Who uses loyalty programmes in South Africa — and who does not

South Africa has one of the most loyalty-saturated consumer markets in the world. The tenth anniversary edition of the Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Landscape Whitepaper — published in April 2026 and based on research representing over 23 million South African consumers — puts overall participation at 85% of economically active adults. That figure has grown from 67% in 2015.

But the headline number obscures something important: who is driving that growth, and who is being left behind. Age and gender are the two most significant demographic variables in SA loyalty participation — and both tell a more nuanced story than the 85% figure suggests.

A decade of growth — and a persistent generational gap

Overall loyalty participation has climbed steadily: 67% in 2015, 72% in 2019/20, 76% in 2023/4, 82% in 2024/5, and 85% in 2025/6. The average number of programmes per person has grown from 3.6 to 10.4 over the same period. By any measure, loyalty is now a mainstream consumer behaviour in South Africa.

The persistent exception is consumers under 25. In 2023/4, only 55% of economically active under-25s used loyalty programmes. By 2025/6 this had improved to 65% — but still trails the national average by 20 percentage points. In the mass market (household income under R10,000 per month), the situation is more stark: only 51% of under-25s participate.

Why are younger consumers less likely to participate?

The under-25 gap is not an awareness problem. Research consistently shows that younger consumers have higher awareness of loyalty programmes than older groups — driven by digital and social media exposure. The barriers are more practical.

• ✓Perceived insufficient spend. The most common reason economically active consumers cite for non-participation is feeling they do not spend enough to earn meaningful rewards (19%). This perception is more common among younger, lower-income consumers who may be students or early in their careers.
• ✓Complexity in the mass market. Among lower-income consumers, 21% cite programmes being too hard to understand as their primary barrier. Tiered points systems with redemption thresholds and expiry dates are the main culprits.
• ✓App friction. Younger consumers are more digitally native but also more ruthless about app downloads. A loyalty programme requiring a dedicated app faces higher abandonment in this demographic than any other.
• ✓Authenticity sensitivity. Gen Z research (StreetBees, 2024) shows that 63% of under-25 consumers would abandon a brand perceived as inauthentic — compared to 53-59% of older age groups. Loyalty programmes that feel transactional or data-extractive trigger this response.

Participation by age group

The 2025/6 research paints a clear picture of how participation climbs with age among economically active consumers. Under-25s sit at 65%. The 25-34 cohort jumps to approximately 84% — a significant increase that likely reflects the life stage transition from student to working professional, higher disposable income, and more habitual retail behaviour. The 35-49 group reaches 88%, and over-50s show the highest participation of any cohort at 91%.

For mass market consumers, the pattern is similar but compressed. Under-25s at 51%, rising through the age groups to peak around the 35-49 bracket, then easing slightly among the 50+ cohort as some mass market consumers age out of the income band.

The gender gap is widening — and women are pulling ahead

For most of the last decade, South African loyalty participation was effectively gender-equal. The 2023/4 whitepaper noted — for the first time — that male and female usage rates had equalised at 76%. The 2024/5 edition showed both at 82%. The 2025/6 data reveals something new: the equilibrium has broken.

Female participation in 2025/6 sits at 87%, compared to 82% for males among economically active consumers — a 5 percentage point gap that did not exist two years ago. In the mass market, the divergence is more pronounced: female participation is 70% versus 62% for males — an 8 percentage point gap.

The Sunday Times, reporting on the 2025/6 whitepaper in April 2026, noted that "the gender gap in loyalty usage is widening." The researchers suggest this reflects women responding more strongly to loyalty as a financial management tool during a period of elevated living costs — using cashback and rewards actively to offset food and energy price increases.

How men and women engage differently

Beyond participation rates, academic research reveals meaningful differences in how men and women engage with loyalty programmes once they join.

Women are significantly more likely to earn points through engagement activities beyond purchases — posting reviews (41% vs 34% for men), sharing on social media, and making referrals. They are also more active loyalty advocates, more likely to recommend a programme to others. Research by Melnyk and Van Osselaer (2012) found that women respond more positively to loyalty programmes emphasising personalisation, particularly when that personalisation is delivered in a private context — a personalised offer in an email or app notification, rather than a publicly visible tier.

Men, by contrast, respond more strongly to visible status mechanics. Gold tier membership, exclusive access, and public recognition of loyalty status are more motivating for male consumers. When status is highly visible to others, male engagement increases significantly — which helps explain the success of Discovery Vitality among male consumers, where tier badges and public fitness achievements are central to the programme design.

What consumers want from loyalty — by demographic

Across all demographics, cashback remains the dominant preference — "all ages, income and genders vote for cashback," as the 2025/6 whitepaper puts it. No other reward type comes close.

Below cashback, the market splits three ways. Approximately 40% of consumers want instant rewards — they prefer to earn and redeem quickly rather than accumulate. Around 35% prefer saving points for a larger aspirational reward. And roughly 25% want both: the hybrid consumer who wants immediate wins alongside the ability to build towards something bigger. This last group represents the greatest design challenge and arguably the greatest opportunity.

What this means if you run an independent business

Understanding who your customers are — and how their demographic profile shapes their loyalty behaviour — is directly useful when designing a programme.

If your core customer is a woman aged 35-55, you are operating in the highest-participation demographic in South Africa. These consumers actively seek out loyalty programmes, engage with them consistently, and are more likely to advocate for businesses they trust. The design priority for this group is personalisation and simplicity — not complexity or status mechanics.

If you are trying to build loyalty with under-25s, expect lower initial adoption and plan for it. The barriers are not awareness — they are perceived value and friction. A browser-based programme that requires no download, with a visible reward achievable within 4-6 weeks at normal visit frequency, directly addresses both. Do not start with a 15-stamp target.

If your customer base is predominantly mass market, simplicity is non-negotiable. The complexity that demotivates 21% of mass market non-participants is exactly what points systems with tiers and expiry dates create. A stamp card with a single, obvious reward is not a limitation — it is the right design for this audience.

The 2025/6 whitepaper closes with a note that applies as much to independent businesses as to national chains: "With the average consumer juggling over 10 programmes, brands can no longer rely on mere presence. To succeed, the focus must shift toward deepening engagement, simplifying the user journey and leveraging data to provide a genuine financial buffer for the consumer."