5 new key insights about loyalty in Germany
At Mando we are proud loyalty nerds and, as you know, we are always looking for new insight and data. In March 2025 we published “Understanding Loyalty in Europe 3.0,” our 3rd white paper exploring what loyalty membership, appeal and impact look like across 24 European Markets.
In July 2025, we have commissioned new research from YouGov to further improve our loyalty understanding of this key market.
In this article we will share the highlights from the white paper and 5 new insights about what Germans want from loyalty programmes.
Highlights from “Understanding loyalty in Europe 3.0” about German Loyalty
In March we learned that Germany is the 16th most loyalty engaged market in Europe:
The majority of Germans are members of at least one loyalty programme:
- 60% of Germans are members of a loyalty programme
Germans find loyalty programmes appealing:
- 67% think loyalty programmes are a great way to reward members
- 47% think all brands should offer a loyalty programme
- 38% join loyalty programmes each time they are given the chance
Loyalty impact is good; when they are a member of a loyalty programme:
- 38% say it makes them more loyal to a brand
- 30% say it makes them more emotionally connected to a brand
- 29% say it makes them spend more with a brand
- 29% say they are more likely to recommend a brand
We explored some brilliant case studies and exemplar programmes in the German loyalty market including Rewe Bonus, Deutschland Card and e-hoi cruise clever. In previous iterations of the paper we also did case studies on Miles & More, myKik, AdiClub in 2024 and on Payback, Douglas Beauty Card and Lidl Plus in 2023.
5 New Key Insights about Loyalty in Germany:
#1. The Biggest Loyalty Sectors in Germany are Grocery and Fashion
The biggest loyalty sector in Germany is grocery. 47.3% of German adults are members of a Supermarket loyalty programme. 12.1% are members of clothing or fashion programmes, 8.5% of online service programmes, 8.0% of pet programmes, 7.3% of food & delivery services and 7.2% of booking websites.
After that comes hotels (7.0%), airlines (6.9%), pharmaceuticals (6.5%), cosmetics (6.2%), electronics (5.0%), coffee shops (4.6%), restaurants (4.5%), supplements and vitamins (3.2%), gaming (2.7%), gyms and spas (2.4%), jewellery (1.6%) and education loyalty programmes (1.3%).
#2. Germans Primarily Join Loyalty Programmes to get Discounts and Offers
Germans are a savvy bunch and the primary motivator for joining loyalty programmes is to “benefit from in-store or online discounts and offers”. 63.4% join programmes for that reason. It is by far the dominant reason for joining.
In second place, comes the desire to benefit from free products, services or experiences. 26.7% of Germans join programmes for this reason. 18.2% join to discounts and rewards from partner brands, 8.0% to be the first to know about promotions and 7.4% to receive better services and only 1.6% to be part of the community.
#3. Discounts and Offers are More Popular than Points with Non-Members
When we asked Germans who are not members of loyalty programmes, what types of rewards would convince them to become a member the results were really interesting.
In first place came discounts and offers, followed by points, then free products, services and experiences, then prize draws and competitions, followed by special customer treatment.
#4. Germans Like to Save Their Points and Rewards Up to Get to Higher Value Rewards
German redemption behaviour is diverse. 38.3% say they collect their rewards and points to get a higher value reward. 20.9% say they redeem regularly in order to avoid losing them, 8.7% redeem them at the earliest opportunity and 0.9% say they never redeem them.
#5. Germans are so Savvy, Very Few Don’t Redeem Their Points or Rewards, but for Those That Don’t, the Top Reasons are Apathy and Forgetfulness
When we asked German adults why they don’t redeem their rewards or points the results were tiny, but interesting.
2.5% are apathetic and don’t know why they don’t redeem them, 0.3% said it was because they forget to, 0.2% because they aren’t interested in redeeming them. 0.2% because they rarely find a reward they like, 0.2% because they never get to achieve enough points to get the reward. 0.1% because the range of rewards is limited and 0.1% because they find redeeming them is too complicated.
These stats are interesting on 2 counts – firstly because they are very small and therefore demonstrate that most Germans do in fact redeem their points and rewards. And secondly, they show that apathy, forgetfulness, interest, relevance and simplicity are still absolutely critical to get right in your reward and point redemption portfolio and processes.
The German loyalty market is a fascinating one – the audience is savvy and value oriented, the programmes are largely transactional and it’s dominated by the grocery sector and a culture of value, offers and points.
As we shared in our European White Papers, developed in collaboration with Nicole Willhem of Get Focused, the German loyalty market is ripe for innovation and for the addition of emotional engagement techniques to ramp up German engagement with loyalty programmes.
We are excited to see how the market develops over the next few years and will be keeping a close eye!
