A new study out by Colloquy and a company that wants to provide reward aggregation services points out that about a third of all reward points remain unspent. For some, this is a problem that doesn’t want a solution since redeemed points have to be monitized. However, no redemption means the no value and therein lies the rub.
“But it’s also not surprising given that the average household has 18 loyalty program memberships. Who can keep track of it all (especially all of those expiration dates in points programs that don’t bother warning you that your currency is about to evaporate)?”
One answer to this problem is to allow automatic redemption of points for items that consumers use and value every day. For the consumers that make up the unused segment, offering low value, quick redemptions might be just the solution they’ve been waiting for. And for the rest of the consumers, they’ll accumulate and spend their points as they have always done. If a points aggregator can accomplish this and add value back to the transaction originator, better yet.
