Shoppers want to see fewer notifications from brands, preferring a quiet mobile experience that prioritises loyalty points and exclusive pricing, according to new research.
The 2026 Apadmi Mobile Customer Loyalty Report polled over 1,000 consumers across the UK, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands and surveyed 50 global retailers. It highlights a disconnect between what shoppers want and what brands perceive, as well as changing attitudes when it comes to the way consumers are using apps and loyalty programmes.
Almost a third (32%) of shoppers cited ‘too many notifications’ as their biggest source of frustration when using loyalty apps, with 26% saying the reward value wasn’t worthwhile and 21% annoyed by poor connectivity in store.
When asked why they would download an app for the first time, 30% said exclusive pricing was the biggest incentive, followed by first-purchase discounts (28%), loyalty schemes (16%), easy check-out (12%) and improved security (7%). The biggest deterrent is not shopping there often enough (46%), followed by concerns about data privacy (29%) and a lack of device storage space (13%).
47% say they are most likely to check an app before they do their shopping and 26% actively check points and rewards. 9% look whenever they get a message from the brand.
Lidl topped the league table as the most popular loyalty app in Europe, with 11% of all respondents selecting the supermarket as their favourite app, followed by rewards app Payback (8%), Tesco (6%), Polish supermarket Biedronka (6%) and Nectar (4%). Grocery and retail brands dominated the entire top 10 list, leaving travel, financial services, utilities and healthcare lagging behind.
Marcus Hadfield, Chief Strategy Officer at Apadmi, says: “In the face of a turbulent economic backdrop and the swift shift towards agentic AI, customer loyalty and retention is even more important than ever. There are clearly some barriers to overcome, but there are also a number of opportunities for brands to learn from the frontrunners and increase their market share.
“Our research shows that the brands pulling ahead aren’t necessarily those with the biggest budgets or the most sophisticated technology; they’re the ones that understand their customers well enough to build experiences that earn a permanent place on both their homescreens and in their routines.”
The research also indicated that retailers risk focussing on the wrong areas, with 78% of brands believing customers want more personalisation, yet only 13% of shoppers said that was the most important factor in them being loyal to a brand.
70% of all shoppers are members of three or fewer loyalty schemes, rising to 84% of people aged 18-24. Further analysis suggests that people aged 35-44 years old are the most prolific loyalty app users, with 41% of this age group saying they are members of four or more loyalty programmes.
39% of brands admitted their app isn’t working as effectively as they’d like, only 11% say their mobile loyalty scheme and CRM programme are completely aligned, and 54% acknowledged there is work to do.
The full report is available at: https://www.apadmi.com/
