation, redemption, fulfillment, communications, and movement between digital and physical channels before peak shopping periods arrive.
For Mladen Vladic, Head of Product, Payment Networks at FIS, that means holiday readiness requires brands to think about the omnichannel experience they are delivering to their customers.
“Where many miss the opportunity is treating holiday readiness as a campaign calendar exercise,” said Vladic. “The real work is making sure the experience holds together when volume rises, and customers move between digital and physical channels. A great promotion can’t rescue a disjointed experience.”
For brands, holiday preparation is not simply about having the right promotions ready. It is about making sure the loyalty experience can deliver when customer activity is at its highest.
Rethinking Value Beyond the Holiday Discount
With consumers paying closer attention to value during the holidays, brands may be tempted to compete through deeper discounts. But loyalty programs give brands an opportunity to think more broadly about what value looks like for individual customers.
Rather than offering the same promotion to everyone, brands can use what they already know about customers to make offers and recommendations more useful.
“Use customer history to offer things people actually want, right when they need them,” said Paula Sierra, Business Development Manager at Comarch. “Instead of trying to sell someone another pair of shoes right after they just bought one, look at what they searched for and bought in the past to recommend something that goes with those shoes. It’s all about showing immediate value.”
Purchase history is one part of that picture. Amanda Christie, Director, Reward Experience at Maritz, encourages brands to also consider what customers choose to do with the value they have already earned.
“Most brands analyze what customers buy. Far fewer analyze what customers redeem,” said Christie. “That is a missed opportunity. Redemption behavior often reveals what customers value most, whether that's travel, experiences, premium products, or practical everyday savings.”
Those insights can become particularly valuable during the holidays, when customers receive more marketing messages and offers than usual.
“During the holidays, when consumers are flooded with offers, those insights can help brands personalize with greater precision,” Christie added. “The goal is not to send more messages, but to send more relevant ones.”
For brands, creating value during the holidays does not necessarily mean offering the biggest discount. It means using what they know about their customers to make the value of loyalty more relevant when it matters most.
Turning Holiday Shoppers into Long-Term Customers
The holidays can introduce brands to new customers and bring less frequent shoppers back into the fold. But increased acquisition only creates long-term value if brands have a plan for what happens after that initial transaction.
“Brands should view the holiday transaction as the beginning of a customer journey rather than the end of a campaign,” said Shapiro. “Have a plan for what happens after that first purchase: how you welcome the customer, introduce the value of the loyalty program, learn more about their preferences, and create a relevant reason to return.”
That first interaction gives brands an opportunity to learn more about the customer and use those insights to shape what comes next. Rather than moving holiday shoppers directly into the same promotional cadence as existing members, brands can consider how they entered the program, what they purchased, and what might encourage another interaction.
“Personalized rewards, milestone recognition, and thoughtful follow-up communications can help maintain momentum after the holidays,” said Matt DeVries, Senior Manager, Customer Loyalty Strategy at ITA Group. “The goal is to turn a seasonal transaction into a long-term connection.”
For loyalty leaders, the opportunity is to think beyond holiday acquisition and focus on progression. A first purchase can lead to a second, while an initial reward can demonstrate the value of membership, and a relevant follow-up can give customers a reason to continue engaging after the holiday season ends.
Making Holiday Loyalty Last Beyond the Season
The brands that stand out during the holidays may not be those offering the biggest promotions, but those that make loyalty feel relevant and valuable when customers need it most.
“The brands that win this holiday season will be the ones that prioritize relevance over volume,” said Christie of Maritz. “Consumers are surrounded by promotions, discounts, and marketing messages. The brands that stand out use loyalty data to deliver more personalized offers, more meaningful rewards, and a clearer demonstration of value.”
That requires brands to bring together the pieces that shape the loyalty experience, from data and personalization to technology, fulfillment, and customer service. When those elements work together, loyalty can make it easier for customers to recognize and access value when it matters most.
“Ultimately, the brands that earn loyalty during the holidays will be the ones that remove friction, create trust, and make customers feel recognized,” said Flemr of Group O. “Those are the experiences people remember long after the season is over.”
For loyalty leaders, holiday success is not simply about driving another seasonal transaction. It is an opportunity to show customers the value of the relationship, deliver on the promises of the program, and give them a reason to continue engaging long after the holidays are over.