India Loyalty Market Size & Forecast by Spend Value Across 100+ KPIs by Program Type, Channel Mix, Sector, Embedded Loyalty Penetration, and Platform Spend Segmentation - Databook Q1 2026 Update

The loyalty market in India is expected to grow by 17.7% annually, reaching US$4.07 billion by 2026.

The loyalty market in the country has experienced robust growth during 2021-2025, achieving a CAGR of 19.9%. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, with the market forecast to grow at a CAGR of 15.3% from 2026 to 2030. By the end of 2030, the loyalty market is projected to expand from its 2025 value of US$3.45 billion to approximately US$7.18 billion.

Key Trends and Drivers

The Indian loyalty program market is being shaped by platform-led integration, payments-driven engagement, and a gradual move away from discount-heavy mechanics. Loyalty is increasingly embedded into everyday digital behaviour across commerce, payments, and retail ecosystems. Over the forecasting period, these trends are expected to deepen as platforms focus on retention, ecosystem usage, and scalable loyalty designs suited to India’s broad and diverse consumer base.

Integrate loyalty directly into everyday digital consumption journeys

• In India, loyalty programs are increasingly embedded within high-frequency digital platforms rather than operating as standalone schemes. Super-app and ecosystem players are positioning loyalty as a native layer across commerce, payments, and services. Tata Neu continues to use NeuCoins across retail brands such as BigBasket and Croma, while Flipkart maintains Flipkart Plus as a benefits-led layer tied closely to shopping behaviour and partner services.
• India’s ecommerce and digital services markets are characterised by high usage frequency and low switching costs. Platforms are using embedded loyalty to increase repeat usage within their own ecosystems rather than relying on coalition-style programs. The rapid adoption of app-based commerce and digital payments reinforces this integration-first approach.
• Embedded loyalty is expected to intensify as platforms prioritise ecosystem stickiness. Loyalty will increasingly function as a usage and retention mechanism rather than a separate engagement initiative.

Position payments-led loyalty as a primary engagement lever

• Digital payment platforms in India are using loyalty to drive habitual usage and wallet preference. PhonePe and Paytm continue to link rewards, cashbacks, and merchant offers directly to UPI transactions and bill payments, making loyalty part of routine financial activity.
• The ubiquity of UPI has reduced differentiation on transaction execution. Payment players are therefore using loyalty-linked incentives and merchant-funded offers to influence user choice and frequency, while also supporting merchant acquisition and retention.
• Payments-led loyalty is expected to remain structurally important, but programs will become more controlled and targeted as platforms seek to manage incentive costs and align rewards more closely with profitable behaviours.

Shift loyalty value from discounts to access, benefits, and convenience

• Indian loyalty programs are gradually reducing reliance on broad discounts and moving toward benefits such as priority access, bundled services, and non-monetary perks. Amazon India continues to position Prime as a bundled proposition combining faster delivery, content access, and shopping benefits rather than transactional rewards alone.
• Discount-driven loyalty creates margin pressure in a highly competitive retail and ecommerce environment. Platforms are responding by offering benefits that are harder to replicate and that encourage long-term engagement rather than deal-seeking behaviour.
• Loyalty propositions are expected to become more benefit-led, with clearer separation between short-term promotional incentives and longer-term membership value.

Expand brand-led loyalty beyond metros into mass-market segments

• Loyalty adoption is expanding beyond urban, premium consumers into mass-market and tier-2 and tier-3 city segments. Brands such as Reliance Retail continue to integrate loyalty across physical and digital formats, linking in-store purchases with app-based benefits.
• Organised retail expansion and increasing smartphone penetration outside major metros are broadening the addressable base for loyalty programs. Retailers are using loyalty to maintain continuity across offline and online touchpoints as new consumers enter organised commerce.
• Programs are expected to simplify mechanics and reduce friction to support scale, favouring straightforward earn-and-redeem structures over complex tiering in mass-market contexts.

Use partnerships selectively to extend relevance without full coalitions

• Unlike mature coalition markets, India is seeing selective, use-case-driven partnerships rather than broad multi-brand coalitions. Loyalty partnerships are typically anchored within a dominant platform ecosystem, as seen in Tata Neu’s brand network or merchant-funded offers on payments apps.
• Strong platform owners prefer to retain control over customer data and experience. Partnerships are therefore structured to fill gaps in use cases rather than to create open-ended coalition models.
• Partnership-led loyalty will remain ecosystem-centric, with limited movement toward independent coalition schemes.

Competition is evolving in the Indian loyalty program market

The Indian loyalty program market is competitive but ecosystem-led. Large platforms and organised retailers dominate through control of daily consumer touchpoints, while new entrants focus on embedded capabilities rather than direct consumer programs. Partnerships and acquisitions are selective and capability-driven, not consolidative. Over the forecasting period, competition is expected to intensify around ecosystem depth, merchant integration, and regulatory readiness, reinforcing the advantage of players with scale, distribution, and operational discipline.

Competition is defined by ecosystem control rather than standalone programs

The Indian loyalty market is highly competitive but structurally different from mature Western markets. Competition is not centred on independent loyalty schemes; instead, it is driven by large digital and retail ecosystems that embed loyalty within broader consumer journeys. Platforms that control high-frequency use cases commerce, payments, and everyday services set the competitive agenda. This limits space for standalone loyalty operators and raises entry barriers for new programs that lack distribution scale.

Platform-led incumbents anchor the market through scale and daily engagement

The competitive landscape is dominated by a small group of ecosystem players. Tata Neu operates a multi-brand loyalty construct spanning grocery, electronics, and lifestyle retail. Flipkart continues to position Flipkart Plus as a benefits-led layer tied to ecommerce and partner services. In payments, PhonePe and Paytm embed rewards directly into UPI-led transaction flows.
These players compete by deepening engagement within their own ecosystems rather than by directly challenging each other’s loyalty constructs.

Brand-led retail loyalty competes on omnichannel execution, not novelty

Organised retail groups continue to operate brand-centric loyalty programs that span physical and digital formats. Reliance Retail integrates loyalty across store formats and digital touchpoints, while Shoppers Stop maintains a long-running loyalty program focused on repeat in-store engagement. Competitive pressure in this segment is focused on execution consistency linking POS, apps, and customer identity rather than on introducing new reward mechanics.

New entrants focus on embedded loyalty and merchant enablement

New competitive entry in India is primarily occurring at the infrastructure and enablement layer. Loyalty-tech providers and fintech-led players are offering modular, embedded loyalty capabilities cashback engines, offer management, and rewards orchestration rather than launching consumer-facing programs. These entrants target mid-sized merchants and digital-first brands that want loyalty functionality without building full programs in-house, increasing competitive pressure on traditional full-suite loyalty platforms.

Regulatory developments are reinforcing platform advantage

Regulatory changes over the past 12 months particularly ongoing guidance and enforcement under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act are shaping loyalty program design and operations. Loyalty programs rely heavily on consent-driven data usage and personalised offers, increasing compliance requirements around data handling and customer communication. Large platforms with established compliance frameworks are better positioned to absorb these requirements, while smaller operators face higher relative complexity.

This report provides a detailed data-centric analysis of the loyalty industry in India, offering comprehensive coverage of both overall and alternative lending markets. It covers more than 100+ KPIs, including spend value on loyalty schemes, loyalty breakage rate, and penetration rate.

The report provides in-depth segmentation across the loyalty ecosystem, capturing loyalty spend value and breaking it down by core market dimensions. It classifies loyalty activity by program models (such as points, cashback, tiered, subscription, coalition, and gamified formats), membership structures, and execution channels (in-store, online, and mobile app), alongside embedded loyalty use cases integrated into payments, commerce, and platform ecosystems. The analysis further segments the market by industry verticals and assesses technology enablement, including AI-driven personalisation and emerging blockchain-led program mechanics. In addition, the dataset captures consumer demographics, enrolment pathways, and key program economics such as value accumulation, redemption, and breakage. Collectively, these datasets provide a comprehensive and quantifiable view of market size, structure, engagement behaviour, and value realisation dynamics within the loyalty market.

The research methodology is based on industry best practices. Its unbiased analysis leverages a proprietary analytics platform to offer a detailed view of emerging business and investment market opportunities.

Report Scope

This report provides a detailed data-centric analysis of the loyalty market in India, with comprehensive coverage across retail-sector context, loyalty spend dynamics, and loyalty platform economics. Below is a summary of key market segments:

India Retail Sector Market Context

• India Retail Industry Market Size, 2021-2030
• India Ecommerce Market Size, 2021-2030
• India POS Market Size Trend Analysis, 2021-2030

India Loyalty Spend Market Size and Growth Dynamics

• India Loyalty Spend Market Size and Future Growth Dynamics, 2021-2030
• India Loyalty Spend on Schemes by Value Accumulated and Value Redemption Rate, 2025
• India Loyalty Spend Share by Functional Domains, 2021-2030
• India Loyalty Spend by Loyalty Schemes, 2021-2030
• India Loyalty Spend by Loyalty Platforms, 2021-2030

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Loyalty Program Type

• Point-based Loyalty Program
• Tiered Loyalty Program
• Mission-driven Loyalty Program
• Spend-based Loyalty Program
• Gaming Loyalty Program
• Free Perks Loyalty Program
• Subscription Loyalty Program
• Community Loyalty Program
• Refer a Friend Loyalty Program
• Paid Loyalty Program
• Cashback Loyalty Program

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Channel

• In-Store
• Online
• Mobile

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Business Model

• Seller Driven
• Payment Instrument Driven
• Other Segment

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Key Sectors

• Retail
• Financial Services
• Healthcare & Wellness
• Restaurants & Food Delivery
• Travel & Hospitality (Cabs, Hotels, Airlines)
• Telecoms
• Media & Entertainment
• Other

Sector × Channel Views: Loyalty Schemes Spend by Key Sectors and Channels

• Online Loyalty Spend by Sector, 2021-2030
• In-store Loyalty Spend by Sector, 2021-2030
• Mobile App Loyalty Spend by Sector, 2021-2030

India Retail Sector Deep-Dive: Loyalty Schemes Spend by Retail Segment

• Diversified Retailers
• Department Stores
• Specialty Stores
• Supermarket and Convenience Store
• Other

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Accessibility

• Card Based Access
• Digital Access

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Consumer Type

• B2B Consumers
• B2C Consumers

India Loyalty Schemes Spend Segmentation by Membership Type

• Free
• Free + Premium
• Premium

India Loyalty Spend Split by Embedded vs. Non-Embedded Loyalty

• Embedded Loyalty Programs
• Non-Embedded Loyalty Programs

India Loyalty Spend Split by Use of AI / Blockchain

• AI Driven Loyalty Program
• Blockchain Driven Loyalty Program

India Loyalty Platform Spend Segmentation by Software Use Case

• Analytics and AI Driven
• Management Platform

India Loyalty Platform Spend Segmentation by Vendor / Solution Partner

• In-house
• Third-Party Vendor

India Loyalty Platform Spend Segmentation by Deployment

• Cloud
• On-Premise

India Loyalty Platform Spend Segmentation by Offering

• Software
• Services
• Custom Built Platform vs. Off the Shelf Platform

India Consumer Demographics & Behaviour (Loyalty Spend Share), 2025

• Age Group
• Income Level
• Gender

India Loyalty Program KPIs, Behavioral Metrics & Embedded, 2025

• Primary Loyalty Motivation Split Analysis
• Loyalty Program Breakage Rate Analysis
• Loyalty Program Enrollment Channel Mix Analysis
• Embedded Loyalty Penetration by Channel

Reasons to Buy

• Comprehensive Market Intelligence: Gain a comprehensive view of the loyalty market by quantifying total loyalty spend value and its composition across loyalty schemes and loyalty platforms, supported by retail context indicators to benchmark market scale, structure, and growth dynamics.
• Granular Loyalty Spend Coverage: Analyze loyalty spend value across loyalty schemes and loyalty platforms, supported by structured segmentation across program types (e.g., point-based, tiered, cashback, subscription, community, gaming, mission-driven, paid, and referral-led formats).
• Channel and Sector-Level Execution Insights: Evaluate how loyalty spend is distributed across in-store, online, and mobile channels, and across key verticals including Retail, Financial Services, Healthcare & Wellness, Restaurants & Food Delivery, Travel & Hospitality, Telecoms, and Media & Entertainment, with dedicated sector × channel views.
• Program Structure and Participation Mix: Understand how loyalty schemes differ by business model (seller-driven vs. payment-instrument-driven), accessibility (card-based vs. digital), consumer type (B2B vs. B2C), and membership type (free, premium, and free+premium), enabling more precise program design and competitive benchmarking.
• Embedded Loyalty and Emerging Mechanisms Tracking: Assess the evolution of embedded vs. non-embedded loyalty and track spend splits linked to program enablement, including AI-driven and blockchain-driven loyalty program spend where captured in the dataset.
• Platform Spend and Vendor/Deployment Benchmarking: Benchmark loyalty platform economics by software use case (analytics/AI-driven vs. management platforms), solution partner model (in-house vs. third-party), deployment (cloud vs. on-premise), and offering mix (software vs. services; custom-built vs. off-the-shelf).
• Consumer Demographics and Program KPI Lens: Access loyalty spend share by age, income, and gender, alongside decision-critical program KPIs such as loyalty penetration (% of retail sales under loyalty), primary motivation split, breakage rate, enrollment channel mix, and embedded loyalty penetration by channel.
• Decision-Ready Databook Format with 100+ KPIs: Leverage a structured dataset with historical and forecast coverage through 2030, designed for direct integration into market models, strategic planning, and executive presentations by retailers, platforms, payment providers, technology vendors, and investors.