Singapore retailers shift from points to real-time loyalty models

They use personalisation and behaviour tracking to drive engagement.

Retailers in Singapore are moving away from point-based loyalty programmes to real-time models that reward customer behaviour rather than spending alone.

“The biggest shift I’m seeing is from point-based programmes to behavioural loyalty — rewarding customers for how they engage, and not just what they spend,” Aaron Crowe, head of revenue for Asia-Pacific at Eagle Eye Solutions Group Plc, told Retail Asia.

Retailers are increasingly using gamified, mission-based mechanics to influence customer behaviour and increase engagement frequency across channels.

“The clearest patterns from working with retailers like Tesco Plc, Woolworths Group Ltd., and Central Group are that the levers that actually move behaviour are personalised, gamified, mission-style campaigns that gently nudge people into new categories or higher frequency,” Crowe said in a video call.

Henry Christian, head of loyalty, marketing, and partnerships at Metro Singapore, said loyalty strategies are shifting beyond price-led incentives towards broader definitions of value.

“Loyalty today is no longer about transactions alone,” he said in a separate video interview. “It is about building deeper, more meaningful relationships.”

He added that customer expectations now include speed and service quality alongside pricing incentives. “Quick services, efficient delivery, prompt responses — these are the values that customers actually seek.”

Crowe said mass promotions are becoming less efficient, with declining returns despite continued margin pressure.

“Mass promotions where you give a 25% discount typically get you around a 5% redemption rate if you’re lucky,” he said. By contrast, personalised offers are delivering stronger outcomes.

“When you shift to 1:1 personalised offers, you can safely drop the discount to around 13% to 15% and see redemption rates shoot up to 60%,” Crowe said. “That’s the game changer.”

Singapore’s loyalty market is expanding alongside this shift. Research and Markets Ltd. expects the sector to double to $815.3m by 2030 from $413.5m in 2025.

Christian said retailers are being pushed towards channel-agnostic engagement as customers no longer distinguish between online and offline touchpoints. “Customers do not see channels; they see brands,” he said.

Crowe said this is driving demand for real-time systems that adjust offers based on live behaviour. “The key is real-time relevance. That’s what scaled personalisation looks like in practice,” he added.

He cited Tesco’s Clubcard Challenges, which targeted 10 million customers and achieved a 76% conversion rate during its 2024 Christmas campaign.

However, execution remains constrained by organisational friction rather than technology. “The biggest challenge is ultimately people,” Christian said.

Crowe said structural alignment is critical to success, adding that loyalty is increasingly treated as infrastructure rather than a marketing tool.

Christian said Metro is reassessing customer profitability, noting that some high-spending customers could be costly to serve.

Crowe said retailers are shifting spending towards customers whose behaviour could be influenced.

Both executives said loyalty systems are evolving into embedded, real-time engines across the retail value chain.