Quick commerce is changing how consumers discover and buy products.

CMOs, Brand Heads and Loyalty Heads need to rethink how they build consumer loyalty.

A loyal consumer of yours has purchased your brand’s product for years. They subconsciously spot your packaging on the shelves, trust your product and regularly choose it over other alternatives. The same customer opens a quick commerce app to get their usual purchase. But all they are hit by are competing products, offers and alternatives offering better deals.

They switch.

The product’s quality wasn’t the issue here; the alternative simply made more sense at that moment.

Biggest issue consumer brands face today is that customers can discover alternatives, compare prices and purchase without much friction.

A generic loyalty program which revolves around generic discounts and redeemable points which may take months to process will not create a compelling reason to return.

According to Financial Express’s May 2026 report on India’s quick-commerce market, consumers are increasingly splitting purchases across multiple apps, while ordering frequency on individual platforms has come under pressure. The report highlights a crucial distinction: growth in transactions does not automatically translate into stronger loyalty to an individual platform.

The answer to these problems isn’t to offer more discounts, it is to rebuild your consumer loyalty program.

There isn’t a debate that points, discounts and cashbacks are still relevant loyalty mechanisms. The problem lies in the fact that these brands assume that offering them is enough to build a lasting customer relationship.

Deloitte’s 2024 Consumer Loyalty Survey, which surveyed more than 9,800 consumers across the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Brazil, found that:

• 86% considered financial rewards, simplicity, and ease of use important or very important attributes of loyalty programmes.
• Four in five valued flexibilities in earning and redeeming rewards.
• Only 60% were satisfied with the personalisation and targeting offered by their existing programmes.

These findings point to three practical requirements: there must be a clear value behind the reward, the redemption process to be straightforward and the experience must be of some value.

Consider a programme, customer earns points but there is a struggle to comprehend the value, they might need to accumulate a large balance before they can redeem anything useful. The program maybe active, but the customer experience is not necessarily compelling.

For a CMO, this creates a gap between marketing investment and customer impact. For a Loyalty Head, it raises questions about programme design, redemption, and engagement. For a Brand Head, it raises a more fundamental question: is the programme strengthening brand preference, or simply making purchases temporarily cheaper?

The solution is not to abandon traditional rewards. It is to make them more relevant, accessible, and measurable.

Two types of customers might but the same product. One buys it because they prefer the price and another because of their previously built experiences.

If both customers receive the same rewards, there is a missed opportunity to respond to both the customers’ needs separately.

How to fix it: Use available purchase history, engagement patterns, redemption behaviour, and stated preferences to understand customer segments.

A customer who regularly purchases a product might value an offer on a complementary item. A customer whose purchases have declined might respond to a targeted incentive to return.

The objective is to identify which benefits are relevant to which customers, rather than sending more offers to everyone.

Loyalty software can support this approach through customer segmentation, campaign management, and analytics. However, personalisation should be based on appropriate data access, customer consent, and a clear understanding of what the programme is trying to achieve.

A loyalty programme may require customers to make several purchases before earning a reward they consider worthwhile.

This structure can encourage repeat purchases, but it can also make benefits feel distant or difficult to access.

When competing brands offer immediate discounts or convenient alternatives, customers may not see a strong reason to keep accumulating points.

How to fix it: Combine longer-term rewards with accessible, timely benefits.

For example, a brand could offer a small benefit after a meaningful purchase milestone while allowing customers to redeem accumulated points through a straightforward process.

The right structure depends on the product category, purchase frequency, customer economics, and programme objectives.

The important point is that customers should understand what they are earning, how to use it, and why the benefit is worth pursuing.

Sending more messages does not necessarily create more engagement. A customer receiving several irrelevant offers may become less responsive over time.

The same applies to reward catalogues. A large selection is not useful if customers struggle to find relevant benefits.

How to fix it: Prioritise relevance over volume.

Use customer segments and engagement signals to identify which offers are worth presenting. Offer flexibility where appropriate and make reward values and redemption conditions clear.

For some customers, the most useful reward may be a discount. Others may prefer a gift card, a complementary product, or a partner benefit.

The goal is to make the experience easier and more valuable, not simply to increase the number of campaigns.

A programme can report thousands of members, high points issuance, and extensive campaign activity without establishing whether it has generated additional business.

Did the programme increase purchase frequency? Did previously inactive customers return? Did a reward influence a purchase that might not otherwise have happened?

How to fix it: Connect programme metrics with commercial outcomes.

Measure repeat purchase rates, redemption, retention, incremental revenue, contribution margin, and programme costs. Where possible, compare results against appropriate control groups or other credible baselines.

A high redemption rate can indicate that customers find rewards useful, but it does not automatically demonstrate incremental sales. Similarly, an increase in repeat purchases may reflect changes in distribution, seasonality, or pricing rather than the loyalty programme itself.

For CMOs and Loyalty Heads, this distinction is essential when deciding which initiatives deserve further investment.

As brands manage multiple customer segments, channels, campaigns, and reward structures, disconnected systems can make loyalty programmes difficult to operate and measure.

Benepik Consumer Loyalty brings together capabilities such as first-party data collection through QR scans and bill uploads, customer engagement, personalised campaigns, gamification, referral programmes, and reward management. These features help brands understand consumer behaviour, encourage participation, and create more relevant experiences.

Key solutions offered by Benepik include:

• First-Party Data Collection: Capture consumer data through QR scans and bill uploads to gain better insights into customer behaviour and purchase patterns.
• Personalised Campaigns: Deliver targeted campaigns and relevant offers based on consumer preferences and behaviour.
• Referral Programmes: Encourage consumers to recommend the brand and help expand its customer reach.
• Reward Management: Manage rewards and incentives that recognise consumer actions and encourage repeat purchases.
• Campaign Analytics and Reporting: Monitor campaign performance and consumer engagement to identify opportunities for improvement.

• Flexible Loyalty Programmes: Design programmes suited to different consumer segments and business objectives.
• Rewards and Incentives: Offer points, cashback, and gift rewards to encourage purchases and engagement.
• Gamification: Use spin-the-wheel games, quizzes, and scratch cards to make participation more interactive.
• Customer Retention and Repeat Sales: Encourage repeat purchases through relevant promotions, upselling, and cross-selling opportunities.

With campaign analytics and reporting, brands can better evaluate engagement and refine their loyalty initiatives. However, technology alone cannot guarantee success. Brands must define the behaviours they want to encourage, offer rewards customers value, and measure outcomes that align with business goals.

Quick commerce has changed how consumers discover and purchase products, making it increasingly important for brands to offer more than convenience and discounts. Building lasting consumer loyalty requires relevant rewards, meaningful engagement, and a seamless experience that gives customers a reason to return.

Benepik helps businesses strengthen loyalty through technology-driven rewards, engagement, and loyalty solutions. By bringing consumer loyalty, channel loyalty, and reward management into a broader engagement strategy, brands can work towards more meaningful customer relationships while supporting their wider business objectives.

For CMOs and Brand Heads, this means creating experiences that reinforce brand preference. For Loyalty Heads, it means making rewards more relevant and programmes easier to manage. For Trade Marketing teams, it means strengthening channel partner engagement through structured loyalty initiatives and incentives.

With the right strategy and technology, loyalty can move beyond rewarding transactions to creating value for customers, channel partners, and businesses alike.

Explore how Benepik can help your business build more engaging loyalty programmes and stronger customer relationships. Visit Benepik to learn more about its loyalty solutions.