Why your customers avoid loyalty apps

What the numbers say

Antavo’s 2026 report, from a loyalty software vendor, asked program members how they use their benefits. The result is clear:

• The program’s app: 44.1% of members, down from 59.0% the year before.
• A digital card saved on the phone: 42.4%, up from 34.7%.
• A plastic card: 41.0%, up from 29.3%.

In other words, apps are still used, but they are losing ground while simpler cards rise. Antavo suggests “app fatigue” as a possible reason, without measuring it directly.

An older survey points the same way. In 2019, The Harris Poll surveyed adults in the United States for Wilbur, a company in the sector: 58% said they were less likely to join a loyalty program that requires downloading an app, including 26% who were much less likely.

The obstacles, one by one

For a customer at the counter, an app asks for a series of small efforts:

1. Find and download the app, sometimes on a slow network, with a line behind them.
2. Create an account: email, password, confirmation.
3. Accept permissions: notifications, location, sometimes the camera.
4. Make room for it on a phone that’s already full.
5. Remember it on the next visit, and find it among dozens of others.

Each step loses customers. And for a coffee or a haircut, the promised gain looks small next to the effort.

There is also the question of data. In the same 2019 survey, 71% of respondents said they were less likely to join a program that collects personal information. An app that asks for a lot of information upfront adds one more obstacle.

What your customers really expect

If an app isn’t what customers want, what matters to them? First, being recognized. According to Toast, a point-of-sale vendor for restaurants, 48% of guests say staff remembering their name or usual order matters more than anything else; only 30% always feel recognized.

Antavo finds a similar gap on the program side: 82.6% of program managers believe their program makes customers feel valued, but only 56.2% of customers agree.

For a local business, that’s good news. This kind of recognition doesn’t take an app: it takes a simple card, a remembered first name, and a reward that comes quickly.

The alternative: a card in the Wallet

Phones already have a place for loyalty cards. On iPhone, Apple Wallet keeps cards, tickets and coupons; the customer taps “Add to Apple Wallet” from an email, a message or a web page. On Android, Google Wallet also accepts loyalty cards added from a business’s website.

For the customer, there is nothing to install and no password to create. The card shows their balance, and it updates by itself when they get a stamp.

The steps on the customer’s side, and the phones that cause trouble, are explained in our article on the card without an app. Read the article on the card without an app

When an app still makes sense

An app isn’t a bad idea in itself. It makes sense when it does much more than a card:

• Online ordering or paying ahead, used every week.
• Booking, for a busy salon or restaurant.
• A network of several locations, with content that changes often.
• You already have one that your customers really use.

In those cases, the loyalty card can live inside the app. For an independent business that simply wants its regulars to come back, a Wallet card does the same job, with far fewer obstacles.

What HoorayPass does

HoorayPass sets up an Apple Wallet and Google Wallet card in your colours. Your customers scan a code at the counter, add the card in seconds, and install no app. Sign-up asks only for what’s needed: a first name, then a phone number or an email.

Sources

1. Antavo, Global Customer Loyalty Report 2026 (vendor data)(opens in a new tab)
2. The Harris Poll for Wilbur, 2019 survey in the United States, reported by Total Retail(opens in a new tab)
3. Toast, Regulars Report 2026, reported by KVIA (vendor data, US restaurants)(opens in a new tab)
4. Apple, Apple Wallet help (add tickets and passes)(opens in a new tab)
5. Google, Google Wallet help (loyalty cards and gift cards)(opens in a new tab)