PwC Consumer Loyalty Survey now available for pre-order

While the costs of customer acquisition continue to rise, retaining existing customers results in more predictable revenue and higher customer value. Only one-third of online shoppers can be considered regular customers, but they account for about 76% of total turnover, which clearly shows the business importance of a loyal customer base. If you look closely at your data, you can also find a narrower circle of customers who realize a significant part of the turnover. While in their case the goal is retention, for those who buy less often it is to increase frequency. All this requires different tools, which must be present in a well-composed loyalty program.

The loyalty program as a business strategy

“Loyalty is no longer simply a marketing tool, but a business strategy. For companies, the real question is not whether it is worth dealing with it, but when and to what depth they do so,” said Virág Kiss, manager of PwC Hungary, head of the research. “With the Consumer Loyalty Panorama, we want to support our clients in understanding the nature of loyalty and making the best possible decisions in the field of customer retention, as their sustainable business success depends on it,” the expert added.

The new, data-driven era of loyalty is rapidly reshaping the market balance of power: those who act now can determine their position relative to their competitors for years to come.

“The key to the success of loyalty programs today is not how many points we give, but how well we know our own customer base and understand the true motivations of our consumers. The Consumer Loyalty Panorama helps companies to use data at a strategic level, building on their customers’ feedback, to develop lasting customer relationships”

– added Ildikó Cserjés-Kopándi, Digital Partner at PwC Hungary is the senior manager of the commercial team.

PwC’s analysis closely aligns with the findings of Antavo AI Loyalty Cloud’s recently released Global Customer Loyalty Report 2026, which examines the current state of loyalty on a global scale. According to the study, 83% of loyalty program owners are satisfied with the performance of their program, while 93% report a positive return on investment, with an average ROI of 5.3x. The research also shows that 43.2% of consumers are more likely to join a loyalty program than a year earlier.

“We have entered a new era of loyalty, where the real value is in the intelligent use of data and personalized experiences,” emphasized Zsuzsa Kecsmár, co-founder and Chief Strategy Office of Antavo. “Those brands that are able to transform consumer data into relevant decisions in real time will be successful,” the expert pointed out.

PwC and Antavo will collaborate in the future in order to support their clients in the design, implementation and continuous development of their loyalty programs, building on their joint professional and technological knowledge. The parties work together to help companies develop long-term, value-based relationships with their consumers, striving for customer satisfaction and experience. One of the first results of the collaboration is the Consumer Loyalty Panorama, for which Antavo provides extensive data and international best practices, so the report also highlights valuable benchmarks and fresh global trends that international brands use to build their success.

“Antavo is a leading technology and mindset innovator in the international loyalty program market, taking the interpretation of consumer loyalty and the loyalty program experience to a new level with its data- and AI-driven approach. For PwC, it is crucial to support our clients not only with strategic advice, but also with proven, scalable solutions – from design to implementation and beyond. We complement each other well in terms of capabilities and value proposition with Antavo, and we both believe that in the new era of loyalty,